Thanksgiving Visit

We headed to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving this year.

I discovered Andy's was not longer going to have the pumpkin pie concrete after Thanksgiving, so we took a different route to the panhandle in order to get the beloved treat one more time. Yum.

We decided to make mini trip within our trip up to see Black Mesa. A.J. has hiked it several times but the rest of us hadn't...and still haven't! When we arrived, we discovered they had closed the trail due to some snow that was still there from a snowfall earlier in the season. We decided to at least climb up a portion of the mesa while were there.

Loving making his mother nervous. ;)

This girl didn't like the steep climb much, but thought it was great to see snow while she was there.

The next day was Thanksgiving!

Have to get a picture when we are all together!

We also had Mom and Dad's friend, Doug, with us at Thanksgiving so had to get one of all of us. :)

After all the delicious food we also played some games, including Heather and A.J.'s first time playing Bananagrams!

Attempt at a picture for our Christmas card but I didn't love it enough to send it out...
but still sharing on this post. :)

Mom fixed a delicious breakfast for my birthday before we headed home.

Lorelei was elated at a chance to pet the neighbor's horses on our way out.

A visit to downtown Guthrie was on my wish list so we did some shopping on our way home.

Then we were delighted when we discovered a drive through lights, so we added that to our drive home and it was a a highlight of the day.

We wrapped up the day with a cozy fire at supper.

Fall Fun

Canton Trade Days

I've been hoping to get Heather to Canton Trade Days and since the weekend fell over Halloween, it worked out great to go for this visit! We had a fabulous time looking for treasures. (The boys were there too, but no pics. ;) )

Wayback Barn and The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe

It felt SO good to fit in some family fun when Brad was finally feeling back to normal. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we headed to Wayback Barn on a Saturday afternoon and enjoyed the sunshine and outdoor time. Then we headed to watch The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe that a friend of Lorelei's performed in.

Highland Cow Painting

Lorelei enjoyed a painting class out in the country and got to pet and feed some highland cows.

The pictures below are a couple that Lorelei took. She even got to see some calves - they were so cute!

Golf

The boys are fitting in golf when they can (affordability and time are always a challenge) and tried out a new-ish free putting area at the PGA.

Walk With Friends

We met up with the Phungs and took a gorgeous fall walk on a new-to-us trail. We were delighted to discover a stream to play in too! Outdoor time with friends makes my heart so happy.

Rock Skipping

Favorite Fall Lunch

Lorelei and I absolutely love Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Pasta Sauce. The boys don't care for it, so the two of us made it for lunches and leftovers throughout the fall months. So. Yum.

Wayback Barn

Yep. Again. ;) Honestly I'd come here almost every day if I could! We celebrated middle school Friendsgiving at Wayback Barn. Although it was an event through our homeschool group for the middle schoolers, siblings are also welcome to join. This followed ManeGait so Lorelei joined in as well and even met a couple of new friends. Makin enjoyed ping pong, gaga ball, tetherball and football, as well as plenty of cookies from the sweets potluck.

Fabulous Friday - Lego Club and Field Trip to Patriot Paws

We packed in the fun on this Friday! First Makin had Lego Club. He started work on his project earlier this time but then ran into an unexpected snag. He had to come up with a Plan B that he wasn't excited about and then it didn't cooperate at Lego Club, so he was disappointed, but every experience is learning!

We headed to an animal behavior field trip to Patriot Paws. Patriot Paws is an organization that specializes in training and providing service dogs for disabled American veterans who suffer from mobile disabilities, traumatic brain injuries and/or past-traumatic stress. This was an amazing opportunity for the students to be able to see the real world impact that positive training can have. The trainers at PP use the same techniques the students have learned in class and are using positive-reinforcement training to provide a life-changing service to others. Wow.

Some of the veterans who have received dogs through the program.

Then, because I can't pass up a chance to check out a new-to-us location, we headed to check out beautiful views along with a treat.

Firepit Time

Its finally firepit weather again and we are loving it.

November Date

This month we headed to the area craft fair (which didn't have much) and tried some clam chowder from the Cousin's Maine Lobster food truck. Then we headed to the lake and enjoyed some conversation questions with our toes in the sand.