Thankful

Of course Thanksgiving always makes you think about what you are really thankful for.  First of all, I am thankful for Thanksgiving weekends.  What's not to love about October, Family, Turkey and winning baseball games.

On Saturday we went up to the cottage and then Ryan, Parker and I went to Ravenna for delicious sandwiches and The Farmer's Pantry to visit the donkeys.  I'm forcing my love of donkeys on Parker.

The rest of the weekend was spent at the cottage.  We had 27 people at our Thanksgiving dinner.  It's a mad house, but I wouldn't want it any other way.  Oh and Parker gets absolutely no attention when he's at the cottage, so he hates it....or not.

So today I'm feeling thankful for my cottage, for extended family, for good food and good health, for pumpkin cheesecake and coffee.  I'm thankful for the great weather that we had this weekend.  I'm thankful that the Jays won on Sunday and Monday and are finally playing like the great team that they are.  I'm thankful that last night Parker made it through the night without eating for the first time in over two weeks.  Mostly I'm thankful for these two because they make my heart happy.  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

Thanksgiving Came Early

Yesterday we celebrated Ryan's birthday and Thanksgiving with his family.  This is one of my favourite occasions because we always get outside and spend some good time together.

 

 We all wear plaid jackets when we walk.  I think it started out accidentally and now it's just something that we have to do.  We're the plaid family.  So of course Parker needed plaid too and luckily I came across this cute little shirt that is big enough to go over his sweater!  And the Padraig slippers... the men don't seem to get them but I think they are the cutest things to ever be placed on a baby's toostsie!

This was Parker's very first Thanksgiving experience and I think he loved it!  We spent lots of time outdoors in the back yard and walking around their property.  As much as I love the summer, I love this time of year because it's so pretty outside and there's just something about the crisp fall air!

We also spent some time indoors and Parker played with the dogs.  He's the size of Willis' leg but they seemed to get along pretty well.

And then there was the food.  Oh my most favourite part of Thanksgiving.  Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce.... And my mother in law may have made 3 desserts and I might have sampled all three.... just maybe...

Thanksgiving we will see you again next weekend!

Thanksgiving Weekend

For Thanksgiving, we always head up to the cottage with the whole extended family.  30 people in a cottage = madness.  But I wouldn't miss it!

There was music, games and of course food.

Grandma enjoyed some dancing.

And we all enjoyed some apple desserts.  It was apple overload!

On Sunday, everyone who was left went out for a fall walk at Inglis Falls.  20 people walking the trails!  Someone asked my mom if we came on a bus.  No, but that would have been more convenient.

 It was a beautiful day and it actually really warmed up, not like the cold fall weather that we have had lately!

 Now that my favourite holiday is over, it's definitely time to get down to this baby prepping business.  So today I'm busy trying to organize the office so that we can move everything and turn it into a nursery.  It's pretty tough to find a new home for all of your stuff in the catch all room!

I hope everyone enjoyed their thanksgiving, turkey dinners and time with family this weekend!

Happy Stuffing Day Weekend!

Because we all know that the real star of the show is the stuffing, it's not the turkey at all!

This weekend I will be spending time with family, filling my belly full of delicious home cooking.

And I have an excuse to wear Thanksgiving pants.  I really can't wait.

Here Comes Santa to American Thanksgiving

There is something wrong when the Santa Clause parade is before Thanksgiving.  We were trying to figure out this whole American Thanksgiving thing on the weekend and why it was so late.  I'm not in a Thanksgiving mood, I'm in a Christmas mood!  But that doesn't meant that I will turn down a turkey.

So first things first, we went to the parade on Saturday night.  A bit more snow would have been nice, but it wasn't too cold, so I can't complain.  And Santa was looking good, like usual.

Then, as my sister's boyfriend goes to school in that silly country and was home this week, my mom decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner for him on Sunday.  

We look like a normal family from the outside, if only you could hear our dinner conversations.

And then this happened.  My brother currently is working for the Ottawa Senators hockey team, and he told us that he was standing down by the Zamboni doors.  So my family was sure that they saw him on the TV and spent approximately 5 minutes pausing and rewinding and looking for him.

Then he told us he wasn't down there anymore.

What can I say, my family is cool.

Happy Thankstmas.  (Ya I just created a new holiday).

Thankful

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Today, on Thanksgiving, I am thankful for:

This Guy

This little girl

Family
 

Friends

A bed that keeps me warm at night


My health

And last but not least, Ian Somerhalder, because he makes the world a more beautiful place



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Just kidding (kinda).  There are so many more things that I am thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Canadians.  What are you thankful for today?

I'm Wearing Yoga Pants This Weekend

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is probably my favourite holiday because it is all about the food.  No distractions like gifts or anything, just delicious food.

I have been trying so hard to eat healthy and cut down on desserts and this week has not been good for my waistline.  But there is no point in trying to care now because I'm heading into a weekend of turkey, stuffing and pie, oh my!  Hence the yoga pants.  Jeans will just make me feel bad about myself.

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Every thanksgiving, my family heads up to the cottage for a family dinner.  Every year the family seems to grow whether it's by the addition of significant others or children.  This year there will be approximately 28 of us I think.  It's insanity.





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But despite the nut house that our cottage becomes when we all get there at the same time, I wouldn't miss it for the world.  


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Jumping Salmon - A Blast From the Past

For lack of anything else to talk about (clearly I should have spread my Thanksgiving post out over a few days), I am going to tell you a story about salmon.

Up by our cottage, there is a salmon ladder.  For those of you who don't know, a salmon ladder is something that is built for salmon to aid them in swimming upstream.  Salmon swim upstream to lay their eggs.  At the end, there is a waterfalls.  They want to get into the calm water I guess.  So a ladder is built so that they don't have to jump the whole waterfalls, they just have to jump little bits at a time.  It's still not easy for them.  They gotta really want those babies.  I think that they die after laying too, so they should probably just not swim upstream.  I'm not sure that's factua, but it sounds right.  Or maybe I'm thinking of spiders. 

So every year at Thanksgiving we would go to the salmon ladder and watch them jump.

The Salmon Ladder.  It's on the far side.  I couldn't get an actual picture of the ladder. 

One year, I wanted to go, because it was tradition.  For some unknown reason my parents didn't want to go.  So I got my pout on.  I'm a ginger, I get angry easily.  So my dad found some cans of salmon in the cupboard and started throwing them up the stairs of the deck.  He said "there you go, the salmon are jumping".  I did not find it funny at the time.  I guess it's kind of funny now.

Turkey and Stuffing and Pie, Oh My!

Prepare yourself for a picture heavy post.  A lot happened this weekend.  So much that I feel like I need to take two more days off work to recover.  I am le tired. 

We started out on Friday by Ryan and I going out for a delicious dinner followed by cupcakes with my family.

Saturday I watched a bunch of movies, baked a bunch of goodies and attended a stag and doe.  No pictures of those events.  Sorry.

Sunday morning we got up and prepared to head up to the cottage.  We took a few back roads in order to enjoy the fall colours.  I took this picture, but I don't think it does it justice.  It was gorgeous.

Most of the family was up at the cottage for dinner.  I got out my fiddle for like the first time in five years.  The rest of the family seemed to move further and further to the other end of the cottage, I'm not sure why.

 

 

 



Cards were played.  A cottage tradition. 



 

Sunday we went out to Ryan's parents.  Of course we went on the traditional thanksgiving hike.  I took a bunch of pictures on manual, trying to get some cool lighting.  I failed.

 

I climbed a tree stand.  No I didn't.  This is as far as I would go.  I thought I was going to fall.

Then we had venison and moose for Ryan's birthday/Thanksgiving dinner.  If you've never had venison, don't judge.  It's delicious!