We began our Thanksgiving weekend adventure at 4:30am Thursday morning by loading up the mighty Prius to initiate our drive out of Phoenix to travel to California to spend the holiday with Josh's family. We have discovered it is much easier to travel with the child when she is asleep for more than half of the trip. Thus, the early start time. By mid-mroning, we had arrived at Alisha's apartment ready to visit and enjoy the meal being prepared for us. Alisha has spent the last two semesters in culinary school and was very excited to host her "first" official Thanksgiving meal (with the help from her father and mother). We felt very blessed to be able to share this accomplishment with her. And believe me, throughout the years, I have watched my mother cook for this holiday and Thanksgiving dinner is a ton of work and mess.
Anyway, while we waited for traditional feast, Madi enjoyed playing with Cody (Josh's parents' dog) and crawling all around the apartment discovering every nook and cranny she could find. Dinner was a huge success and dessert was even more special. Alisha custom made each person their own individual pie. They were adorable and delicious. What a wonderful end to our holiday! We eventually loaded back into the car to drive south to GG and GP's house where our guest bed would be waiting for us.
We spent Friday visiting with GG and GP. Josh's sister and parents also joined us in Laguna Woods. We dined at one of GG and GP's favorite lunch spots, Jolanda's Cafe and Catering. It was delicious, as always. If you are ever in the Laguna Woods area, you have to look them up. Their homemade croissants are the fabulous and twice the size as normal croissants! And no Landers family gathering would be complete without playing the board game, Settlers of Catan. I didn't partake in this game, but between Josh, Alisha and Gary, this game can turn very competitive resulting in much *discussion* over who has or needs "wheat", "wood", "rocks", or "brick". From an outsiders view, I am not sure which item is most desired as every item had to go through strong negiotiation before being traded to a fellow player.
Before the contest begins, everyone receives their "gingerbread house" which is in a ziploc bag and in pieces (see photo) and a bowl of frosting. You also receive your canvas which is covered in aluminum foil. This is where you construct your house. The only rule was everything you decorate your house with must be edible! As participants, we were all responsible for contributing the candy to decorate the houses. This is the area where several of the prior participants were able to cheat a little. They contributed candy that they had already planned out to use on their own houses. Suspicious, if you ask me. Also, there were a couple of very competitive participants who had drafted out how they would construct their house on paper before they even arrived. And others had decided their house would have a "theme". Crazy! Clearly, Josh and I were not prepared. Oh well, we still enjoyed the entire experience. Several of my society sisters and their families drove down from Los Angeles to join in the festivities. Madi enjoyed spending time with the other visiting kids. It was just good ol' fashioned holiday fun! Wait until you see all of the masterpieces. Who knew we were all so creative and talented. The vote for the top three finishers was a very difficult decision to make.
Sadly, the afternoon quickly turned from day to dusk and the Farrell-Landers family had to head back to Phoenix. So, we loaded up the car for our last and final drive. Once again, traveling when Madi could fall asleep. We made pretty good time and arrived home somewhere close to midnight. For a 72 hour trip, we feel like we were able to see and spend time with those who are very special to us. Thanks for making our Thanksgiving weekend so enjoyable.
Anyway, while we waited for traditional feast, Madi enjoyed playing with Cody (Josh's parents' dog) and crawling all around the apartment discovering every nook and cranny she could find. Dinner was a huge success and dessert was even more special. Alisha custom made each person their own individual pie. They were adorable and delicious. What a wonderful end to our holiday! We eventually loaded back into the car to drive south to GG and GP's house where our guest bed would be waiting for us.
We spent Friday visiting with GG and GP. Josh's sister and parents also joined us in Laguna Woods. We dined at one of GG and GP's favorite lunch spots, Jolanda's Cafe and Catering. It was delicious, as always. If you are ever in the Laguna Woods area, you have to look them up. Their homemade croissants are the fabulous and twice the size as normal croissants! And no Landers family gathering would be complete without playing the board game, Settlers of Catan. I didn't partake in this game, but between Josh, Alisha and Gary, this game can turn very competitive resulting in much *discussion* over who has or needs "wheat", "wood", "rocks", or "brick". From an outsiders view, I am not sure which item is most desired as every item had to go through strong negiotiation before being traded to a fellow player.
Saturday morning, after saying goodbye to GG and GP, we once again loaded up the Prius for the third leg of our Thanksgiving weekend adventure. Since we were in southern California for Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to participate in one of my Palmer Society sisters' infamous Gingerbread House contest. It has been an annual event for six years now and we were very excited to have finally made it to its seventh year. As Josh and I quickly learned, this was a very competitive environment and we, as newbies, were probably not going to win.
Before the contest begins, everyone receives their "gingerbread house" which is in a ziploc bag and in pieces (see photo) and a bowl of frosting. You also receive your canvas which is covered in aluminum foil. This is where you construct your house. The only rule was everything you decorate your house with must be edible! As participants, we were all responsible for contributing the candy to decorate the houses. This is the area where several of the prior participants were able to cheat a little. They contributed candy that they had already planned out to use on their own houses. Suspicious, if you ask me. Also, there were a couple of very competitive participants who had drafted out how they would construct their house on paper before they even arrived. And others had decided their house would have a "theme". Crazy! Clearly, Josh and I were not prepared. Oh well, we still enjoyed the entire experience. Several of my society sisters and their families drove down from Los Angeles to join in the festivities. Madi enjoyed spending time with the other visiting kids. It was just good ol' fashioned holiday fun! Wait until you see all of the masterpieces. Who knew we were all so creative and talented. The vote for the top three finishers was a very difficult decision to make. |
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