Happy Turkey Day!

From the 30,000 feet:



Yes. This is what the Parisian's call "Thanksgiving dinner".  I didn't take a picture of what they called "pumpkin pie". When we landed - both Emily and my Mom said "THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS??!" A for effort here- but I'm thinking Paris should stick to what they are good at. And that is basically anything besides turkey dinner.

We landed safely in New York- and were on our way to Connecticut for a nice weekend at home. We cooked our real turkey dinner on Friday- and it was amazing.

Our amazing chefs:

The candle lighter & the sommelier

The feast:

If you are curious what that is in the top right... it was my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner. I really was trying hard. Until I realized my turkey themed cupcakes had no return. Yes, I know, it looks like a blind dog decorated them. But the caramel buttercream frosting made them taste decent... so once we could get over the fact that it looked like a turkey special ed class- I think everyone was pleased.

Friday night was my 10 year high school reunion- which was an all you can drink affair. I think Wes & the other husbands got their full money's worth... and enjoyed sitting at a booth by themselves pounding as many bud lights as they could.

While the reunion was fun- and it was nice to catch up with old friends- I was so happy to be with my girlfriends who I miss dearly being out in Colorado. It's hard to believe we have all been friends for over 20 years now. Equally as close now- as we were in elementary school. And it's so amazing that a second generation will be entering the world in a few short weeks- it's amazing how time flies!

A bit hungover on Saturday- we headed to Westchester to FINALLY meet baby Reed Jackson & catch up with Pat and Michelle. Reed is to die for. Such a cute little peanut. It made us miss them so much to see their wonderful family!

We got back in time for the 2nd annual turkey bowl. This year was a BIT more rough than last year. I think the presence of more males from the Lohse clan contributed to this. But I was thankful to be on Kralik's team... therefore my team won.

After a week of fun- Sunday was time to buckle down and do some chores around the house. I wish I had pictures of the damage the snow storm caused to my parents house. It was devastating. So many trees had fallen down- I barely recognized our yard. Unfortunately there was not much we could do- but be thankful for the lifetime supply of firewood my parents now have.

Wes standing in front of the mulch pile (this was only half way through the clean up!):

Mom with the leaf blower.... Dad with the chainsaw.

The barn clean out....

We were sad to be leaving on Monday morning- but were looking forward to getting back to the daily grind in Denver. It was such a great family vacation- we couldn't have asked for anything more for the holiday! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday as well!!!