Smiles! Subtited "A Hayride to Remember"

The Thanksgiving four (as they have dubbed themselves) - Kylie, Nan, Jennie and Ko

As I reflect on this Thanksgiving celebration just past, the thing that pops into my mind first and foremost is the smiles :) It does my heart good to think of all those laughing faces and the fun we had.

We were so happy to have the family all gathered together and a few friends as well, to share our day. Our son Andrew and his wife arrived on Wednesday night, bringing our little grandsons. Ko came with close friends of his and Kylie's, Nan and Jennie, on Thursday. Kathy and Akio also came on Thursday and brought Akio's mom, Reiko. This was our first meeting with Reiko and what a sweet lady she is! we had a wonderful time getting to know each other.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Kylie came on Wednesday to help, and it seemed to me she did most of the cooking. The Thanksgiving meal is her "thing" and she loves to prepare it. I was happy to let her plan and delegate. She's much better at it than I am! The turkey was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and all the trimming were scrumptious too.



Kathy & Akio being posh (I had just jokingly given instructions to hold shoulders back and tummies in)



Reiko

I'm sad to say I didn't take very many photos in the hustle and bustle of getting the meal on the table and visiting with everyone through the course of the day. It's hard for me to believe, but the camera was actually forgotten for a while in the midst of all the activity! I ended up with only one picture of our oldest grandson, and none of our son, his wife and their youngest! I'm hoping someone else managed to get a few shots of the ones that I missed.



Apple pie is one of my favorite desserts!

My DIL did a wonderful job of peeling and slicing the apples for me, which made the pie so much easier. I'm not one of those clever people who can produce 7 pies in one sitting without breaking a sweat. To me making pie crust is not an easy task! I suppose the secret is to make it often, which I don't.

Kylie's creation - an Orange Mocha cake, and my pumkin cream cheese pie.

The cake will forever live in our memories as "The Cake Of Shame" (Kylie's name for it) and has a funny story attached to it, which you can read on Kylie's blog if you want to. Suffice it to say, the chocolate mocha ganache was delicious, but the cake itself was just a wee bit heavy :)



Reiko brought us an assortment of wonderful cheeses and crackers. She and others brought some delicious wines too. We had quite a feast!



Hayride group

My husband, Ross, had surprised me earlier in the week, telling me he was planning to take us all on a hayride after the meal. "OK, I thought, that should be fun". A pleasant little jaunt around our 300 acres, right? Little did I know what was in store.....


Here we are getting ready to go. That's the one picture I got of our grandson! His little brother stayed behind with his mom and dad because he needed to rest.

We've been enjoying some lovely mild temperatures since last Wednesday, with sunshine and dry days! What a blessing that's been.

So off we went, and I discovered I didn't know my husband as well as I'd thought! He turned out to be quite the adventurer....



High on the hill overlooking our farm

First he took us up a very steep hill. Granted, the view from the top was spectacular, but my heart was in my throat all the way up and down. He's taken me up here in our old jeep in the past with me protesting all the way. If I must be on this hill I want my feet planted firmly on the ground and not in any vehicle.

Next we drove up to our long meadow which is the eastern boundry of the farm, and from there proceeded towards the woods and the old logging road. Now I'm thinking, "He's not planning to take us down that old logging road, is he?" But, that's precisely what he had in mind!

So through the woods we went, bumping and sliding, dodging branches and commenting that we should've written wills before embarking on this journey. When we emerged in the meadow above the barn we breathed a collective sigh of relief.

And so back home we came, laughing and joking after a very memorable ride. That was one way for our guests to see our acreage I guess, but when I asked Kathy the next day what Reiko had thought of it she said, "She had a wonderful time but she told Akio she is never going on another hayride!"

I wish I'd taken more photos on the hayride, but I was too busy hanging on!