Happy Thanksgiving!

We have just adored our Thanksgiving Holiday. Full of good food, phone calls with family and fun with friends.

On Thanksgiving Day we had an absolute feast with our own little pilgrims & indians, all here without our families to spend the holiday...so, we create our own family! L to R: Chris, Tiffany, Shelby, Stacy, Me, Todd, Chase, Natalie & Erica (and Zoey the precious pup).
All of the food was AMAZING, full of flavor and made with love. Stacy made a turkey, cornbread dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, mini apple, blueberry & cherry pies; Tiff brought green bean casserole, pumpkin muffins, mimosas and wine :-); Nat brought sweet potatoes, mac n cheese, apple pie; Erica brought the ham; and I cleaned up the mess for hours. Yes, I try to earn my keep since I can't cook well. My mouth is watering just remembering....

I love this pic, because Stacy & Nat were helping me test where I had the camera sitting on self timer for the group shot, and Chase looked like, "what in the world are these crazy people doing"! Todd, Natalie & Baby Chase are neighbors down the way. We all met before Chase was even thought of. Wow, time flies.... We've since just adopted each other as siblings, helping take care of each other's dogs when out of town, kids when we're each in a crunch and just hanging out for fun.

Baby Chase's faces

Me & Tiff: Tiffany and her family (you guys know the precious kids, Joaquin & Esteban from previous blogs) moved in 2 houses down and it was love at first conversation for me & Tiff. She's my fellow Texas girl (from Victoria) and we've had lots of fun together. She's also my fellow wine lover, and we've been known to put the kids to bed, then gather at each other's homes and toast during the week nights...hehehehe

So, she didn't believe I could photoshop these well enough to get the major wine stain (you can't take me anywhere) off the front of my shirt and that she needed to cover me up. Just an excuse to love on me ;->Erica and my path's have crossed a few times! She took over my old job at Shell Supply & Distribution in Houston when I moved on to Lubricants. Poor thing inherited my office that I didn't clean out well, and left her with CD's, deodorant, toothpaste, and all kinds of junk. Then, she took on the Maintenance HR Rep role out here at the Refinery with me and we balance each other out so well! Work can be tough, but it's having friendly smiles like Erica's waiting every day that get me through the tough times. Love ya, girl.
Erica was also my process check at lunch..."Um, shouldn't we go around and say what we're grateful for?" Oops...the food just smelled soooo good! LOL! So, we did and that was the most special part of the day. So heartfelt by all.

Shelby: "I'm thankful for teachers that teach me."

I'm sooo proud of my smart little learner!

Me...I'm grateful for so much every day, but on Thanksgiving Day, I was overwhelmed with the love I felt for the people around the table. It's scary to leave home and wonder if you'll ever be engulfed by the love that only a family can give. And though it's a completely different kind of love, what I've learned is you do... just build your own version of family wherever you go. We have found so many genuine, selfless people out here in beautiful California, that it eases the pain of being without family and gets you through the intermittent visits with those back home.

My mother-in-law, Tesa, taught me long ago that it takes a village to raise children. And every year I understand even more what she means. All of our friends and ourselves are always bailing each other out for one thing or another, offering support and loving words, encouraging cheers, sharing frustrations about reality or just enjoying life together. I couldn't ask for a more amazing village that the one we've found out here, and this year, that's what I'm most grateful for.