"BON APPETIT!"

Last night Julia and I gave Kimberlee a Julia Child-inspired French birthday dinner celebration, and it was so much fun! We all saw "Julie and Julia" together, earlier this year, and immediately this night was in the works! As you know, the three of us have this tradition where two of us cook dinner for the birthday girl, which ensures we are all together, eating WELL, at least 3 times a year. Is this brilliant, or what??? I know... you wish you did this with your friends. Well, you should start because you'll love it.


Julia made this beautiful salad with strawberries, feta cheese and lots of other goodies. So delicious! She also brought, appropriately, French bread, and a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon.


Here's the main course simmering away: Boeuf Bourguignon. It took me a mere 4 1/2 hours to make the day prior, but it was so fun and so worth it!


Julia and I got Julia Child's most famous cookbook for Kimberlee... and I think she likes it! Kim, I can't wait until you have us over for dinner to sample another one of Ms. Child's recipes. ;)



We finished off a great dinner with creme brulee... mmmmmm. I made it because, not only is it French, but it's the birthday girl's favorite dessert. Happy birthday, Kimberlee... may the Lord bless you with your best year yet!

Tea at The Westgate

My friend Heather is about to turn 39 and wanted to take a few of us to The Westgate Hotel in San Diego for Afternoon Tea. I had never been to tea before, and it was such a treat. This hotel is stunning, and the tea room was just gorgeous... we all felt so very classy! We dined on the most delicious sandwiches, tea, of course (I chose peppermint), berries with cream and four tiny but elaborate desserts... but my favorite course was the golden raisin and sugar cane scone with Devonshire cream. Yum! The experience of it all, though, was the best part. It was so elegant, as were the friends I was with. Of course Kimberlee is one of my closest friends, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Trecia too. What a lovely afternoon with lovely ladies; thank you, Heather.


Beautiful Heather was absolutely glowing all afternoon. She's one of those people who exudes the radiance of the Holy Spirit. I love to be around her.


We were serenaded by the most angelic harpist I've ever heard. She made the ambiance just perfect.


Some sweet ladies were kind enough to take pictures of us (with all of our cameras) before we left, by the beautiful Christmas tree.




Here are various shots of the lobby... indulgent, extravagant and completely fabulous.

Mission San Diego de Alcala

As part of our California History class this year, the kids were assigned the project of choosing one of the CA missions and building it! We chose Mission San Diego de Alcala since we go to San Diego often - and it's one of the prettier missions! My mom gave this miniature brick and mortar kit to Zane for a birthday years ago, and it came in very handy! Zane's mission was the only one in our co-op that was built with tiny bricks and tiles! He and Will worked hard on it, and it turned out really well!


Here is Zane presenting his masterpiece in class at co-op. He did a beautiful job!



This week we took a family field trip to San Diego to see the mission Zane (and Daddy) worked so hard to build. Will took the boys and Grandma there while Sulli and I Christmas shopped at Fashion Valley. It was such a FUN day for all of us! Isn't this mission beautiful? It's the first California mission ever built (1769).


Here is the altar inside.


Zane bowed and prayed to God - not the altar. ;)


I love the boys by this beautiful fountain in the courtyard.






After the Mission trip (and Sullivan's and my Christmas shopping spree), Grandma treated us to a "Merry Christmas dinner" at the Cheesecake Factory! It was delicious as always, and we had a wonderful time.

A lovely evening with friends

Last week we had the Woods and the Howies over for dinner and had such a blast! Of course I love these girls (Kristy and Jill) and home school with them at our weekly co-op, but the guys are also special. Will has formed great friendships with them, and he and Chad have prayed together regularly for months now. Sometimes the three of them meet at 6 a.m. at a park nearby to have coffee, pray and encourage each other. God is so wonderful to give us the friends in our lives that we need the most.


I had to post this picture that Grandma took of the guys. Obviously, they knew it was not going to turn out! ;) She's so very sweet, but photography is not her forte'.


Jeff, Chad and Will (take two!)




To wrap up a wonderful evening (with many fun stories and lots of laughter), we had this delicious dessert that I will make again for Christmas Day: Peppermint Meringue Cake with Chocolate Buttercream. I love it when I find a fabulous new recipe, this one from Bon Appetit, Dec. '09. It's on the cover, which is why I had to try it!

12 Years of Bliss

Every time we're in Sonora for Thanksgiving, Will's parents treat us to something special for our anniversary. This year, they sent us to Tuolumne to eat at one of their favorite restaurants. Will and I don't go out enough, so it was really fun to have the kids well taken care of by their grandparents (pizza, ice cream and movie) and to escape, just the two of us. We made dinner last a good long time. ;) We also got away earlier that afternoon to see The Blind Side, since we had child care. What a great movie, by the way.


Will got my picture in the parking garage of the Black Oak Casino, home to Seven Sisters (where we had dinner). You walk through the crowded, smoky casino and escape into an elevator and up to the 3rd floor where this ultra-classy restaurant is. It's like another world up there... very, very fun.



We had an amazing meal and enjoyed our time together, as always. It's funny how we love to talk about the same things after 12 years. I know that Will is the man I'll still love to be with years down the road when our kids are grown and gone and it's back to just the two of us (though it's really hard to imagine right now!). I just love him so much and would marry him all over again in a heartbeat.

A Sonora Thanksgiving

We enjoyed every moment of our week in Sonora. It was just heavenly to get away and enjoy some cold, crisp weather! We actually got to wear coats. The kids spent most of their time outside, and they got a real thrill out of climbing to the TOP of Grandpa's hay. Sulli didn't, but the boys climbed a very tall ladder. This barn is huge and accommodates a LOT of hay for a lot of cows.



Grandpa let the boys drive his old truck... something all of us country bumpkins got to do when we were little. I used to drive Dad's truck around the alfalfa fields while he threw the hay bails in when I was about 7 or 8.

Long walks on the old Powell ranch

Grandma sure enjoyed spending time in Sonora, often getting lost in her memories. She also loved taking walks and soaking up precious time with her son.











Will grew up on 1,000 acres of beautiful ranch land, and even though the Powells don't own all of that land anymore, much of it still stands wild and free. We embarked on long walk/hikes each day, sometimes even following paths the cows make, down to meadows and ponds, up hills and curving around on densely-wooded roads. Every once in a while we would scare deer that would dart in front of us. The kids loved having all of this freedom in their own back yard.





The kids loved collecting the beautiful autumn leaves. It was so much fun to see so many vibrant colors this time of year. We don't always get the chance in southern Ca.