Thanksgiving fun

We had a wonderful thanksgiving yesterday. We have so much to be thankful for!

The day started out slow and relaxed, which is always nice. We even got a little rain. Since we had some time, we decided to drive the long way through the mountains and Julian. It was a beautiful drive, although it added an extra hour of travel time. The clouds and the mountains were worth it though.Grace was very excited as we headed out. She loves a good party.

My father-in-law had a full schedule of Thanksgiving celebrations yesterday, so we were glad he was able to fit us in. He wasn't able to join us for the meal, but we were glad we were able to hang out with him before dinner.
Grandpa Dick had brought some sparkling cider, and in the holiday spirit we let Grace try some. She does not have a lot of experience with carbonation, and the look on her face was priceless. She said it was "spicy" but went back for another drink, so she must have liked it.When we are around our family, Grace pretty much doesn't want to have anything to do from me, becuase she enjoys everyone else's attention. This works out just fine for me, as I get to have my hands free to enjoy the company of my little niece Elena. She is so happy and content, she is super fun to hang out with, even if she doesn't always look at the camera. :)
Elena fell asleep on me, and I let Gunnar have a turn holding her so I try to help out in the kitchen and take some pictures. Besides, I try not to hog all the fun.
My mom LOVES Thanksgiving. She always likes to have some activities to help us focus on being thankful. This year she even had something prepared for Grace to do. When I asked Grace this morning what her favorite part of Thanksgiving was, she said coloring, so aparently, it was a hit!
Auntie Ann helped her with cutting the leaves.
Finally it was time to eat. The food was all delicious. I love Thanksgiving food!
We have been trying to get a decent family picture that included Elena. This is always tricky, as the more of us added to the group, the harder it gets. Michael set up a tri-pod so we tried again out in front of my parents house.

Ann, Maria and I were hanging out while he was getting things ready. You really have to be careful what you do when someone has a loaded camera.
I think the final project came out okay.After dinner we hung out. Grace got Grandma and Uncle Danny to read her books. Elena actually seemed to enjoy the book reading as well. It was super cute.I love this picture of Daniel and Grace. Sooo cute!Grace loves the "don't break the ice." Gunnar had never seen it before, so my dad showed him how to play. Who knew that game had such a far reaching age span appeal?
Finally, a family picture before we headed home. I don't know why we always wait until right before we come home when Grace is tired. Oh well, there is always next year.Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful day!

Happy Thanksgiving

In the spirit of thanksgiving, here are some pictures of Grace and Elena in their Happy Thanksgiving shirts.

I am so thankful for what God has done in my life. I hope you all have a wonderful day, surrounded by family, food and fun. Happy Thanksgiving!

Valley Baptist Thanksgiving Outreach

Sunday night we had our first annual bi-lingual Thanksgiving potluck and outreach. Try saying that 10 times fast! It was actually tons of fun and there was lots of food, which is always a winning combination.

Our church has an outreach to the migrant workers in our area. Mostly they are from Guatemala, although some are Mexican. They are hardworking guys, who you could tell, really appreciated the yummy meal.

The whole service was in both Spanish and English. When Gunnar spoke, Alberto (the leader of the Hispanic ministry) translated for him. Our good friend Marcus Preciado did the music. We go way back with Marcus (he did the music at our wedding) and we love him and his family so much! It is always a joy to see them. My family also came up, as my dad was the featured special speaker. He spoke in both English and Spanish, which is extremely difficult to do, but he pulled off very well.

Anyways, pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

Gunnar and Alberto give the instructions on the food

Marcus leading in worship

Grace with Marcus's daughters Macey and Kayla

Kayla wrote Grace this adorable note...how cute is that??

Grace wrote her back. Apparently it said "Grace love Kayla" unfortunately, Grace's handwriting is still not very legible. Maria enjoyed the party favors

Grace, on the other hand, went straight for the table decorations

A kiss for GrampyGunnar with some of the guys from the Hispanic group. They were super cute and all wanted to get their picture taken with him. What can I say? I married a super star. :)
I love my sister!

The sisters with Daniel
Happy family! How adorable is Grace's smile?

I can't figure out which of these last three pictures is my favorites, I love them all so much! I love the interaction between Maria and Grace. They both can always bring a smile to my face.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful day yesterday. There were all the makings of a great party: food, family, fun, faith and more food. :) My parents and my dear sister Maria came up around noon. My father-in-law, Dick, came in the afternoon, and my brother Daniel came in the evening after work. Grace was in heaven with all that food and people to pay attention to her.

Maria guards over the light lunch appetizers....they were delicious!!

Grace LOVES olives and cheese, so it was her kind of meal!

Grace loves Dulce (my sisters dog) and Guapo

The girls

Time for Dinner!!

We are blessed to have such a wonderful family!

Grace loves having Grandma "Ta" read to her

Daniel was able to get off a little earlier than he had originally thought, so even though we had finished eating already most of the food was still warm when he got there. It was so nice that he was able to hang out and have dessert afterwards with us.


Munching on the thanksgiving "decorations"

At the end of a happy holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are having my parents, Maria, and Gunnar's dad over. I love thanksgiving not only because of all the yummy food, but because I have soooo much to be thankful for.

I could go on and on about all I have to be thankful for, but for now I will leave you with some recent pictures from around here that I hope can make you smile. :)

Freshening up before bed

Auntie Ann gave her a magnetic doll house which she loves.

In the Gap with Tia

Gracie loves her Tia Maria

The day before she broke her arm....

She LOVES shoes