New Years at the lake

As in past years, we celebrated the New Year by playing up at the lake, and ringing in 2011 with a few fireworks and hot chocolate!  Last year we were watching the chaos of the Munich celebrations, and trying to avoid getting hit by the bombs going off around us, so we were really happy to just have a few sparklers & poppers, and know that no one was going to lose an ear…

The rest of the week was spent recovering from the excitement & exhaustion of Christmas, fighting off colds, and lots & lots of sleep…

Oh Christmas Tree…

Wow, it has been 6 years since we’ve cut down a tree for Christmas, and what a day it was.  The tree farm it running a little low on trees, but the girls had a blast running (or trying to) thru the remainder of trees, tripping over stumps, and generally hunting thru every single tree on the property before hanging our hat on one, and beginning the laborious process of felling a tree.  Luckily Dad & Troy could take turns sawing, while the rest of us leaned &/or pulled to help.  In the end we chose a beautiful tree, hopefully with lots of strong branches – now to find the time to put it up!!

The Boys, and Thanksgiving #4

Our last Thanksgiving celebration was with Troy’s friends from growing up in the Sunset hood.  Amazing food, with a different menu than the other 3 celebrations.  It has been years since we all have been together, and it was so much fun to hear the laughter about the old days – now that most of them are over 40 we can call them the old days…

the next generation (all girls by the way) had a pretty good time, especially when they were able to watch disney on the big screen!

Thanksgiving, takes 2 & 3

We have the fortune of being able to celebrate multiple Thanksgivings this year.  In San Francisco we celebrated both Wednesday & Thursday evenings with lots of old & new friends.  Thank you to Mary & Cynthia for hosting us & all of your amazing cooking – including the turkey & the gravy…

The Cousins Tea

The girls & I spent the afternoon with Mary, Cynthia & Julia having tea at the Secret Garden Tea House.  It was so lovely to have the girls enjoying it as much as the adults did!  It also helped that they had a great dress up corner where we could all get dressed up in boas, sparkly necklaces, and perfect hats for tea!

Carousels again?!

It never fails.  All the world over we are surrounded by carousels and are drawn to them no matter what time of the day or night it is…

San Francisco is no different, and the fun & joy continues…