Thanksgiving day consisted of our normal routine of prepping all the food in the morning. At my house I was in charge of baking all the rolls. I made my mother-in-law's rolls that are amazing! They are boiled in a brown sugar/water mixture before baking, no wonder they are so good :) I made almost 50 rolls and you better believe they were all gone by the end of the day. My mom over at her house always makes (Mary's) Turkey and this year I think it was her best bird yet. Our good friend Mary Pitman and her family own an Organic turkey/chicken farm here in the valley and she is now all over the nation with her birds in many stores like Wholefoods. They are so good and she is so sweet to always give us one, a big one!
We all met at my parents house and mom always has everything set so beautiful. She and my little sister made the mashed potatoes and the stuffing as well. It was so nice having my sister here from AZ, she's a busy college student and she works, so we don't get to see her as much as we'd like. The kids adore her and get so excited whenever she, and her little dog Berkeley, come to town. My brother and sister-in-law came with delicious homemade pie, my aunt Julie brought her famous brownies and ambrosia salad (my fave), and my Grandma Helen brought her famous sweet potatoes. It was nice seeing my cousin Jordon and his wife Noel and their cute kids, I'm so glad they made the trip over from So Cal, even though the drive here for them wasn't so fun with a screaming one year old :/
We missed my Grandpa Ferguson who flew to UT to be with my Uncle Robert and his family over the holiday. He usually says the prayer over the Thanksgiving feast, a nice long, five minute prayer, but this time Jake was volunteered, which is second best because I love his prayers :)
We enjoyed catching up, eating too much, watching the kids play cowboys and Indians in their tent and football with daddy in the backyard. We enjoyed each other and I was taking it all in because with some big changes coming up I am not sure what this next year will bring. The big moment for our family was feeding Isabella her very first food on Thanksgiving! She had her very first sweet potatoes made lovingly by her Great-grandma Helen. That was a special and fun moment. She looooved them, to say the least! She ate her first food like a pro, no gagging, she ate every bite, very quickly! Great-grandma was so proud.
After dinner we had so many pies to choose from, pumpkin, cheesecake, pecan, and chocolate. We were all pretty much sick afterwards. We decided to go see a movie as tradition follows to let our food settle, we took the kids to see Frozen. Oh my gosh we loved it, it was the cutest, made by the makers of Tangled, which is one of my favorites. We laughed and cried and came home and ate leftovers... oh boy!
She loves her great aunt!
And her Aunt Brittany!
My little cowboy!
Kids just love Jake, he's so fun and playful! I'm so grateful for that!
Garduno gals in the kitchen!
Jake wearing his annual turkey shirt I got him at Disneyland, him and his turkey legs! Ew
Showing Isabella the oranges almost done on grandpa and grandma's tree, if you haven't tried a CA orange right off the tree, you must!
Ok so this picture, hilarious right!? We decided to reenact this photo, which my siblings and I all agree is one of the most awkward, taken 15+ years ago. As my sister said after we laughed and laughed over the new 2013 version, some things never change! Except my little brother Alex laying on me now was painful, he's 6'3, and he has a black eye in the pic from playing turkey bowl that morning! We had a good time, so funny.
I am thankful for this beauty! She has captivated my heart and soul! Everyday is a gift with her.
The week before Thanksgiving Caleb had his preschool feast! It was so cute watching him eat with his friends, they were all dressed up as Indians and had Indian names, Caleb's was Dragon Bear. His teacher told me when they were asked what they were thankful for he said, clocks. No idea where that one came from haha.
I
love Jonathon's Turkey he brought home from school, with glasses lol. I love what he's thankful for
too, on the back he wrote that he's thankful for his sister because
she tackles him, which she does, for his brother because when he comes
home from school he hugs him :)
Thanksgiving weekend we picked out our Christmas tree with my family while my sister was still in town. We found one for Belle that was just her perfect size :)
Look at those cheeks! I just bite them all day. So, Bella had her first airplane ride the weekend before Thanksgiving.... to Texas! So guess what.... we are moving to Texas Ya'll! We will be running another wedding venue in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It is called the Lonestar Mansion and it looks like the white house, so so beautiful. It's made for weddings, and from a bride's perspective, any girl would be so lucky to be married and have their reception there. This happened very suddenly, we were looking for another venue to start our business again elsewhere for some time, now that our shareholders are running the Clovis Castle. CA is just so expensive and can be really time consuming when opening a business. Jake and his partner Jed found this place, flew out to see it and loved it. One thing led to the next and it all has worked out so well, like it is meant to be. Texas is a great place continue this business. I am sad to leave my family and friends here, really sad actually, and I'm overwhelmed with the moving process, how the kids will handle it, and starting over in a new state. But we've done it before, we love all the memories and growth we had in Seattle and I know it will be the same, if not better, in Texas. We are excited and grateful for this opportunity and it won't be forever. My heart feels like it will always belong in CA, but who knows, maybe Texas will change that :) Jake is happy as can be, there's a lot of work ahead of him, but he's ready and already hustling. He served his mission in San Antonio, Spanish speaking, Texas is like his second home. So... we will be moving after the new year in January!
View from the Lonestar mansion, beautiful fall trees...
The princess :)
Rocking at the Cracker Barrel, Jake grew up going to this restaurant in Georgia, we had a great time there with Bella. Little girl loved all the attention she got from daddy and mommy while the brothers were back home in CA with Grandma and Grandpa Garduno. However, she does not like her car seat, she's getting better, but being strapped in bothers her, so as we drove around Texas a lot looking for homes, schools, church, etc. she was not too happy... It was a good little trip, the people are very welcoming and personable. Everywhere we went people thought Isabella was so fancy, it was really funny and surprising. California girls meet Texas, the new blog title for next year ;)
Now back home we are looking forward to the Holidays and all the fun activities and memories we will share with our family and friends. We are trying to not let the big move detract from the holiday season, after Christmas however, the moving craziness begins. Wish us luck!
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