We made it through another family gathering!!!  We were missing Sarah, and Kody's girlfriend Shannon - other than that, I think we had everyone!  Joe's son, daughter-in-law and grand baby came, and Dave's quasi-step daughter Julie came, so we had 16 adults and a 2 year-old.  We had two turkeys (and one wasn't touched!  Talk about leftovers......) a ham, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, roasted sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, roasted Brussels sprouts, lots and lots of mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, tons of appetizers, and to top it off, a cherry pie, a pumpkin pie, a cheese cake, and a flour-less chocolate torte.  Everyone helped put it all together - and I think everyone actually enjoyed the day!  I even tried my hand at making Mom' giblet gravy.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't just like hers either.  I had been hoping it would be warm enough so people could enjoy outside, but...too chilly!  My hands are chapped and sore from so much washing, but....on with Christmas!

AJ helped me bring down decorations yesterday.  I'm not putting up the tree this year, so my decorations are pretty easy.  I'm going for a minimalistic approach this year - just a few of my snowmen, the stockings, the creche, and some lights.  I've gotten a lot cleared out of the 'computer room' on it's way to becoming a sewing room/office.  I'm in more of a mood to see clear space than decorations right now.

The entry-way...

The bookcase...

The piano

The curio cabinet - this one needs something behind it - too much white!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I read an interesting article the other day about Thanksgiving creating so much stress - mainly for women.  What other day celebrated cooking for some (mainly women) and watching TV for others (mainly men)?  I have to admit, most of my stress is self-induced about cooking.  Does anyone really judge me by my mashed potatoes?  (Seriously - I hope not!!)  While I hope that everyone enjoys the food served today, I hope they enjoy the company even more.  Happy Thanksgiving!

AJ and I took the dogs for a walk this weekend, and ran into Coppy again.  The filed is beautiful this time of year.....

 And muddy.....

AJ and I have been keeping Luna on the lead because she chases birds and rabbits - and forgets to stop.  Here is how Coppy acts when he sees her - he lays down and waits for her to get close, and pounces on her.

It kept her a little less muddy too!

I redecorated the main bath last week - PINK!!!  It's pink with hearts - cute!  You can't tell from the picture, but the shower curtain has bling on it as well.  Poor Alex - luckily, I hung one of the heart mirrors on the wall at the right height for him to see in, so he's good with it.

I took in the sock monkey hat I made for Malorie's little boy last week, and got an order for one in pink.  I got this finished on Sunday:

I took it in to work yesterday, and got an order for 3 more.....I'm not taking them in to work anymore!!!!

These also were ordered by the same person as the pink sock monkey baby hat.  Two head/ear warmers.  The stitch pattern was different on them, so they were fun to try out.

Bookmarks for book club this month were turkeys - turkey butts to be exact.  The book - Bone in the Throat - did not lend itself to a bookmark based on the book (the mob, murder, guns, knives, etc.) so.....they got turkeys.  They turned out pretty cute.  I had a pattern for it once upon a time, and still had a pin that I made, but couldn't find the pattern.  I made this one up as I went, based on the pin.

The yard is coming along quite nicely.  They have most of the rock in - this was taken Tuesday morning, and they did more work yesterday,  I don't know that it will be done by the time everyone is here for Thanksgiving, but most of it will be.  I think the fountain and fire pit will be the last to go in.  I also need to put in 'something' by the fire pit are to keep the dogs from fighting with the new neighbor's dog.  Between their dog and ours, the fence is getting torn up.  I'm thinking box planters along the end of the fence....

I have plants!!!  The crew was out Thursday morning with tons of plants to put around in the yard.  I'll be honest, some of them are lavender plants, other than that, I have no idea what they are.  I need to go out and write down the names of them (they still have their tags on) so I can see what they are planting.  I wandered out Thursday morning while they were unloading, and Josh asked if there were any there that I hated.  That's about my input into the plants.  (And they are all great!)  Their original plan was to finish the fountain and pool in the back yard, but....Luna changed their mind for them.  She loved to play in their area after they left at night.  They decided to do that last, and blocked her out of it.

The leaves are turning as well - these are from the neighbor's walnut tree.

And these are from a walk that Ralph and I took on Friday morning.

"Somebody" posted pictures of hats I made her baby a couple of years ago, showing that they now fit her new baby, and "someone else" started hinting that they would look awfully cute on their new baby too....

Kandis posted pictures on Facebook of Zelda in the pumpkin hat I had made for Elora, and the turkey and reindeer hat, and Malorie started hinting.  So....out come the crochet hooks, and...we have a turkey and a sock monkey hat done for Nicholas:

The guys have been busy, but progress is slow.  The front yard is full of roots, so they were having a hard time digging out to put in the bender board and the weed block.  I think most of it is in now.....

The last of the Halloween pictures - and I'm glad it's over!  Here was my pumpkin decorating this year - not too much this year, and I needed smaller bats, but cool idea!

The landscapers were putting in the bender-board last week.

Looking good!  Then....they broke a water line.  The area by the front walk is still a bit soggy.....

Halloween 2015

I know I'm late getting Halloween pictures up, but...I was busy!

My department decided to dress up as a circus freak show this year - an interesting idea.  We decorated our area as a circus, with 'bars' around our office areas.  We had peanuts and popcorn available.  Here's a look at our department from the outside:

And the inside:

Malorie was the fire-eating woman, Fiona the Fierc Fire-eater to be precise.

Chan was the bearded lady - Beatrix the Beautiful Bearded Lady:

Linsay was Giselle the Grand Gypsy

Jackie was Consula the Comely Contortionist:

I was Tatiana the Tallest Tattooed Lady.

The group of us together:

Operations were cave people:

Credit Underwriters were Crossfit people:

A fun time was had by all - Operations won the prize (2nd place - Starbuck cards) for their costumes, along with the Buenaventura Branch - they dressed up as Alice in Wonderland (1st prize was lunch for the department).  I didn't get a chance to see them though.  That was a crazy amount of work for a $10.00 lunch though, and we didn't even win!