Thanksgiving 2011- San Antonio

We had a wonderful week in San Antonio visiting my dad and step mom. Opa and Myrtle as my kids call them! We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with yummy food, LOTS of football (thank the lord the Cowboys won), a beautiful day, and many blessings to be thankful for. Here are some photos from the week!

Mi Tierra Mexican restaurant. This is how it looks 365 days a year. So much fun! A usual hang out for us. Great food, drinks, music, atmosphere, and Mexican bakery! Go HERE to check it out!

The day after Thanksgiving we spent the afternoon in Gruene (pronounced Green), TX. It is just north of New Braunfels and is a great little, picturesque town. Great antique shopping, food, and I noticed a rather cute honky tonk there too! Gruene is located right on the river, so in the summer I imagine that is a hot spot.

We had dinner at the Gristmill that over looks the river. Go HERE to see more. Very pretty place with great food!

The girls even enjoyed a little cookie decorating with Opa & Myrtle

One last shot before I leave you....my sweet pilgrim!

Thankful

Once again it is Thanksgiving and I am so thankful for so many things. It is almost too many to list. We are in San Antonio with my dad and step mom. So right off the bat I am thankful for family and the fact that I am not the one cooking the turkey this year! It sure does smell good and I did not have to get up at 6am to do it!

But in all seriousness, I am thankful for my family, my sweet, darling girls, my wonderful husband, the health of my family, the perfectly beautiful day today and the feast we are about to eat. I am so thankful for all of our friends, old and new. We are thankful for the beautiful place in Hermosa Beach that we now call home. We are truly blessed and are reminded every night when the gorgeous sunset melts into the Pacific and we are listening to the lullaby of the ocean waves. Even though there are people we miss and wish were here with us, I am thankful to have had them in my life and and thankful for the many memories. I am thankful for the wonderful country we live in and the life I was born into. I am so glad we have a holiday in which we spend the day reflecting on our blessings and not what we don't have. In addition to the meal, the football, the parades, etc....it is truly a wonderful day that everyone, every human being, can partake in and be a part of. Happy Thanksgiving!

La mia Italia: Vernazza & Monterosso

My mother-in-law told me this morning about how there had been horrible flooding and mudslides in Cinque Terre (specifically Vernazza and Monterosso). So I quickly went online and googled Vernazza flood 2011 and this is what I found:

VIDEO

Unbelievable. This actually happened on October 25th. I can't believe this is the first I had heard of it. This was a gorgeous spot in the beautiful Italian Riviera. We were there in 2007 and just loved it. We actually had stayed in Riomaggiore, but Vernazza was every one's favorite of the 5 hillside towns. Here is what it looked like on our trip.

Sarah being a pouty baby sitting water's edge.

You can go HERE (SAVE VERNAZZA) to help with the clean-up and rebuilding effort.

Halloween Recap 2011

We had a great first Halloween in Hermosa this year. My little angels were, well, actually and angel and an angelfish. We had some friends over for dinner and then went down to the walk streets for 'trick-or-treating'. It was quite the scene and I was very happy to see that the residents really do participate and make it fun for the kids. After 3 walk streets their buckets were full and they were ready to come home and survey the damage.








Leading up to the big day, Lauren had her harvest festival at her school, Sarah had a Halloween carnival at her school and she had a Pippi Longstocking Day on Halloween. We also did a little pumpkin shopping to pick out the perfect pumpkin to carve for the annual McDonald Family Pumpkin Carving Contest. We used Facetime to be a part of the action and it was quite fun!









We ended our Halloween week, with a broken arm for Sarah (scooter accident) and new glasses for Lauren!