Thanksgiving at Lake of the Pines

Porter, Elsa and I hopped in the car and headed up to Auburn to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Lantermans. We had hoped to be there in about 2 hours but everyone else was heading out of the Bay Area so our 2+ hour drive turned into a grueling 5+ hour event. Thankfully, Elsa was a real trouper and did very little complaining about being in car seat for so long. We did pull off a couple of times to give her a break. We were so very happy to arrive and finally have our visit.

Here is a shot of Elsa getting all beautiful in her Auntie Chhanseda's big farm sink ... it was deep and big, just perfect for a relaxing bath.
As usual, Chhanseda put out an incredible feast with a turkey and a ham plus all the traditional side dishes and three kinds of pie... oh my, we all had plenty.


Davis did some cooking with Porter creating a wonderful "secret" pumpkin nut bread treat and then a delicious apple butternut squash soup topped with toasted pine nuts.

John and Bentley kept us all entertained with stories and we were treated like royalty. The boys are so good about giving up their rooms and beds to let us sleep in comfort.


The Lanterman house overlooks the Lake of the Pines... Porter came out on their deck and got this photo of Elsa and me just as the sun had set.

We all had such a nice time... it was great to hang out with the my grandsons and watch them take care of their little cousin, Elsa. She loved being there and running around in circles, a perfect house for doing just that!

Fortunately, our ride home was a breeze compared to the trip up and we made it back to Marin with only one stop to let Elsa play at the indoor play area at Northgate.

I am so thankful to have such a loving and welcoming family!.