a three fried turkeys kind of thanksgiving.

whoops. i did a really bad job taking photos this thanksgiving. i snapped some shots early in the day but in the midst of the family craziness my camera never made it out again until the very end. i'm bummed, but oh well. between frying three turkeys, making a ham, homemade rolls, appetizers, a bunch of sides & homemade pies with the ladies plus visiting with dad, mom, steven, heather, chris, jess, jacob, jayden, danny, thomas, uncle mike, uncle paul, aunt pam, josh, shauna, liam (that's 17) and a trip to the beh's to catch up with val, bernard, eleanor & lenny... can you blame me? yeah, it's always a full house and bustling with activity. sadly, not much is captured on film but that's okay. the rest of the memories are in our heads. my favorite moment(s) were all of us cracking up while watching old home videos. they're the best. it's funny and kinda crazy to see how our personalities as kids are pretty darn similar to how we are today. those videos are the best. 

{danny injecting one of the to-be fried turkeys with a special marinade}

{another one of the fried turkeys covered in spice rubs}

{the gold flatware polished and ready for setting}

{homemade pies & john's adorable chocolate acorn bites}

{heather making the homemade crescent dinner rolls - a family favorite}

{steven, danny and uncle mike taking on the turkey fryin'}

{me and heather monitoring the boys}

{jayden and her favorite one of us all... huntie. she kept trying to pick him up}

{hunter completely exhausted. jayden working on her highlight's puzzle with uncle danny}

{heather's delicious and pretty fall cookies. too bad jacob at them all - seriously}

simple pleasures.

donuts. coffee. sweatpants. sunday morning on the patio. cuddling a frenchie. 

i love donuts. danny not so much, but i do love them. i'm convinced that people who claim they don't like donuts are actually just scared of them and all their calories so the convince themselves they "don't like them." what's not to like? fried dough smothered in sugar? yum. 

we've heard lots of buzz about bosa donuts and decided to give them a whirl. two thumbs up.

shotgun.

we decided to drive out to california (vs. fly) this thanksgiving so huntie could come along.

i got shotgun on the way to san diego. ting got it on the way back home to phoenix. fair. 

our driving styles are totally different.

ting likes to crank the music up and cruise. or, play 21 questions. 

i prefer to chat or listen to an audiobook* (new to this trip). oh, and snack. danny had to take the tub of chex mix off my lap before i polished off the whole thing. 

*dog lovers have told me about the book the art of racing in the rain so when my girlfriend recently talked about it on her blog it prompted me to buy the audiobook for our roadtrip. thanks, shmiz! i'm loving it. 

beer friday.

forget black friday shopping. the day after thanksgiving, danny organized a mini "beer friday" brewery tour for us, steven & heather. we started at stone brew and ended at the lost abbey / port brewing company. the crisp "winter" day was the perfect excuse to sit outside and catch up with these two. we love our time with them.

stone brewing co.

one of the most awesome breweries ever. huge property with gardens, trees, chairs, picnic tables & firepits.

{one of the many patios}

{our first seats of the day}

{and no. steven & heather are not responsible for all the empty glasses behind them. ha.}

 

the lost abbey / port brewing co.

 an industrial no-frills brewery inside a warehouse.

{we've gotta get heather to acquire a taste for beer}

{i'll let you guess who won}

our family's version of a turkey trot.

just like last year (post here), we were up and at 'em for a Thanksgiving morning hike and walk around discovery lake. this year was just us kids (minus jess & jacob) since dad is still recovering from a recent shoulder surgery and mom stayed back to tend to him and all the turkey day fixings. i think matching track suits are in order for next year.

{the top of the trail}

{odie, my little brother steven & girlfriend heather}

{hunter was keeping an eye on things for us. he was super edgy and squealy that morning}

{discovery lake}

{danny's face = not loving hunter going insane over other dogs}

{hunter leading the pack - obviously}

{miss jayden and i sporting a purple and black theme}

{huntie was beyond pooped}

{jayden still had tons of energy. "let's run havie!"}

{we're all quite certain he would have jumped in after them if we'd have let him}