What a fun, chaotic, loud, fabulous weekend we had for Thanksgiving this year. As you know, we went to Timm's brother, John's house in Washoe Valley (between Reno and Carson City). There were 36 of us there! There were a handfull missing from the festivities, we missed them. Thanksgiving Day could not have been more beautiful, the weather was perfect...okay for us Vegas folks, maybe a few degrees warmer. Here is the whole gang after we stuffed ourselves.
Timm fried up 3 turkeys and Rhonda roasted one in the oven. I carved up the fried turkeys, made some stuffing, the gravy and some turkey soup, oh yeah, and I brought cinnamon rolls for the day after so everyone could have breakfast when they pleased. I have to say, we were busy little beavers in the kitchen. Sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, rolls, cornbread stuffing too were just some of the delightful fixin's we chowed down on. If you've never had fried turkey you just don't know what you're missing out on.
After the group shot every family had their photos taken in the backyard. Here is our family (Timm, Chris, Scott, Christy, and Crystal). We might have to put this one in Christmas cards this year...who knows (so be surprised if you see it please). Scott took some really cool pictures of everyone, he's become quite the photographer.
Christy and I were the only girls that didn't lose our minds shopping on Black Friday. Instead, our family chose to go up to Lake Tahoe for the day. It was beautiful but breezy and chilly when we got up there. This is at Zephor Cove. Notice the storm coming in over the mountains.
As we made our way around the lake the storm clouds dropped onto the water and before we knew it was starting to snow. An awesome sight (especially for us) but made picture taking difficult. I would like to go on record and say that the road is very narrow with almost no guard rails...and I really think there should be in many places. We drive a very large truck so it kept Timm on his toes paying attention to the road, snow, and us asking to stop at every point possible...which by the way, most were closed for the season. We finally found a place to stop and walk down to the lake. It is just so pretty! There were even redwood trees at this location, how awesome is that! Finally, we made our way over to Truckee (super big snowflakes there), had lunch, hopped onto I-80 and headed back into Reno. We stopped at Cabela's, that's a pretty cool place if you ever get a chance to visit, then back to Washoe Valley to call it a full day. This is an adorable photo of Christy. She was so happy to be in the snow...she is from Minnesota after all.
The snow followed us back to the house, making all the little kids go crazy...like they weren't wound up enough from just being all together. We were supposed to leave bright and early the next morning but the roads were icy so we hung out for a few more hours before heading back to Vegas. What a gorgous site it was! We actually had snow on the ground for the next 2 1/2 hours of the drive. We all made it home safe and sound; tired, but grateful we were able to spend the holiday with family. It was a wonderful experience that we'll all remember with great fondness for years to come.
Okay, a day late and a dollar short but the tree and decorations are about to come down so I wanted to share a few more of them with you. This little reindeer sits on the corner of the door trim. He's my own design. I actually made a whole series of the corner huggin' critters. 
Another reindeer favorite is the simple but sweet guy I bought at a craft show several years ago. He look so cute lit up.
I bought this nativity piece this year from a gal I know. It actually has a star that should hang above it but it didn't fit on the mantle with it. I also have an awesome nativity I painted many years ago with Gaye Shoell. It's all cut from chunky wood and every color is toned down with burnt umber. It's just beautiful but I can't find the picture of it. Another day I guess.
