Christmas Memories: Gettin' Crafty!

It was the Christmas holidays and we decided to do some crafts together! I am a big fan of crafts, and so these were some extra special memories for me. Isaac and PopPop painted sun catchers, and Oma and me made a little Nativity scene from foam cut outs.

What do vegetarians eat for Thanksgiving?

Vegetarians do not eat Turkey, obviously, but on "Turkey Day" we do eat lots of yummy food! Some people would say they eat "Tofurky" which is like a meat substitute made from tofu and made in the shape of a turkey. We don't eat that particular type of meat substitute, because we prefer the flavor of the Worthington Dinner Roast . You can order some here if you want to try it.  The Dinner Roast is made from wheat gluten and soy protein concentrate with several flavorings, spices, and preservatives. It is not, honestly, the most healthy food in the world, because it contains high levels of sodium, fat, and other "stuff" that is not exactly natural.  But, it is delicious and it makes a nice addition to the Thanksgiving meal. 

Q: What do vegetarians eat for Thanksgiving? 

A: There are countless options for non-meat foods that people traditionally prepare for holiday meals. Endless choices, really! So, let me just share what we had one year for Thanksgiving.

Here is what I made for our vegetarian Thanksgiving in our home in 2012. I know that was several years back, but it was the last time I was the "cook" who prepared the holiday feast, so here is our vegetarian Thanksgiving menu for what it's worth. 

1. Worthington Dinner Roast

2. Vegetarian stuffing

3. Sweet Potato Casserole

4. Mashed Potatoes

5. Green Beans

6. Corn

7. Cranberry Sauce

8. Whole Wheat Rolls

Debbie's parents serving food during our dinner on Thanksgiving Day 2012! 

Worthington Dinner Roast

Mashed Potatoes

Clock wise from 12 o'clock . . . Mashed Potatoes, Vegetarian Stuffing, Worthington Dinner Roast, Sweet Potato Casserole, Cranberry sauce, Corn, Green Beans. DELICIOUS!! 

Jason, Me, and Isaac in our home, 2012, for Thanksgiving. My parents joined us for the holiday too! It was fun being the chef of the day! I hope to do it again sometime soon! 

Happy Fall Y'all

Fall in our area is not super cold and leaves do not usually fall.  But, it is cooler and we are enjoying a reprieve from temperatures in the 80s, 90s, and 100 that we have endured for the past four months! The plants seem to enjoy cooler temperatures, too! We have also had a lot of extra rain this year, so that has helped everything bloom and grow lush foliage. Although we are not wearing sweat shirts and scarves yet, we are enjoying pumpkins and another beautiful season in 2015! 

A friend invited me to a "Do It Herself" workshop at Home Depot. We made these great pumpkin planters. Two of the workshop attendees won a completed project to take home.  My name was drawn! Woo hoo!

Here I am with my prize, and below is the pumpkin planter in our courtyard beside the front door. 

Happy Fall Y'all!! 

TBT: Yosemite National Park

Today's Throw Back Thursday (TBT) is some of my favorite photos from our 2009 trip to Yosemite National Park. I was pregnant with Isaac at the time and very happy and excited! We flew out to the San Francisco area and then took our rental car around to see some amazing and beautiful places in central California. One of those gorgeous spots we visited was Yosemite! I did not even know what I had been missing. I had heard of this park all my life since it is one of the most popular vacation spots in the country, but man oh man --I was shocked by its awesome beauty. Jason had been there before when traveling with his brother a few years back, and so he knew the best spots to get these incredible vistas. Wow! And, actually WOW was not enough to describe how incredibly pretty it is in this park. After driving around and doing a little light hiking I labeled this park as the most beautiful place I had ever seen. It was THAT GREAT! Here are a few of our favorite snapshots from our day in Yosemite: 

Parrots, Parrots, Parrots!

We spent the three-day holiday in Corpus Christi area and loved being in one of our favorite weekend get-away destinations! Our first day was spent visiting the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. We did not know what to expect, but the place blew us away with all the beautiful flowers and animals to see! When we first arrived, we saw lots of beautiful Plumeria trees, amazing parrots, reptiles, butterflies, orchids, cacti, and a really unique playground! They had sunflower seeds and popcorn you could feed to the parrots and giant collard green leaves to feed the iguanas. Feeding and holding the parrots were definitely the favorite highlights of our time there!

Plumeria at the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. They were everywhere! So beautiful!

This place has the largest grove of Plumeria trees in the United States. They were gorgeous, and smelled amazing! 

More Plumeria . . . I just could not stop taking pictures of them!

Isaac and Jason ready to go exploring! 

I never knew parrots like to eat popcorn! It was so cute to watch them gently grab the popcorn in their beak, then reach their claw up to hold it. They would take little tiny bites off the piece of popcorn while holding it in their "hand".  It was so fun feeding them and watching them. Sometimes they would squawk really loud if you did not give them another piece fast enough, or worse yet if you or they accidentally dropped it and it fell into the bottom of their cage. God was very creative when he made parrots--they have such beautiful colors and very unique patterns.  

I got to feed an iguana two giant collard greens leaves. They were so cute tearing the leafy parts off the stalk. Did you know they are vegetarians? I remember seeing iguanas in Cozumel on our honeymoon.
There were 6-7 of them in the side yard of our hotel, and they were grazing on the grass like cows 

Isaac really enjoyed the parrots! He even got to hold this one!

Jason enjoyed holding this young parrot. He was kind of playful and kind of "hyper" like a toddler. 

Isaac could not get enough of feeding the parrots sunflower seeds! He kept wanting to feed them more and more! 

The smile says it all! 

Feeding parrots at the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center.

The botanical gardens had an entire green house filled with all different types of orchids. They were gorgeous! I love to take pictures of flowers so much! Here are a few I took of the orchids. 

We enjoyed a moment in the shade on this whimsical butterfly bench. 

Zinnias in the botanical gardens

Not sure what Type of flower this is, but it was really beautiful! 

Butterflies in the butterfly area of the botanical gardens.

Flower in the butterfly area in the botanical gardens. Not sure what type it was, but I love this very pretty color! 

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The playground was really cool, with a really tree house. The house part of the playset was built
on a really huge and really old tree stump from a redwood tree from California. 

Isaac loves any and all playgrounds!

A beautiful bushy clump of flowers in the botanical gardens. I don't know what type it was, but I snapped this picture of it.

I saw this and thought it was some well placed art. This sculpture blended in with this marshy area. So lovely! 

Becoming a butterfly. . . except the "mini-butterfly" was getting very tired and fussy. Good thing lunch and the hotel pool was next on the agenda, because that perked him up really quick!