Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

We have had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and hope you had the same. Did you take some time to ponder the many things for which you are grateful? Research shows that people who reflect on their blessings are healthier and happier, so don't delay, reflect today.

Our day started early as Jim was running in the Race with Grace. He left real early and I went over a bit later to spectate. GrandDad went with me. Corey stayed home and slept. Jim had a good race, finishing 19th out of 886 runners in this 10K race.



Bob and Liz ran also and should be congratulated on finishing 6th out of 17 father/daughter teams! 

Once Corey got up and Jim got home from the race awards ceremony (he won his age-group, so had to stay to pick up the award $), we all went out to finish raking and hauling leaves. We were glad to have Corey here to help. 
We had Thanksgiving dinner at Gram and GrandDad's house with Grandma and Grandpa. G & G's house smelled so good when we walked in - the advantage of cooking a turkey! Although I cannot really complain because I made  grape pie for dessert and our house smelled great from baking that this morning.

As you may guess, we had a great dinner. The turkey was perfect, as were all the side dishes. Here are some photos from our time Thanksgiving meal. Thanks Mom and Dad, it was all wonderful!



Tucker called us from his Thanksgiving celebration in Denver at Natalie's parents house. He was enjoying his time there. My brother Bob called too and we were able to get some details about his pheasant hunting expedition. Apparently Bob went to a hunting reserve of about 500 acres. According to Bob, the people who run the reserve "put out" a dozen pheasants and Bob and buddies went out and shot them. To us it sounded like shooting fish in a barrel, but he assured us it was much more sporting and real work at times.
But, he had a manly kind of a good time, creating fodder for future Neandrathal sessions of beer-drinking and the telling of lies! Bob, I'm glad you had fun-it sure looked like a beautiful day to be outside enjoying Mother Nature with your friends (even if you were shooting those poor birds who didn't stand a chance!).

So, anyone getting up super early tomorrow to shop? Not me. I may walk to the mall later in the morning to get a pair of sneakers that I work in because I can save $30, but I will not be setting an alarm. Plus, I have been given very few gift ideas from my guys, so I have nothing to shop for. 

Once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope all is well.


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Corey's Home!

Corey got back into town around 2 PM today and, as you may guess, we are very happy to have him back with us for a few days. He got a ride home with one of his teammates who lives in Penfield, so we had a short drive to get him. Upon arriving home he promptly found some leftovers in the refrigerator and ate them up! 

We 3 were invited to Bob and Sally's house for dinner tonight. Liz is in town also, so we were glad to see her. They had a full house as Sandy and Walt were there too, along with Carolyn, Matt and their 2 children, Mia and Ben. We had a great dinner with lively conversation. Here are some photos from our time together:

Liz and Corey.


Bob cleaning up the kitchen after a super supper!


Carolyn, Mia, Ben and Matt.



Sitting around after dinner, Walt, Sally, Bob, Liz, Corey and Jim.

Before Corey got home, we had a busy morning. After getting some exercise (running for Jim and biking for me), I got some desserts baked for tonight's dinner. We cleaned up  the house and opened the door to Corey's room so it could start to warm up (wasn't that nice of us!).

We made a trip to Wegmans so there would be some food for Corey and then we stopped at Panera's for lunch. We walked in and heard someone calling our names and there were our friends, Julie and Steve! We hadn't seen them in ages so we got our lunches (yippee, the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad has returned to Panera's!) and shared their table and then shared a lot of laughs. Very quickly an hour went by and we are now planning to go out to dinner in the near future to continue the fun. It was so good to see them and catch up with what our families have been up to.

When we got home, we cleaned some gutters and raked a few leaves.

We got to quit the leaves when Corey called to say he was getting close to Penfield and we needed to go get him.

I spun for an hour and a half this afternoon so all in all it has been a great day.

Did you see the finals of Dancing with the Stars last night? Brooke and Derek won, which pleased me. I'm a bit sorry to see that show end because now I won't get to see them dance every week. 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Give some thought to what you are thankful for.

Hope all is well.