A Thanksgiving in Washington

We were so thankful to be in Washington with the Tirrell family for Thanksgiving. It was a small gathering with my parents and siblings, which we loved. Most of the morning was spent in the kitchen preparing, cooking and baking. Our menu included the traditional dishes of mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, sweet potatoes, rolls and of course, turkey. I also decided to try some new recipes to contribute to the meal like roasted brussels sprouts with craisins and bacon, sweet potato salad with apples and walnuts and finally mashed cauliflower.

Every day of our Washington trip included some kind of adventure. The first activity of note was an outing to Olympia's one and only Warehouse Rock Gym (of course we had to go rock climbing). There was one route that was particularly sentimental (see picture below). We stayed until our forearms were "pumped". 

To celebrate the official beginning of the Christmas season, we built our own gingerbread houses. With some graham crackers, frosting and more than enough candy, we put together some pretty festive little houses. In addition we went to the Painted Plate to glaze our own Christmas ornaments. We each chose to glaze a classic sphere. It was a fun time designing and painting the glaze. We're excited to see how they turn out. 

We couldn't leave the Evergreen State without cutting down our very own. We decided that the Schilter Family Farm was the perfect place to search for our Christmas centerpiece. After much perusing for the perfect fir, we found a noble one we thought would look magnificent in the family room. Jeff got to use the beloved yellow saw and soon enough we had our very own tree. It was a fun little farm and we had a good time exploring the grounds with the family.