Laurie's cat Brigit
While her cat may not be into the Holiday Spirit, Laurie certainly is! Thursday was that most American of all holidays, Thanksgiving Day. Our family stretched it out into a four-day weekend affair and we had a wonderful time with family and friends. This is a wonderful holiday in my opinion as families and friends gather to rejoice in giving thanks for all of life's blessings.
The first stop on our magical mystery tour was my mother's home in San Marino, California.
My sister Linda
Linda is the star of any Thanksgiving Day feast at our ancestral home. She is the main chef who consistently comes up with memorable meals but she is wise enough to dole out chores to each of us to make her life somewhat easier before we sit down for dinner at 3:00 p.m.
Our niece Lauren Wintroath and
our daughter-in-law Vanessa
They were busy setting up the table and doing anything that Linda needed.
Michael and Laurie
Mike is wearing a matching chef's coat to the one adorning Linda, I have no clue where he got it. As we got closer to dinner time, he and his mother broke out into a spontaneous dance.
Move over Fred and Ginger.
While Laurie was busy carving
the turkey . . .
. . . I was mashing the potatoes.
Meanwhile, my mother, Chuny, and my aunt Katy were busy looking at my Camino photos on my computer
Table for ten, please!
Mike got artsy with the camera
Vino Tinto from the Rioja Region of Spain
PERFECT!!!
Family Photo
Mike, Vanessa, Katy, Linda, Chuny, my brother-in-law John Wintroath, Laurie, Lauren and my sister Marilyn Wintroath
Michael seriously into the
Spirit of Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving Day was so great that we opted to do it all over again on Friday at our house in Camarillo with Laurie's side of the family!
Our niece Amy Hicks with Vanessa
I was so excited to hear that Amy, a student at Chapman College is going to go on a three week tour of Italy (Rome, Florence and Venice) this spring as part of an Art History class . . . AWESOME!!!
Our nephew Scott Hicks and Michael
Scott is a student at Northern Arizona University. Happily, he seems to be enjoying college life to the fullest.
Harry Potter dropped in for some yams
No, this was not my plate!
Laurie's sister, Gayle Hicks cleaned her plate
Master Chef Laurie Contreras
Laurie did a great job again today in the kitchen. That is Gayle's husband David on the right of this picture through a wine glass.
The day also included the presence of David and Gayle's daugther Lyndsey and her husband Craig McKenzie, as well as our niece Sarah Gardner and her beau John Tidwell.
We were even able to SKYPE our nephew Tim Hicks in Poland where he is studying to become a doctor.
GOOD TIMES INDEED!!!
What would Thanksgiving be without FOOTBALL???
On Thursday, the Lions and Cowboys both lost as usual.
Friday had tons of great college games including #1 Oregon (11-0), above, beating # 20 Arizona (7-4) 48-29.
Second ranked Auburn (12-0) trailed # 9 Alabama (9-3) 24-0 before making a ridiculous comeback and winning 28-27.
The nation's #3 Boise State Broncos (10-1) were derailed 34-31 in overtime by #19 Nevada (11-1).
Johan Hammarqvist's West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3) broke out some really ugly "combat" uniforms but they played beautifully in beating Pittsburgh (6-5) 35-10.
Friday night was high school football night. Here are the results of Rio Mesa's playoff division.
2010 C.I.F. Western Conference
Quarterfinal Playoff Results
Serra 40 - Camarillo 7
Paso Robles 35 - Inglewood 21
Chaminade 37 - Atascadero 19
Arroyo Grande 17 -Dominguez 7
2010 C.I.F. Western Division
Semifinal Playoff Games
Friday, December 3
Paso Robles (10-2) at Serra (12-0)
Saturday, December 4
Chaminade (11-1) at Arroyo Grande (10-2)
It was good to see Arroyo Grande, the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last week, beat the #2 seeded Dominguez Dons. We lost to a very good team.
On Saturday, I got an early morning call from Brian FitzGerald about going for a hike . . . GAME ON!!!
The Santa Monica Mountains it was
We opted to drive to Newbury Park and embark on what would be an 8.37 mile hike through Big Sycamore Canyon to the Pacific Ocean.
The Trail Head
My Camino walking stick, hat and backpack
were MUSTS!
Ice on the trail, BRRR!
I'm telling you, it was cold in the canyon this morning, it was only in the mid-50s!
A cool, ancient oak tree
Watch out for the horses!
There were lots of Big Sycamores
in this long canyon
When I finished the Camino de Santiago last September, many people wondered why I had no desire to press on for three more days to Finisterre, the so-called "End of the Earth," where Spain meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The reason was simple . . .
I live only 15 minutes from my own Finisterre
This is the spot where our hike through Big Sycamore Canyon meets the Pacific Ocean.
Quite nice don't you think.
Mugu Rock in the distance
Saturday evening, we went to my in-laws house to watch the USC Trojans (7-5) lose to Notre Dame (7-5) 20-16. It was a rather dull offensive game but it was fun to watch it with Laurie's dad Bill Gardner, a diehard USC fan, and his wife Florene. We were also joined by Sarah Gardner, John Tidwell and two delicious pizzas!
Throw in a little root beer and we had the perfect ending to another great day in SoCal.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
1 comment:
Wauw, George, looks like you had a great holiday. And Mike aka Harry Potter gotta be your son, right? he looks so like you.
The food and wine looks delicious!
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