Turkey Day and Odessa's Birthday

We had a nice weekend with my parents here from Boise. Stephen was home for 4 days straight and I didn't know what to do with myself, it was so nice to have all the help with the kids and around the house. We had one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I think I have had- but that is funny because it seems to get better each year. The best Thanksgivings were really back when all our extended family would get together - 2nd cousins and all. I don't remember the food back then, just the number of people and tables that snaked through my great aunt's house. So while the food seems to get even better, the memories and associations with family will always be precious. This year we featured some new side dishes including brussel sprouts! Even our potatoes had a leek and parsnip in them, they were so good.

Thanksgiving Day was also Odessa's birthday. By 7 pm she was asking "is it time for my party yet?" Poor thing. We had eaten pie late and kept putting off cupcakes until we absolutely thought we could handle it again! She got plenty of fun presents from Grandparents and a HUGE book of horses from us. (thanks for the tip Kristyn, she loves it)Our neighbors came over to sing Happy Birthday and I got her a mylar balloon later that night and she played more with that than any of her presents after that! It's funny to think back to how much I walked after Thanksgiving dinner 3 years ago trying to get Odessa here. She came after a day of post Thanksgiving shopping : )

On Friday we checked out the activities for Winterfest at the Seattle Center. Then we headed downtown to walk around, spook the shops and people watch. Saturday morning my parents treated us to a fun breakfast at a neat restaurant in Queen Anne that is built in a remodeled old house. Then we took them for a long walk along Lake Union to check out the boat houses- they are so fun! It makes me think of miniature doll houses or something- they are all so unique and scaled down in size.
We are looking forward to Christmas in Boise THIS month (can you believe it?). It really is nice to be close enough to family to make these holidays possible. Stephen put some lights and the stockings up. We have a fireplace and he wanted a fire so much he burned a bunch of paper. The girls danced around singing "fire, fire, fire!". A little family of pyromaniacs I have here. Hope all of you had a great weekend as well.