30th Annual Buddy Party

Every December, Doug and I take part in a strange phenomenon.  Men and women, decades after their high school graduation, gather at a home and rekindle friendships (and drink a lot!).  Even though they only see each other once a year, they act as if they were just talking last week.  Doug has a group of friends that have been getting together for the last 30 years!  Some of them went to grade school with him.  They are a great bunch of friends who party like high schoolers once a year to stay young.

Family – so many to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.We spent this holiday surrounded by loved ones.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Doug’s parents home.  I just love it when I look around and see the smiles on faces and hear laughter- from quiet giggles to loud belly laughs. Our family “landscape” is noticeably changing.  Now Doug’s parents have great- grandchildren at the holiday table.

Four generations of family…. Memories to treasure always.

Halloween Fun

Doug’s brother, Art has a Halloween party.  We had not dressed up in a long time so we put on some outifts and blended in with everyone else!  Don’t you love the pumpkin my niece carved (like the ghost from Ghost Busters!)

Harvest time at Apple Hill

So my girlfriends and I finally found a date that worked for all four of us to escape… We were all burned out, in some way or another and really needed a change of scenery.  Our first stop was Starbucks, of course!

Afterwards we headed up to Apple Hill.  This is a well known area of our Northern California foothills.  There are several apple groves and farms there.  Every fall, the farms open to the public to sell apples.  Anything apple that is - Apple pies (fresh or frozen), apple fritters, apple donuts, apple butter and apple cider.  There are also craft vendors set up at every farm and depending on the day, there may be live entertainment.  We girls went on a Thursday near the end of the season and had a great time with fewer crowds. We ate, shopped, and laughed the whole day.

When we left, we decided to stop at Red Hawk Casino for lunch.  We aren’t a gambling bunch so we really did go for the food (and gave the slots about $10 each)! To further maximize our girlfriend time, we stopped at the Folsom Outlets on the way home and did some more shopping!