Thanksgiving photos....

I am watching the Civil War game between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers....little did I know this is the 112th Civil War game. Amazing......I am pretty neutral but I have to say I am rooting for the Beavers today because if they win they go to the Rose Bowl. That would be cool. At this time we are in the 3rd quarter with 4 min remaining and the score is Ducks 44 - Beavers 31....Go Beavs....Anyway, I thought I would share some photos of Thanksgiving at our house. We had 10 people, my brother and his family along with my mom and stepdad - John. Here we go.......First my table. I was really happy with my table - way too much fun to do. I love entertaining and cooking......

I had a lot of fun taking photos of the table and the PEARS so forgive me if I show way too many photos.

Ok here are some family photos.....

My brother, Jason. It is hard to get a photo of my brother....

My brother, Maggie, Braden and Arwin the dog.

Mom and John......

Why is is so difficult to get a photo of everyone where there isn't someone looking funny or not looking at the camera, etc.....so I take a bunch and wish I could mesh them together - anyway.....another shot.

Now for the pears.....I was a little obsessed with taking photos of the pears. I got the idea of the pears from my friend Sondy......I had already stamped the names of the guests on the paper and sewed them onto fabric that matched the table cloth but didn't like just setting them on the plate when Sondy told me about pinning name tags into the pears....very cool! Thanks Sondy!

You have to have a little wine while cooking.....a good Oregon Pinot Noir....yummy!

To end with my family....I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving spending time with family. To me that was the best and I love to cook for them and make the event special. Makes me happy!
With Love,
Valori

PS the game now is 51 Oregon - 38 Oregon State, 4th quarter 5 min 45 sec to go.....we will see what happens it can still go for Oregon State with that much time. With all of the mishaps with my post time has just flown by.......

Back in town......

Well, I am finally back in town....I came home late on Wednesday, ran errands on Thursday and then the family went to Washington to my cousins wedding on Friday. We came home last night...I have to say those girls did so good being in the car all day. We did stop in Vancouver, WA to see my dad. He is finally home and looking pretty good. I really thought that he was going to die....he is pretty tough - our genes are tough!  It feels like I have been gone for ages...I love coming home - I love my home.
Before I share lots and lots of photos from my trip.....I have to brag that Miss Vi walked for the first time this weekend!!! How exciting!!!
OK - first photos from The Quilt Show.....


It was a live audience on the show...I have never done a show in front of a live audience - it was fun!

I guess that every session they do a dress up day - the day I was there it was Pirate day....here is the crew all dressed up....they were very silly.

Ricky Timms........

Alex Anderson.......


This is Ricky's studio....La Veta is a beautiful little town. Lots of artist and such character..... after the show I hit the road to Taos.....


I looked in my mirror and saw what was behind me....it was too cool.

The drive to Taos was on a great highway, not a lot of traffic and a beautiful drive. Living in the mountains in Oregon is so different from the Southwest....I love the landscape.

I stayed at the Historic Taos Inn....right in the middle of down town. Great place to stay - you are surrounded by galleries and beautiful architecture.  It was very inspiring....I couldn't believe how many galleries there were. I don't think I made it into all of them.

On my hike to Williams Lake in the Taos Ski area.....



The creek along the hike......

Williams Lake.......


It was beautiful - surrounded by the mountains. There were only a couple of people at the top...I was glad I went early in the morning because on the hike down I passed a lot of people. It was nice to get the place almost to myself.

And it was convenient to have someone take a photo of me, rather than my holding the camera and taking a photo of myself. Although I think I have mastered the self portrait.....

This is where Katie and I painted....we took this road off th beaten path....a gal at this Fabulous Weaving studio gave me the directions. It was perfect! Nice sandy beach the river and canyon.....
As we were setting up a forest service truck parked on the middle of the bridge next to us....we heard a splash and realized that he was stocking the river with trout.....

Never seen that before!

Being able to have Katie bring all of her stuff....we had it made with the easels, chairs, all of the essentials when you are plein air painting....I learned a lot.

This is the beginning of the painting....Katie's is on the left.

We did get a visitor fisherman....but he kept to himself...we figured we probably disrupted him more that he did us.....

Here is my first painting.....fun to do - it is hard for me because I want to make it realistic and I am not  that good of a painter to do that  but it was a good first try......when I paint at home I  can take the time to make things look more realistic - but I am not  painting landscapes I paint large  flowers....that is  more of my comfort zone....anyway....

I started a second painting - I would of worked the other one to death and then I wouldn't of liked it...and Katie told me to stop and go again...it is good to have someone teach you and help you out. It was so fun to be out there painting, immersing myself into where I am and what I was doing...

This was the second view that I painted and I made myself work in unlikely colors.....push myself a bit.
And I only had a half hour.....

So this is what I ended up with....I might add a bit more now that I am home but I don't know - it is important that I just did it and explored something new.

This was Katie's painting when we left....she will finish it at home and then she stitches on the canvas...it is really cool - she promised to send me a photo when it is done. I will share it with you.

Like I said I have mastered the self-portrait.....anyway, after our painting - which we both could of stayed for hours but it was time for lunch...we went back to Taos had lunch and a little wine and then went shopping.... I really had a great time....too much fun!!! Thanks Katie!! She taught me so much.....
I will end with some cute photos of the girls from this weekend and all of the dahlia's that Molleigh had for her wedding.....it was amazing.

It is so tough to get a photo of Liv without her making a cheesy face...I hope that passes....but she is a beautiful girl....




Vi taking steps.....the dress is from Miss Amy Butler....she made it for her when she was born....I can't wait to tell her that she took her first steps in her dress....

She was so proud of herself......


Although she is still a bit nervous about the walking  she goes really fast with holding our hand....I figure I have a couple of weeks before I am chasing her around.....


Alright....I have to get to work......Hope you have a great day!
Valori