Food And Family

What was I most grateful for this year? We had not just one, but two sisters and their families join us for Thanksgiving.  We had a big, old-fashioned family holiday and it was delightful. Sabrina coordinated the cooking and provided all the recipes and everything was delicious and perfectly done. I loved working with her in the kitchen, she can multi-task like nobody's business. I learned a lot and enjoyed every minute.  During dinner I looked around the table and every seat was filled with a member of my family enjoying that meal and that moment together.  It was a beautiful sight and definitely something to be grateful for.  

The Cooking

 The Table

 The Food

The Family

42

This man is now officially 42 years old

He may be old, but he is still the funnest person I know. 

Happy Birthday Steve! 

Hogwarts In Hollywood

Now I never have to go to Florida, Hogwarts is coming to me!  

16 For Dinner

We had a houseful of family for Thanksgiving.  I was so happy to have everyone join us for the holiday.  I haven't had a big family Thanksgiving since I left Arizona, I had forgotten what it's like. 


I am still going through all the pictures from our holiday adventures, we did a lot more than just eat turkey.  I will post about all the fun we had very soon.

End Zone

SRV Freshman Football 2011

9 - 1

Division Champions

#60

There are things I will not miss about football season (washing football laundry!) but there are plenty of things that I'm sad are over.  I love going to the weekly games, I love seeing Dane in his uniform, watching him play, seeing him interact with his teammates... It's all good and it's been a great season. Dane has worked hard everyday since June and he learned a lot about football and about himself. Dane isn't sure that he will play football next year so this season and all his experiences are even more meaningful. The last game of the season was a huge win over their cross-town rival, Monte Vista, so the Freshman Wolves get to go out on top with the ultimate bragging rights.  Not a bad way to end it all.

Steel Magnolias

Dagny has been acting and dancing since she was quite young.  She has been involved in countless performances over the years and usually I'm involved backstage in some way. I do hair and make-up, costuming, stage management etc... Most of the time when she was dancing I was watching from the wings, I never watched a performance from the audience.  When she was in a play and I did get a chance to actually sit in the audience, I had been involved in the production so there was no element of surprise, I knew what was coming.  Steel Magnolias was the first major thing she's ever been involved in that I had nothing to do with. Even though I had seen the movie and knew the story, I had no idea what the show was going to be like. I loved walking into the theater with a feeling of anticipation. Before the first show I'm fairly certain that I was more nervous than Dagny, but I should have known that my nervousness was completely unnecessary. Dagny, and the entire cast, were amazing.  The set was so well done and the costuming was spot-on.  It was such a professional production, truly impressive.  Dagny's character, M'lynn, is the emotional center of the show, when she gives her final monologue it leaves the audience in tears.  As an audience member I cried along with everyone else, as her mother I was completely blown away by what Dagny did on that stage.  As M'lynn would say, "It was one of the most precious moments of my life, thus far."  

the set

the cast

Part Of Her World

The Little Mermaid has been part of Dagny's life all her life.  She has loved Ariel forever. From the moment she first saw her in a storybook, long before she ever saw the movie, there was something about The Little Mermaid that intrigued Dagny.  I don't think there was a piece of Ariel merchandise she didn't own, her room was (tastefully) decorated with all things Little Mermaid, she had Under The Sea themed birthday parties, the highlight of every Disneyland trip was seeing Ariel, she dressed up as Ariel for Halloween for 2 years running... It was adorable.  Obsessive, but adorable.  

Halloween, at 3 and 4

A Day at Disneyland was not complete without a visit (or two) to Ariel's Grotto

(you wouldn't believe how many pictures like this there are)

this is what a typical Dagny Christmas looked like 

The Little Mermaid obsession lasted for several years, but at some point all the toys got put away and Dagny moved on to other things.  She got about the business of growing up and I thought we had seen the last of Ariel. Apparently not, Dagny decided that this was the year to bring her back.  The Little Mermaid is 16, Dagny is 16, this seemed like the perfect year to dress up as her again.  Only this time with legs, not fins.  I will admit that I had a ridiculously good time putting together this costume.  Partly because it is just a great look, and partly because I loved that this is the costume she chose.  There's some kind of beautiful symmetry about it.  


Halloween was on a Monday this year so all the parties had happened over the weekend, which left Dagny actually home on Halloween night.  She decided she wanted to be in charge of giving candy to the trick-or-treaters.  In true Dagny fashion she went all out.  I helped her put together her own "grotto" and she sat on the porch in full costume with The Little Mermaid soundtrack playing.  She got to live out the fantasy of being a Princess at Disneyland when little kids came up to her and called her Ariel and asked to take a picture with her.  She stayed in character the whole time, she gave those trick-or-treaters the full experience.  It was fun to watch, and it's hard to say who was having more fun, her, or them. 

Ariel, with dinglehopper

The Bow 

(which I made and am unabashedly proud of)

The Grotto

with pumpkin Flounder