first snow

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents. We had a nice lunch, followed by sharing what we were each thankful for. My mom and I are starting a notebook where we will have everyone write down their contribution. Each year, we'll pull it out and I think it will be fun to see what we wrote the previous years.



This evening after giving Kendall a bath, I walked outside to see Chris, Cam, and our neighbors having a snow fight. Our neighbors had brought some down from the mountains. This was Cam's first exposure to it. He took a little time to warm up to it, but he quickly became a fan.

thanksgiving

Laundry done. Car unpacked. We are home. We had a wonderful time up at Chris's parents' house for Thanksgiving. Here are a few shots:

Watching a movie on grandma and grandpa's bed.


Seeing "the girls" is always a highlight for Cam. He spends more time running around outside than he does inside. Us adults tend to rotate out there as it can get pretty cold. :)


Cam has really taken a liking to baking (especially when he can eat as he goes along). Here he is helping grandma make some chocolate chip cookies.


I wanted a good family picture for our Christmas letter (or New Year's if we don't get going on it!). This was the best one.


Kendall was great. We were a little surprised that she wasn't quite as smiley as she typically is at home. But we figure there were lots of people right in her face ooh'ing and ahh'ing. Might have been a little overwhelming at times. She still was a champ and even slept pretty well.

two final thoughts

I have two thoughts before I take a break for a few days. We are headed up north to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and won't return until Saturday.

1. Tonight I was inspired by a great pizza we have had at Gourmet Pizza Shoppe. I remembered they put cashews on one of their pizzas and it was so good. We made BBQ chicken pizza and I tried the cashews. SO TASTY! Next time you make pizza, try them.



2. I watched the final episode of Jon and Kate + 8 tonight. I'll admit I got a little teary, not that the show is ending, but that their marriage did. I have loads of opinions on it all, but I'll keep them to myself. :) It really is sad to think what those little kids have gone and will continue to go through.



Ok, time for bed then we are off first thing in the morning. I'm trying to look forward to being there, rather than the actual drive. We had a glimmer of what Kendall crying looked like today for Cameron (on our way back from Costco), and it wasn't pretty. Poor guy.

wind

Wind. A lot of it. Annoying. Don't even want to go outside. What to do? Keep Daddy company in his office by snuggling up to watch the Polar Express.

maybe we should just move there

So today marked our third trip out to Palm Springs this week. I don't know what it is, but we just love it there. We first went to our favorite park for a picnic lunch. After Cam played around a while, I loaded him up in the stroller and off we went to downtown for some ice cream. Chris took Kendall in the car with him to walk around a golf store. When they were done, they came and picked us up.



The walk to downtown was so nice. It was a good change of scenery for me as our walks around here usually follow the same route. It was fun pretending we were actually on vacation, like probably most of the people we passed.

Upon entering the ice cream shop, I told Cam he could pick whatever flavor (or color, as I put it) he wanted. What did he zero in on, making the ice cream take a back seat? The waffle cone they dip in chocolate and rainbow sprinkles, of course! I tried to tell him he could have the ice cream IN the colorful cone, but he just wanted that cone. Fine with me since then I just had to purchase a cone!

so stylish

Normally I'm not one for crafts (making or buying), but this morning as I was on a walk with Kendall (Chris took Cam out for a few hours), we went by a craft fair taking place at a church down the street. I couldn't help but make these two purchases. Kendall has lost quite a bit of hair and clips don't stay in like they used to. I thought these were the perfect solution. :)

costco

Costco purchases yesterday:

Lunch
Chris: Chicken Bake, soda
Me/Cam: split cheese pizza
Me: Mocha Freeze-just as good as a frappuchino and half the price!

Groceries
Eggs
Bananas-always!
Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter- never creamy
Wheat Thins
Slippers-will return because they didn't fit, but boy do I need some!
Toilet Paper

Samples and Ratings
Marie Calenders Corn Bread: 7-kind of dry
Soup: Didn't try
Fish spread on crackers: Never in a million years
Biscuit: 7
Cheesecake: 7-not near rich enough like the actual Cheesecake Factory brand
Taquitos: 7
Corn Bread Stuffing: 9.5-had apples and cranberries, yum!
Cheese Souffle: 8
Cheese Tortellini: 7
Chips: 6

Overall the ratings weren't too high, but I give Costco a 9.5 for variety and quantity of samples. :)