Why We Live Where We Do

In our front yard, as seen from our living room windows...Not too many words needed here; the photos tell the story.

The orange stuff they're eating is a pumpkin. And, yes, those two tiny spikes are baby antlers!

Breakfast With Santa

We were greeted this morning by a magical, sparkling beauty that extended for miles from the top of our mountain. We were very lucky that the freezing rain did not knock out power and cause too many other problems; we just got the beautiful trees, which sparkled like a forest full of diamonds.

Fortunately, the roads were in good enough shape that we did not have to cancel out on our plans for "Breakfast With Santa" with some good friends of ours!

That look on Colin's face is because he is asking Santa for something that he knows mommy and daddy do not want him to have...a Nintendo DS. It's not that we are opposed to video games in general, we are just not in favor of OWNING any! Fred has too many memories of playing them until he got blisters on his thumbs, instead of doing other things like homework and playing outside in the fresh air. Not sure how to handle this one with Colin...I'd LOVE to hear any suggestions you may have!

Aidan was very excited to tell Santa what's at the top of his wish list! Guess what? Santa already knew what that was...hooray!

On the way home, Fred helped me find some places to park the car so I could take some close-ups of the pretty ice.

I thought these pine needles looked amazing...

And I've never seen an oak leaf coated in ice quite like this one! Pretty cool, huh?

Scenes From A "Picture Perfect" Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I always wish we could be with ALL of our family for the holidays, but the miles between us makes that prohibitive. We had a lovely Thanksgiving at Fred's aunt and uncle's house.

I think pictures can sum up the atmosphere of our Thanksgiving feast better than my words can, so I'll share a few...



Aidan with baby Samuel:




Juno in one of her quiet moments:


A French pumpkin begging to be photographed:



Dinner preview...one turkey had foie gras spread under the skin, and the other had a mushroom paste spread under the skin. (No, they are NOT from our neighborhood!)



Details, details, details...

Spiced nuts as a pre-dinner snack:

Wine glasses ready to go:

Fred carving one of his works of art:

The picture-perfect Thanksgiving table:

WOW!

And the meal was as picture-perfect as the table!

We had a big crowd, the company was delightful, the food was amazing! We hope your Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful, too!