Here Comes Santa Clause...

... okay, not for another month, but with the Christmas carols already playing, the trees already for sale, and the Christmas decorations already out on the shelves, it feels like Christmas is right around the corner!

Thanksgiving at home was a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time with the fam, and with the doggies :) Thursday my mom, dad and I went to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house. There were about 10 of us total-- the perfect sized group. We had all the usual food and it was yummmm... especially my mom's pumpkin pie :D After eating we hung around my aunt's house visiting and then went over to my great aunt's house to get together with more cousins for our traditional slide show. Most every time our whole family gets together, there is a slide show involved... usually featuring pictures from the latest far away travels. This year we saw some gorgeous pictures from a road trip my cousin Rich took through Nevada. We also saw a number of slides from when my mom and her cousins were all young and growing up on the ranch north of where my parents live now.

Friday my mom, dad and I braved the early afternoon Black Friday crowds at Target to look at some digital cameras. We escaped with our sanity intact and our arms empty of bags :) That evening I went with my mom, aunt, and 7 year old cousin Lizzie to see Enchanted. My movie pic was August Rush but unfortunately it hasn't reached the local movie theaters. :( So Enchanted it was. I have to admit it was actually a cute movie. And fun to see the scenes in New York City. In fact, there was one scene that was shot right across the street from the hotel I stayed in while I was there... I recognized the fountain in the little plaza.

Saturday and Sunday was spent mostly relaxing. Saturday my mom and I got pedicures, and then spent a couple hours going through OUR slides from the ranch for another slide show at my great aunt's that night. Sunday my parents went to church and I spent the morning packing my things up and playing with the doggies.

All in all it was nice to get away for a few days and relax! Now it's back to work again :( BUT, now I can start the countdown to Hawaii... 26 days to go!!