Thanksgiving Weekend

Man, my poor little family blog has been neglected, huh? It's my new business. It has me feeling pretty tapped out on photographing my own kids and I need to get back on it! The reason I got into photography in the first place was to capture my own kids growing up. I've been lacking, so this long weekend I made up for it in spades!

I actually started on Saturday.... but have some fun instagram photos to share of our Thanksgiving and Friday after.

Our menu and some YUMMY food!









Ben really liked the pie:




This was the first year that I made the entire meal by myself! It was delicious, if I do say so myself!



We went on a few walks on Thanksgiving.





It was seriously such a lovely and relaxing day. I thought I'd be sad and feel lonely without my family near, but I realized that I had everything I truly needed that day because I DID have my family near.

On Friday, we went to the aquarium and on a little walk.





Colorado gets some CRAZY skies!



On Saturday we went and cut our Christmas tree. It PAINED me to not take pictures myself (like, I still am having anxiety over it) but we hired a photographer to capture us on our annual Christmas tree cut down adventure. I'm still awaiting them, but I'm sure they'll be awesome!

Anyway, since I wasn't taking pictures while we cut the tree, I tried to make up for it while we decorated it.

Max and Ritchie had a little mini tree cutting outside!















Meanwhile Ben snacked and watched some Christmas movies.



Let the tree trimming begin!








And my favorite one:



Today we went to Winter Park for a little day trip to let the boys explore outside and for us to avoid telling them to leave the tree alone all the live long day.

We found a great little playground (I guess we could have done that here, huh?)











Then we went for a little walk and found this gorgeous little tree lined path next to a frozen stream.





















Ben got pretty cold because he kept falling, poor thing!



How amazing is this?! This was our view for a good 30 minutes on the drive.





On the way back, we stopped for milkshakes (and a potty break!) at this adorable little place.















I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend as much as I did. The countdown is on! 4 weeks until Christmas Eve and I have a 3 year old who is over the moon excited! I'm anxious to see what our new state has to offer in the way of Christmas festivities and I'm dedicated to capturing the memories every step of the way!

Top 10 Series... Let's Start With FOOD

I'm going to do a few series here on the ol' blog because I miss blogging and starting a series might help me blog a bit more... give me some material. This series is a Top 10. I'll share my top 10s of various categories and encourage you to share yours. I'm starting with comfort foods.

This is a far cry from my usual, "I want to be healthy" posts. Most comfort foods aren't the healthiest, and, well... this list is no exception. My definition of comfort food is something that I want when it's cold out, I'm feeling nostalgic, or simply want to spend some time in the kitchen whipping up something warm. To me, comfort food is always warm.

Without further delay; my top 10 comfort foods (in order from least favorite comfort food (but still delicious and amazing) to most coveted comfort food ever according to me.


10. Pancakes

What's not to love about pancakes? Dripping with butter and syrup. You can flavor pancakes to your hearts content. Blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, the world is your breakfast oyster. 

9. Chinese food

Chinese food is something I really crave when weather is cold. I love nothing more than to sit and watch a fabulous chick flick and eat chinese food. My favorites are chow mein and any kind of breaded chicken in a sauce. Orange, sesame, lemon... what-have-you. Chinese food just makes me feel good. 

8. Biscuits

Preferably cheddar dill biscuits made at home by me. I love rolling dough, I love making a floury mess of the counter. I love the way they smell cooking in the oven. I love spreading homemade jam on them or dipping them into a savory soup. 

7. Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha

Sweet, caffeinated, warm... it's my favorite Starbucks drink. 

6. Loaded Baked Potato

I love a crispy, salty skin of a soft, warm baked potato loaded with butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon. Baked potatoes are perfect, by the way, with a medium rare filet mignon. Cooked at home. By Ritchie. 

5. Spiced apples, preferably with ice cream and caramel

These make the house smell amazing and are a perfect dessert. They're not too heavy, but still give me a sweet flavor after a savory meal. Spiced apples scream, "FALL!" to me. Yummm... 

4. Chocolate chip cookies

Baking my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe is SO comforting to me. I love to involve Max in all the measuring and stirring. This recipe is by far my favorite and anytime I crave baking, I turn to this easy fix. 

3. Pasta with homemade meat sauce

Ritchie makes the most amazing meat sauce in the history of meat sauces. It simmers on the stove for hours and makes enough for us to freeze afterwards. I love thick, hearty spaghetti noodles. No angel hair pasta for me. Cover this in some parmesan cheese and I've died and gone to comfort food heaven. 

2. Tomato soup and grilled cheese

Sadly, I've yet to find a homemade tomato soup recipe that I love so I stick with Progresso Tomato Basil. It gets the job done. For grilled cheese though? My favorite is rosemary bread, turkey, gruyere cheese, bacon and fig jam. Go make this right now... just go. 

1. Corn and cheese chowder WITH bread

Pioneer woman's recipe is my go to. I love to cook this soup. I love the way it's done in 30 minutes. I love to dunk bread in it. I LOVE that it lasts me for the next 3 days and I usually have it for lunch and dinner for 3 days straight and I never tire of it. As soon as it gets cold out I immediately want this soup. It's creamy, it's hot, it's cheesy, and it's perfect. My ultimate comfort food. 

What's your go-to comfort food?