Our Thankgiving

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday.  It is a wonderful time to be with family and friends.  No gifts, just food.

I love to cook, especially for the holidays.  This Thanksgiving was low key.  Scot's dad and brother came to visit us and to have dinner.  They brought us smoked sausage links  so that I can make our favorite:  Kolaches.  We tried to convince his dad to move here so that he could be near us.  I don't think we succeeded especially after the Saturday drive on the winding roads.  We're getting used to the terrain.  Still not ready to live on the mountain though.

We had a traditional meal along with a Cajun Fried Turkey.  Dessert consisted of: Banana Pudding w/ meringue, Lemon meringue, Apple, Pecan, and  Pumpkin pie, All assembled and baked by Yours Truly ;)
All desserts were devoured in just a few days. 

Here's the Chef and Main Course

Andrew and Emma raided  the cheese ball Scot made (his mother's recipe) It's a holiday tradition.

Chattanooga Train Ride

We have learned not to tell the kids when we are planning to do something fun.  This eliminates the thousands of questions and headaches that follow.

We planned on taking a Fall Foliage train ride that takes you through Georgia, but it was canceled due to September flooding.  The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has a train ride that runs on the weekend.  It's a 6 mile trip that lasts an hour long.

When we arrived at the Museum,   Barret was hooting with excitement.  He loves trains.  His room shows it.
We made it right at boarding time, which made it a little difficult to get a party of six seated.  All 4 passenger cars were nearly full. It took some rearranging (thanks to the nice passengers) to get us all seated together.  The train takes use through a Civil War horseshoe shaped tunnel that is 948 feet long (and dark I might add). We got a live tour guide that told us civil war stories. One was the Great Locomotive Chase that went from Atlanta to Chattanooga. The kids were fascinated (I was too).  The train takes us to a train yard.  There we watch a  live demonstration of the train turntable using our train engine.  We toured the restoration shop and then boarded the train to head back to the station.  The boys didn't want to leave.  They left kicking and screaming (literally).

Waiting for their tickets to be punched

Going over the bridge

Our tour guide looked a little familiar to Barret.  He waved and said "Hi Santa." in a casual way.  He saw Santa last year when we took a train ride on "The Polar Express".  I think he thinks Santa works for the Railroad when he's not delivering presents.

Here is our engine on the turntable.  I found a video of the train ride we took, in case you don't come out to visit us.

Fall Foliage

The Fall Foliage reached it's peak the last week of Halloween.  It was really wonderful seeing all the beautiful colors.  Nathan said it looked like a painting.  We took a Saturday drive through the valley.  Nathan said it looked like a painting.   My pictures didn't come out well  because I was taking them in the car. 

Here are some I took in the neighborhood.

This is the ridge behind our neighborhood

 

Taken from our front door

The yellow trees were bright as the sun.

Andrew said he made a big leaf pile at recess and took turns jumping in it.  I reminded me of the fun we had when we were kids.  It sounded like so much fun.  I wanted to do it too :)

Happy Fall!

No Tricks, Lots of Treats

 "Faith"

We started off Halloween morning cleaning and carving our pumpkins that the kids got from our dairy farm trip.  We used templates for the kids but Nathan carved his out free handed.   We were invited to a Halloween party that evening and then we were to trick or treat in their neighborhood as a group.  Since we wouldn't be home that evening, we had a little party at lunch. The kids made pumpkin pizzas. We just cut pepperonis into triangles.  Easy peasy.  Jones soda  had candy corn flavored soda. I found them at Target. It was a hit with the kids.  

We made candy corn cookies from this blog site I steal many ideas from.   After the sugar rush.  They dressed in their costumes recession style.

Andrew wanted to be a robot.  We googled ideas and made one.  He immediately went into character when he tried it on for the first time.  We laughed so hard, tears were streaming down our face.  It was worth the headache.

Emma went as a ballerina.  It's her costume from her ballet recital.  I tried to talk her into making her a little scary. I suggested a head wound or a bloody leg.  She wouldn't have it.  She said Halloween costumes don't have to be scary.

Barret was wearing Andrews hand me down skeleton costume.

Nathan was low key.  He carried his bow and went as a hunter.

Here are some pics and their pumpkins before the party.

I like them illuminating in this picture

Spooky!

When we got everyone in bed.  Scot and I "inspected"  their candy and confiscated items that looked like they could be possibly tainted and potentially harmful.  We siezed all the dark chocolate, almond joys, a couple of reeses pieces and a few peanut m&ms.  We took our life in our hands and consumed these items quickly.  Thankfully, there were no harmful additives.  Mission Complete.