"Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day." -Robert Caspar Lintner

David Seth (my brother here at school with me) and I went to California again this year for Thanksgiving.  Good thing we did, too, since there was a giant blizzard in the Utah area and we would've been stranded had we tried to go anywhere north of Provo.

It was so fun!

Breaking bread for the stuffing.

Our beautiful, yet easy to clean up Thanksgiving table.

The turkey!  Are you a dark or white meat person?  I favor white meat :)

The Connecticut group.

Monkey bread.  I seriously gained 5 pounds over break because we ate so much delicious food!

The beach :)  (A necessity in California.)

I couldn't really play volleyball (due to my ankle) so I took over as photographer.

BFFLs.

(Using that term makes me relevant and cool, thank you very much... not a loser?  Haha.)

Bonfire!  We roasted marshmallows and sang songs.

We played the Blanket Game (a classic).  The object of the game is to hide people under blankets and get the other team to guess the wrong number of people hiding under the blankets.

The aftermath.

We also got to play with the Xbox Kinect.  It's like the Wii, but without controllers and it was so entertaining (especially when you watched the participants haha).  Here is a video of me "boxing."

I love California.

Now on to Christmas!!!

D'oh

While I was home, I decided that we HAD to have homemade donuts, cider, and caramel covered apple slices to celebrate autumn in New England.  My mother is awesome, so she.... :

Our family played Pictionary and ate goodies.  It was simple, fun, and perfect- just the type of last night that I wanted in Connecticut :)

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

So I haven't blogged in FOREVER.  Put it down to, you know, flying across the country twice in a week, going to one of my best friend's weddings, hanging with friends and family, and then doing all of the makeup homework from the week of school I missed.  Whew.  I'm tired just remembering all of it :P

But can I say WORTH IT?!?!?  I had so much fun :)  And I love New England.  And family.  And autumn time!  It is my favorite season, by far.  I'm definitely a Fallie.  (Be prepared for lots of Autumn-biased posts in the next couple months.  You've been warned :P)

For instance, while I was home, I decided my family needed to go on a hike to spend time together and view the colorful trees of Connecticut.  We went to the Hublein Tower and it was lovely.  My brother David, who was trapped in Provo, asked us to take a million pictures for him.  Here are the results:

At the beginning of the trail with (left to right) me, my sister O'Kara, my mom, and my sister-in-law Suzie.  I was trying to convince everyone that we NEEDED to take a jumping picture haha.  My mom's face is my favorite by far.

The jumping picture.  They refused to jump (lame) but I am way cool so I went for it anyway :P  My mom's face wins again.

Climbing the trail.

My uber adorable parents.  They are the best because they love their children, are smart, funny, and kind.  I love them lots.

Suzie has the CUTEST new haircut.  It definitely reminds me of my old haircut.

Um, I might be the vertically challenged one in my own family.  (Kara is 10 years younger than I am.)  Sigh... we are pretty cute sisters, though!

I tried to convince Kara to go to the edge to get a picture with the colorful foliage, but she refused.  So I took a goofy picture instead.

We got to see this hang glider guy launch!  It was pretty cool.  After waiting for the right break in the wind, he just jumped off the cliff, floated up, and proceeded to pass multiple times in front of the cheering crowd.

Hublein Tower was built to resemble a castle for a food magnate's girlfriend.

I think it would be a pretty awesome summer home.

I love my sisters (including N'Krysta (not pictured but I love her too!)).

You can see 3 or 4 states from the top of the tower.

There's good ol' Hartford in the distance.  (Speaking of Hartford, exciting news, right?)

My family is so adorable!

It was a fun day, with a hike, picnic lunch, family, castles, and lots of fall color.

On the ride home, O'Kara decided she was freezing and so she piled all of the random clothes she could find onto her small frame.

She didn't want me taking pictures haha.

I Miss This....

Silly car rides with the sisters :)

Top Chef, Here I Come!

My mom and sister are at Girl's Camp this week, so I get to be in charge... of dishes, cleaning, and food, that is :P

I decided to make homemade pasta and sauce for dinner tonight.  I used a friend's recipe, and I know there are recipes and instructions all over the web.  Try it out!

Delizioso!

Munch at Brunch

For breakfast this morning, O'Kara and I turned these random ingredients...

...into delicious Lemon Blueberry Scones.

Yum :)

Madame Blueberry

Today my mom, sister, and I went blueberry picking (one of my favorite summer traditions)!