Giving all sorts of Happy Thanks!!

We arrived in Sacramento last night after a quick 6 hour drive up the 5 to visit Brett's family for Thanksgiving. Grandpa John and Grandma Jan were so excited to see us!! It's great to be up here visiting with them again. It's been almost a year since we were here!

We were told that Barb was expecting us around 11am and we'd be going for a hike. Luckily Brett gave me a heads up on this so I knew to pack my tennis shoes.

Shortly after we arrived, Brett, Tom, Jessica, Kevin, Ashlee and I took off out the back door gate into the reserve behind the house. I think that everyone else would have called this a nature walk, but it was a good old fashioned hike to me. I even got winded near the top....but that might have been because I was having such a great conversation learning about Ashlee and Kevin's exciting traveling life.

At the top, we got a great view of Folsom Lake.

The hikers....I was all prepared for it to be cold up North....but I had worked up quite a sweat by the time that we got to the top. I really had wished that I had on a short sleeved shirt like Brett. :)

We stumbled across a lake of glass.

Brett tried his hand at skipping rocks!

We got off the path and picked up the walk back home through the neighborhood. We saw this kitty chasing a squirrel, and after he lost that battle, he thought to follow us for a bit. He followed us all the way to Barb's house, meowing and purring the whole time. He was so cute, and I loved his coloring. He looked like a little mini bengal tiger or something like that.

But when we got back to the house.....that is where the real wildlife was hanging out. Turns out that there is a wild peacock that hangs out in their neighborhood and makes appearances in their yard from time to time.

He sat on the rock outside the window and showed his stuff. Brett went out the backdoor to try getting a closer look...but he jumped the fence to get away.

But then.....Barb let us know that the bird was in the front. Brett went out there, and the chase ensued. Here is what happened. It's pretty funny....check it out. :)

Back at the casa, we snacked until it was time to chow on the real meal!! It all smelled so yummy. Grandpa had the honor of carving the bird. Evidently, Tom has managed to avoid doing this for something like 20+ years. So funny.

All the food was amazingly good!!! I went back for seconds and cleared both of my plates. Yup, yup....oink, oink....I know!!! We had such a great time at dinner too. I've never laughed so much at the dinner table.

Brett had a little bit too much fun with the serving spoons after dinner.

We had a great time together for Thanksgiving 2009!