fun with friends

this weekend we had our friends ann & john, along with 3 yr old issac and 5 mo old noah, come visit us. brian and john both attended school in monterey at the same time- and thanks to lynn and bob- ann and i became fast friends! they are now living in italy and were in germany the past week while john attended a conference. so on their way home, they came to stay with us!

it has been almost 2 year since the boys saw each other! we used to call issac "baby issac" and now he is nearly bigger than tate!
little baby noah and i enjoyed some snuggling time!

so lucky to have her as my friend! if only we lived closer...

after ann & john headed out this morning, we went to the leadbetter's for "fake thanksgiving" with our friends. since we will all be traveling next week, we thought it would be fun to have our american thanksgiving early...

poor brian just wanted a little alone time in the kitchen to make sides to bring to thanksgiving- it wasnt going to happen! this is proof that he is the ultimate multi-tasker!

why do i like to make food into fun shapes? these are sugar cookies that are supposed to look like autumn leaves... (thank you kristen for searching for these cookie cutters amidst christmas decorations!)

do i have a problem or what?! (gobble, gobble...)

sara even let us all use the real china! the table looked beautiful, the house smelled fabulous and the food was delish!

in honor of tennessee winning last night, macy got all dressed up!

"is there a turkey out there?"

time to eat! chris made a homemade brine for the turkey and brian and i both agree that it was the most flavorful and moist turkeys that we have had in years!

looks like real thanksgiving to me! yes, there was football on the tv. at least they were in charge of the kids!

we have so much to be thankful for!

like these two little angels...

german ovens are tiny! we all refer to them as "easy bake ovens." somehow, sara and chris managed to get a 25 lb turkey cooked- and then pack the oven with all the side dishes too! it was very impressive.

our 2nd annual daddy daughter thanksgiving picture!

we had an amazing day, surrounded by loving friends- who are essentially our family here. we truely to have so much to be thankful for- the health of our parents is at the top of the list this year! and so is our trip to madrid, spain tomorrow! we are headed there to visit our friends mike & sarah fellona (and their 4 little girls!) who we were stationed with in north carolina, arkansas and california! we will celebrate thanksgiving with their family, relax and plan to take in some sights during the week too. 7 days in sunny spain- here we come! (perfect since there are snow flurries in the forecast here in stuttgart for the next week.)

happy thanksgiving to you all. where ever you are, what ever you do- we hope you feel loved, have ample food and take time to recognize all you have to be thankful for...