OK, Christmas, we're ready!

Our house finally has it final lights on (icicle lights were on hold due to staple gun issues), our tree is up, presents are wrapped, and all the halls are decked!

Next up, short trip to NYC to see some of the family and friends we still have up in that area including the Rockettes!  We leave tomorrow night and my fancy schmancy camera will be in tow!  :-)

Almost ready for Christmas!

At last, the hubby and I picked up our Christmas tree yesterday (after a looong week back from thanksgiving break) and got it all trimmed up!

Work Release Program Pays Off

Mr Speedbird here,

Sorry this ones a bit late :-( While deployed I got the chance to go off base and explore some of Dubai. I went to two malls there: the Dubai mall, and the Mall of the Emirates. We first stopped at the Rainforest Cafe in the Dubai mall because after the over hour long bus ride we were famished and I was up to my usual shenanigans ;-)

Afterward we got to an interesting fountain that spanned four floors inside the mall.

Lastly, with souveniers in hand for myself and the Mrs. (I got her what she always requests, a shot glass to add to the collection, and myself a toy remote control helicopter) I ran across a sign I couldn't pass up without taking a picture of.

Outside the Dubizzle mall, is the tallest building in the world at 828 Meters (160+ stories) . To put it into perspective for you, the Empire State Building is 381 meters (102 stories). It was impossible from where I was standing to actually get the whole thing into one picture. So here she is in all her glory, I give you the Burj Khalifa.

Thanksgiving Highlight Reel

So, we did it!  The husband and I survived our very first family Thanksgiving day feast!  Our first visitors, my father and brother, arrived separately on the Tuesday before.  My father arrived in San Francisco, and my brother in Sacramento... landing an hour apart from each other (it is a 35 min drive to SAC and a 1hr drive to SFO)!  Nonetheless, thank goodness for his and her vehicles and we split up to pick them up.  5 more people, hubby's aunt, uncle, brother, and 2 cousins (one of whom was 6),  all arrived the next morning. 

That afternoon we decided to take the whole clan, all 9 of us to the flightline and introduce them to our respective airplanes.

We then went out to eat and crammed everyone into a place in our home.  That night 3 more people came, hubby's cousin, her boyfriend, and her 6 year old daughter.

That night I had trouble sleeping.  I was so worried about cooking the 13lb turkey we purchased and organizing cooking everything else!

The morning of turkey day we started it off with some banana nut pancakes and then started COOK FEST 2010.   We took the "thawed out" $7 Safeway bargain turkey out of the refrigerator only to find that it was not quite as thawed as we'd hoped.   Long story short, after about 2 hours of waiting for the turkey to thaw and for hubby's aunt to bring us the celery, onion, and carrots I forgot for the stuffing, we finally seasoned, stuffed, and shoved the turkey in the oven. 

For appetizers/lunch I prepared some deviled eggs and sweet potato fries as well as a round of sourdough to dip into our 1 year old garlic and rosemary olive oil.   The trimmings to the turkey included a maple, pineapple, and cherry glazed ham, stuffing, my mac and cheese casserole, hubby's green bean casserole, dad's sweet potato pudding, auntie's fruit salad, my mashed potatoes/yams, sweet corn, and dinner rolls.  YUM!  Lastly, dessert consisted of my pumpkin spice cookie cakes, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and vanilla ice cream.

Our lovely main dinner table.  BTW, this was brand new, purchased via a seller on Craigslist!

By this time it was about 5:30pm and everyone was staaaaarving.  We didn't have much time for a full group picture.

Gorgeous!

The next day we took everyone on a very hectic trip to San Francisco - needing two vehicles.  Ugh.  Nonetheless, we got some gorgeous pictures out of it.

Cousin and boyfriend :)

Aunt and Uncle :)

Father and I :)

Brother in law

And one of my favorites of the day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, as we sure did.  

Welcome home Mister!

So you may already know, Mr. Speedbird has finally made it home safely from his second deployment!  I was lucky enough to make it onto the flightline to welcome him personally.  :-)  Words cannot describe how unbelievably happy I was to see him walk down those long stairs and into my arms!!!!

During the final weekend the hubster was deployed, without his knowing, I went on a day trip to Napa with some friends from the squadron and their wives.  It was on this trip that I finally chose a winery to join and get all of the benefits.  The Kuleto Estate winery sits atop a lovely hill in the heart of Napa Valley with views and a setting to die for.  Sitting outside at one of its many viewpoints transports you to a central Italian villa. I fell in love with the view, and the wine, and the VIEW!  Unfortunately I didn't have my big time new fancy camera with me, but now that I'm a member, I will be taking more pictures and practicing the art!

I planned a trip to Napa the Saturday after he arrived, but the rainy season has hit the Bay area hard and we were rained in.  Hopefully soon we will visit the gorgeous grounds!

Until next time.