NaBloPoMo

A Happy Thanksgiving to one and all

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thanksgiving-scrapbook-page-by-katiescrapbooklady

We are enjoying our day at home together, just the four of us.  This is the first year it’s just us.  After planning to travel down South and then not being able to go, we didn’t extend any invitations for friends to spend Thanksgiving with us which has been an annual tradition since my husband and I started dating.s We have always spent this holiday among friends, like us who lived far from family.  We would potluck the dinner some years traveling to the snow in Tahoe, or gathering at a friends’ home and eventually we hosted in our home.

This is likely the most relaxed holiday we have spent together in a long time. Last year we had a dog recuperating from major surgery and my mother was visiting.  This year we didn’t need to extra clean the house, we weren’t travelling, and we are having fun playing board games as we take breaks to do the finishing of the meal prep for dinner later.

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I am forever thankful for these girls and my husband and all their funny faces!

This evening our girls will get their first visit from our Elf On the Shelf, Earl which should make for an early rising in the morning tomorrow!

We are thankful for our family and friends near and far and hoping everyone is enjoying this day together in whichever way they chose!

This is my 27th post for National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to read the many other bloggers participating, Enjoy!

A new holiday tradition

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To Do today, bake pecan tartlets, bake cookies, finish dinner prep, but instead we are heading to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom! It all can wait! Happy Wednesday!

We had recently purchased 2015 season passes and we felt with my husband off that this would be a good day to go.

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It was a good decision on our part, hardly any crowds today.  Activated our 2015 season passes and enjoyed the sun and clear skies.  Riding rides one turn after another, bumping into friends, and just plain having fun!

The park was in the middle of seeing up their Holiday decor with the tree lighting on Friday evening.  Our girls were excited to see the decorations and can’t wait to head back for the tree lighting and all.  We are looking forward to the sledding hills that are added this time of year.

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Now after spending the day playing and starting a new family tradition, it’s time for me to get back to the prep for Thanksgiving’s dinner!

This is my day 26 of National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to enjoy the many other bloggers participating.

the family joke

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What you say is our family joke?  Well it’s a bit about me and what happens when I eat.  It is said that no meal is complete until I spill something on myself.  And it’s soooo true!

I am a food magnet whether liquid or dry.  Somehow someway every dinner meal a piece of something finds it way onto the front of my shirt.

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Maybe it’s the fact that I enjoy my food that it finds its way into my mouth and onto my clothes.  Maybe I’m so involved in eating that I’m not getting into my mouth?  Or I’m so excited to be eating that I am not paying attention?

I love the sprayers and cleaners that can pre-treat clothes before they are washed.  They are my life saver!

Just to be clear, I am not the only food spiller although I do it the most often, as my family says a meal is not complete unless I’m wearing part of it!

It’s day 25 of National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to read the many other bloggers participating, Enjoy!

A surprise on my doorstep

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Yesterday was my birthday and you knew that right? It’s not like I’ve been keeping it a secret LOL! The day was spent in my favorite way with my family doing family stuff and sneaking in some house stuff.  Curtains hung as we continue to settle into our home after more than a year.

As we were finishing up dinner, we heard a rustle on our front porch and saw a person through headlights.  What or who could that be?  My husband went to the front door and found a bag filled with flowers, a card and a gift.  When reading the card I saw it was from S (J’s birth mom). I quickly picked up my phone and called her to come back.  What a thoughtful gesture, but not ring the bell after driving up from Fremont to our home?  That will never do!  She answered her phone right away and within minutes was back at our house with her son. Our girls were jumping up and down when I shared who the mystery gift giver was and that she would be coming back to share birthday cake with us!

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And this was how we ended our Sunday, spent with the addition of more family!

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The three kiddos playing and laughing and the three adults watching and laughing along!

This is what our family is about, being family.  S driving up to our home to drop off a gift was more than nice and coming back and spending the evening of my birthday with us was the icing on the cake for my day!

I am on many online forums for adoption and I get sad when I read that parents are too scared to allow their children a relationship with their birth family.  They seem to find so many reasons for not keeping a relationship (if there is a safety issue that is something else).

I know we are the lucky ones that as we embraced each of our girls’ birth families, they embraced us.  As the years have gone by we have become a stronger family unit with our girls developing their own autonomous relationships with their family.

I love this is the way our Sunday ended!

This is my 24th post of National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to read the many other bloggers participating, Enjoy!