Golden Afternoon

Phee's lovely table at Thanksgiving

I hope that you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know we did. This was our first experience "coming home for the holidays" since this is the first time we've lived somewhere else for a long period of time, and it was all I hoped it would be: running around like headless chickens, lots of hugs, puppies, beer, friends, flower beds, CC's coffee stops, vampires, deer stands, with just a hint of a car wreck :)  Tis the season!

Apricot Brie Bites - this is an easy recipe from Louisiana cook and author Holly Clegg that I like to make for parties....they are always a hit and Joey's fav!

We really did have a great time being home - it had been nearly 6 months since my last trip to Louisiana, so it was time! There really is no place like home. But I must say it wasn't quite the same without my sister Maya. She sadly wasn't able to come in for the holiday. Thankfully we'll see her at Christmas. It was wonderful to get together with so many of our friends and family that we haven't seen in so long - it was refreshing to spend time with people who know me best; the people I can laugh, cry and just be myself with. I know it will take some time before we develop close relationships in Austin, but it'll be hard to compare to the ties we have from home. And that's okay! There's a season for everything in life. We enjoyed celebrating the Sabbath at our home church and getting to visit with some of our church family.



Joey got in as much time in the deer stand as possible, perhaps in an effort to avoid my over scheduling him with social appointments :) Just kidding!...but seriously? He didn't get a deer unfortunately, but he did have one in his sight, although she was too small to shoot. Joey is always the valiant hunter!



I helped my mom plants flowers in her beds one golden afternoon - you can learn a lot of things from the flowers! Her new rescue puppy Eleanor looked on. He is too cute and sweet! And yes, Eleanor is a boy...I would explain, but as I've said before, you can't fix crazy.

We had multiple lovely Thanksgiving feasts at our various family gatherings. Between mine and Joey's sides, we always have lots of places to go and delicious food to assist in inducing comas. All in all a wonderful week - let us rejoice and be glad in it! Looking forward to doing it again at Christmas!