Ranch-Giving and Thanksgiving

Well it has been awhile since I have written on this blog! Seriously, I am bad but hey you get around to it when you can right?

Live has been crazy, busy as usual....running a business, new baby, school, new house/new projects. But hey that is what makes life exciting right? It is an exciting time to live.

Some things that I have been grateful for not in any particular order:

Capri

Paul

Clean Water

Food

New Home

Technology and skyping with Heather in Italy!

Family

Friends

The Gospel

These are just a few things.

We were extremely lucky this year we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year! One at the Ranch near the end of October, immediate family members and extended family members were there. We thought, why not make it an early Thanksgiving, also known as Ranch Giving. Sadly, Mr. Paul couldn't make it out, work work work :(

Some of the highlights of the trip were: picking the perfect Christmas trees for my mom, and sister Sandy. I wish we could have brought one home but I don't think the airline would be ok with that :) It was gorgeous. I absolutely loved the white birch trees with the vibrant yellow leaves, simply breathtaking. Another plus was that it wasn't too cold! This is a family tradition we have had over the years and I absolutely love it, it is so refreshing to hike around and pick your own tree from a mountain side so old fashioned but I love it!

Another highlight was eating the yummy dinner of course, seriously such good food, we had what any other person would have except for the fact that my grandma is a secret chef, she would of course never admit to it but everyone and their dog would agree anything my grandma touches is edibly delish! Moist turkey, mashed red potatoes, pear and gorgonzola cheese salad, stuffing, and grandmas famous rolls.

I was so glad that Capri was able to experience the ranch, it is a place of peace and solitude, we had a great time walking around outside and visiting with family of course. I feel so blessed to have my own special buddy to hang out with all of the time, she is such a charming little lady, I love her to pieces!

Also, my super fun sister in-law Danielle, threw an amazing Halloween party in the barn full of cob-webs, halloween treats and flying bats (ok they were fake but were still rad). It was fun to see everyone geared up for Halloween, and wow did Eric and Danielle/Chanel win in the costume department. They were a family of garden gnomes or as we called them "the gnomies", so funny! Here is the pic of their fam. Chanel was already tuckered out and was in bed by this time in the evening

I will be posting about the Halloween party another time but it was pretty amazing, Brittany and her magical hands...she can make anything look good :)

The homey gnomies!
The decked out barn
Papa holding onto miss Capri, so presh!
The palm tress sisters, ha so funny!
Loading on hand-picked trees atop the car
Oh how I love nature
Sista time-Danielle we missed you!
Just mama and Capri, wearing matching sweaters, funny story she Capri actually had a brown/creme blanket. But, since it was deer hunting season, we decided she needed a color that stood out so she didn't get mistaken for a little deer :)

Just lounging around
Ranch view from the window
Feasting!

We also had an amazing time with the Andrew's family, 9 out of the 12 kids were there, it was fun loud and exciting as usual.

I wish we had brought our camera, unfortunately we didn't bring it, so if any family member who is reading this has any pictures send them on over! The food was fantastic, there was like 12 different dishes! Along with 12 different pies, quite an amazingly delicious feast. My favorite dishes was the fresh green bean casserole, the crispy onions on top SO good. The stuffing was next, so incredibly yummy, Marlyce (Paul's mom) used her homemade bread with it and it was absolutely incredible!

It was fun having Miriam home from BYU, she is always so fun to catch up with, we also had some cousins come in from Lancaster, Kathy and Ricardo, it was fun chatting with Kathy she has a new baby that is a couple of months younger than Capri, her name was Anna. It was fun exchanging birth stories and such. We did truly miss Hyrum and Tiffany, Celeste, and Morgan.

Hopefully we can all get together soon!

Well that's a wrap...now onto Christmas season, I can't wait. I am most definitely listening to Christmas music, and have been since Thanksgiving dinner ended!