Saturday, November 24, 2012

so good.


The friends we are with for Thanksgiving have moved since our last visit and are now living just blocks away from the house we lived in when we lived in Richmond.  That has been such a lovely perk of this trip.  We loved walking these streets and alleys and spent a lot of time at the nearby school playground when we lived here...



aren't these pretty?  what's Thanksgiving without a little crafting?
We have known this family since our kids were even littler - the littles were 18 months when we met and now they're big strapping seven year olds - so there is a lot of comfort and flow with them, but it was best when we were out enjoying the world together.  You can almost watch their primal brain kick in and take over as they leap from rock to rock and explore; their enjoyment is instant and goes deep.  After a morning taking in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (wow!!), they had a lot of energy to put into this romp.





The James River 

And then home to decorate and make food...




Chickpea cutlets and gravy, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, butternut squash and raspberry lemon pie...oof! Delicious.
well, hello, Jim! you are such a lovely host.
We got a surprise phone call from Dan, who is in Montreal at a conference. I think it made us miss him even more...(We're done with the travel for a bit after this.  Enough, already.)

"I can't express how much we miss you and love you and want you to be with us..."
Eliza and Papa
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It's a short trip with people we don't see near often enough, so we packed it in with more time on Friday at the river, this time over the swaying suspension bridge to Belle Isle...














So many things to be thankful for.  Friends to travel to who welcome you like family.  Friends to come home to who welcome you like family.  Healthy bodies and minds. Comforts like clean floors and laundry and so much good food and a warm safe place to sleep.  Our trip home today - through a light snow in the mountains of West Virginia - was so easy, though long, and I just kept running a list through my mind of all that we have in this life.  It is so good.