A Long Weekend

We had the nicest time at Gretchen and Kirk's house this year for Thanksgiving. It was really lovely to have Luanne and Ed with us as well as Nathalie Borg, a Biola student from Malta. She's kind of shocked to find a whole family who is so familiar with her country. The day after Thanksgiving we went down to Redondo to housesit at David's mom's house while she was up in Lone Pine. We took the bikes and had a very invigorating ride, then Gretchen and Kirk joined us for good times spent talking, dining, doing golf drills and more, and stayed until Saturday evening. We came home on Sunday.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is in the background behind David. Uncle Howard and Aunt Gloria used to live there and David grew up with it as the view from his front window. On a clear day we can see it from Whittier and it always reminds David of home. It's a beautiful place to visit, if you're in the area.

I had to show you this cute cheese ball that is shaped like a pine cone. I made it for our magazine that should start coming out in January. We've decided to combine 2 months at a time and do 6 this year instead of 12, and that's a huge relief! It feels do-able.

Here's "the child," who enjoyed being the only really short person at our Thanksgiving feast. Below we have the three brothers-in-law, glad to be standing together in Gretchen's newly painted family room. Notice the new crown moulding that Kirk installed as well. Heather made the fresh flower arrangement.

And now it's time to prepare for our three girls and families to arrive for Christmas! We're still thinking we can clean out the garage to make room for extraneous furniture and we're finishing up the Christmas letter this week. I'm taking a break at the moment from doing our December menu planning, so hopefully there will be lots of good things for everyone to eat. Everything is coming to a head at work as well, and hopefully I'll get it all done in good time!

There's much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. Happy December!