Fun Times

Jason's mom, Dolores, was here for a visit over Thanksgiving, and all of us were off from school and work for most of the week.  We mostly hung out , getting ready for Thanksgiving, playing with the girls, and playing tourist (see the post on our visit to the Alpaca farm). 

Here are some pictures of those fun times:

Pumpkin Pie
The day before Thanksgiving I made pumpkin pies.  Elise LOVES pumpkin pie and had been waiting and waiting for these pies.  I ended up with more filling than would fit in the pie shells, so I baked it in small dishes without a crust.  They are like mini-pumpkin pies, we call them pumpkin custard.  Elise asked if she could have one and I said "sure!" Then she asked if she could have two.  I said she could have as many as she wanted.  She dug as soon as I took them out of the oven, they weren't even cool yet.

A happy girl with her pumpkin pie!



I came back into the kitchen to find Elise
had eaten all the mini pumpkin pies!

FUN & GAMES
Time off at home gave us lots of opportunity to play games (Battleship was a favorite this week), do some projects, and read.

Dolores and the girls make
friendship bracelets.

Jason and Anja reading before bed.

This silly kid LOVES sucking on lemons!
We went out for lunch and she begged
everyone for the lemon from their glass of water.

SNOW

We saw our first snow in Virginia!  It had been raining all morning, and it was a little chilly outside, but I didn't believe it when Elise said "it's snowing!"  I looked outside and to me it looked more like freezing rain so I went off to do something.  A minute later the phone rang and it was mom.  "It's snowing!"  she said.  And I said "are you sure?"  I looked out the window and sure enough, it had switched to snow.  It only lasted about 10 minutes and it melted as soon as it hit the ground.  But we were all pretty excited!

Alpaca Farm

Yes, that alpaca has antlers.  No, alpaca don't really
have antlers.  They were put on just to get a cute photo.

Black Friday.  Did we spend it crushed with crowds shopping?  NO!  We spent it hanging out together, playing games, going out for lunch, and visiting an Alpaca farm!

Jason's mom, Dolores, was searching online for things she might like to do in Fredericksburg while she was here, and came across a website for an alpaca farm about 10 miles outside Fredericksburg that gives tours.  We called Friday morning to see if they were giving tours that day, then headed out.

We learned a lot about alpaca, and I think we were all convinced of how environmentally friendly alpaca are (they don't eat much, they clip the grass they eat rather than rip it out, they are efficient with their digestion, their poop can immediately be used for fertilizer, and their wool requires much less processing than sheep wool).  Plus, they are really cute!

The owner giving the tour held the baby, James,
so we could see what the Alpaca foot looks like.
Look at that face, so cute!

Alpaca are related to camels, which I think can really be seen in
this angle of the Alpaca's head.

After getting a lesson in alpacas, we got to feed them a little treat and pet them (did I mention they are super soft?)

We ended the day with a group photo op with an Alpaca.  This was such a fun place to visit!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were very fortunate to be able to have Jason, his mom, us, and my mom and dad all around the same table.  This is the first time that has happened!  This is the first Thanksgiving we've shared with Jason and the first time his mom met my parents.

The day before Thanksgiving we did some advance prep of food. I baked cornbread for the stuffing, Elise and I made pumpkin pies, and I made a new recipe:  Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie.  At one point early in the day, Elise came in the kitchen and said "what are you doing?"  I told her I was making cornbread and pies.  She said "I thought it smelled like Thanksgiving in here!"

Elise LOVES pumpkin pie and was a great help
mixing up the pies for Thanksgiving.

We had a little too much pumpkin pie filling
and it wouldn't all fit in the pie shell,
so I baked the extra in little dishes...

which Elise promptly polished off. 
She ate all four of the mini pies. 
That girl LOVES pumpkin pie!

The Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie.
Baked and served in a cast iron skillet.
My dad said "this is the best pecan pie
I've ever had."  Of course, he is prejudiced,
but this pie was REALLY good.

The girls, Jason and I made most of the food (except the turkey), but we ate at mom and dad's because their place is bigger.  So, some of the food was made at our place and transported to mom and dad's, and some we made there. 

Mom and dad working on getting some food on the table.

The girls, particularly Anja, love going to grandma and grandpa's because they have Wii.  Anja was quite excited to introduce Jason's mom, Dolores, to Wii.

Thanksgiving dinner was delightful.  The food was plentiful and delicious, the company relaxed and entertaining.

Anja and Elise and the Thanksgiving feast.

Our pickle girl.  She had emptied the pickle dish before
Thanksgiving even started and we had to refill it before we
sat down to eat.  By the end of the meal she had eaten
a whole jar of pickles.  We aren't surprised, though, since
it is kind of a family tradition.  I used to do the same thing
when I was a kid.