Final trimmings...

A few more touches added today: outdoor lights, wreath for the door, star to top the tree, tree skirt, our advent calendar from Chi-Chi and the stockings are hung!  Pshew.

Just so you know....

Not to take away from Ian's beautiful pictures, but yes I do realize that there is something missing from our tree!  No angel or star on top!  We're working on it :)

Deck "Vantage Circle" with boughs of holly...

I always remember as a child my Dad being so excited to take down the big boxes of Christmas decorations, and getting all the lights in a row!  My Mom was the machine that took down all the regular decorations, and redecorated the entire house into a winter wonderland!  This year Laura and I did this yearly tradition for the first time.  Here is part of our living room:

Our 1st Thanksgiving!

Laura and I just enjoyed our 1st Thanksgiving as the "Belanger" family.  The menu was short, easy and yielded mucho leftovers!

• BBQ Chicken for Laura
• Veggie Burger for Ian
• Corn
• Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes (we should have invited the whole neighborhood!!)
• Crescent roles

Hope you had a relaxing day too...

On the Lions:  I predicted 814-3...  I was close, 47-10.  Can the Lions just win ONE regular-season game this year??

Jumping the gun?

Laura here!  Just so you know, I just put the Christmas tree up!  Since we had Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, I figured it was an okay thing to do!  I wanted a real one but Ian tells me they are super expensive here, plus we have a dog who likes to eat things.  Ian is out buying Christmas lights right now because apparently we don't have any.  

Is this too early!?!?!

CRAZY DOG!

Hey!  We got home from North Carolina about an hour ago, and the first thing I did after unpacking was wash myself, and wash the dog.  I know at times Ian and I treat and talk about Malik like he was a human being and child of ours....but he's just so funny!  Here's a video of what he does after his bath.

 

Touring "Reed Gold Mine" and my Dad's birthday...

Today is Jeffery's birthday, he is 56.  For some reason, I thought that he was 58, but not yet, just 56.  We got him a card that said he is a "classic" as in classic cars... He like it.  We went to Rosarios for lunch.  It is a local Italian joint that is SOOOO yummy.  Tonight we had planned to go out to dinner, but we all had eaten too much for lunch, so we decided to "86" that, and eat here at the house...and eat my Mom's delicious-looking cake!

Today's adventures lead us into "gold country."  Just to the south here is Reed Gold Mine .  A snippet from their Web site describes it:

Reed Gold Mine is the site of the first documented gold find in the United States. From this discovery, gold mining spread gradually to nearby counties and eventually into other southern states. During its peak years gold mining was second only to farming in the number of North Carolinians it employed. The estimated value of gold recovered reached over one million dollars a year. North Carolina led the nation in gold production until 1848, when it was eclipsed by the great rush to California.

The tour guide was really knowledgeable, and told us a lot about how the element of gold actually came about in the area.   The highlight of the tour was walking into an old mine (50' underground!)

Here is a handful of photos that captured our adventures (all of them are on Facebook )!  We leave for FL in the AM, although it will be sad to leave family, we will not miss seeing our breath when we walk outside or having to wear hats, gloves and winter boots!  :)