Mitchell Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving on the Mitchell front, my mom had the Beach House this year and all the kids got to come along to celegrate with what else? FOOD! And we did what we like to do best. Absolutely nothing but eating, and then preparing for eating again. That is the joy of the Beach House. When we go down to monterey, at least before, when it was a novel thing, we used to ecplore around there, go to the aquarium, go to China beach, Old fisherman's wharf, kayaking, John Steinbeck museum and the like. Now, we still do a little exploring, but instead of things to do, we know focus on the things to eat. We have our favorites, The fish house at the bottom of the hill, Rosine's, the British Pub, The english candy shop, and many more. Even if our trips are only a weekend long now, we have to fit our favorites in, and if that means 4 meals in one day, so be it. So it's only fitting that we spend this glorious holiday of massive amounts of food intake in this blessed city eating our hearts out.

Here is me, preparing the beloved pies.

And little E, after a nice little meal himself. We call this the fat happies.
The BEFORE:
The DURING:

And the AFTER:Shannon Wins!Here is a picture of the three preganant ladies in front of the Taqueria that we so love. mmmm Tilapia Cancun, I love you.Sadly I cannot recall what happened to invoke such a face. If I could I would arrange for it to happen daily so I could enjoy my little neice's face every day.Welcome to Northern California, where yes, we do have beaches. And yes, you can go swimming, but you will have to do it in your down coat.

I post this picture for several reasons. (I sense a list coming on...) 1. I have mad tetris skills. Don't mess.
2. There is something highly satisfying about having accomplished such an amazing task. Especially given that I had done the dishes only the night before, that I have a wee little one that does not often allow me to finish projects shortly after starting them. For this pile to happen, Ethan slept for a whopping two hours during the day, wahoo!)
3. When I make pies, or anything for that matter, I make a huge mess. Maybe that's why cooking dinners is so not a good idea for me. It's like a 9 hour process to get dinner on the table. There is no such thing as 30 minute meals. Maybe if you have a crew that does your grocery shopping and set clean-up, just maybe rachel. But not here at the Crawfords. You clean up your own mess.**
4. I can, and do, post other things than pictures of Ethan. I'm totally well-rounded.

Turkey Day

John and I are extremely lucky in that we have both of our families local. Of course, that would pose a difficult challenge for most families, however, John's family are geniuses (genii??) and they make things easy on us (and everyone else in the family who has to share kids) and they celebrate the big holidays the Sunday prior to the holiday. This of course makes it possible to enjoy not one but two delicious turkey dinners. That makes out to a lot of pie making, but more on that later.

So for our Crawford family dinner, we all got together at John's family's house and ate to our hearts content. We also got to take many family shots. Here is our little family shot. Do you like how Ethan is screaming his head off and John and are are grinning away. I swear we love our child. Check out the spread!
The whole crazy gang...oops I mean Crawford gang
John and his brother Tim. You should see the two of them together. In this picture it looks like they're nice to each other, and so mature. That happens only in photos. Had you actually seen their interactions, they look like typical brothers, reverted back to the teen years.
And these are my gourds! Straight from the garden we planted this year. That's right a garden. We are totally grown-ups.

Ethan has this fantastic dimple on his right cheek. On his face...people!!! It's totally evident in this picture. Ethan is an expert at grinning from ear to ear. Oh yes, and melting hearts everywhere.

Ethan is blessed

Today John got to bless Ethan in Church today and we had an amazing turn out! I think half of the people had to leave before we had a chance to take a picture, but it kind of works out because I'm not sure we could have fit everyone into the picture without a set of bleachers or something. Thank you everyone who was able to come...and even those who would have if they could have. John did an amazing job of his first public blessing. He was soo nervous. Although I think I was more nervous than he was. What a trooper. I would post what he said, but that might be borderline sac-relig, so I'll refrain. and a few close-ups. John's fam...
and mine.

Dos Meses

Raise your hand if you think this kid is the cutest. Don't be shy. I know! Today he is two months old. I feel like he's grown up already. It makes me even more depressed when I think about going back to work. But let's not talk about that. Let's talk about how he's 13lbs 1oz now, and 23 3/4 inches long. I'm so proud of him. He's a good eater, a happy baby, responsive, smart. I need to teach him how to fold the laundry, but I really couldn't ask for more. Well, maybe a few more hours sleep...

Pumpkins and Footballs

Am I that lazy? The answer is always, Y-E-S. Here are photos from ALL the Halloween festivities this month. First off, we had Dinner group at our friends, the Jacobs. Once a month, a group of our friends gets together for dinner. We trade off who hosts every month, providing both the venue and main course. Everyone who attends gets to bring some other contribution.
Back to the evening. The Jacobs always throw a fantastic party, which usually includes dressing up (although dressing up on Halloween is a given I realize). There was a dress the mummy contest, costume contests, Pumpkin carving and the whole bit. I've included only a few pictures because, remember? I'm lazy. Oh well, they are cute nonetheless.

All the recent additions this year in dinner group.

Sleeping like the champ that he is. He didn't even stir with all the commotion.

Family shot. Get it? John is a football player. I am a cheerleader (and no the skirt doesn't fit). And Ethan is our little football. By the way, check out my bling.

This year was a first for both of us. Ethan and I met friends out at the Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm. We didn't get to stay long, but we definitely enjoyed the photo op. Ooh ooh, and the pumpkins.

As you can see here, Ethan is growing like a weed. Although I couldn't get him to stand up straight. He is much taller than a foot and a half.

Strike a pose darling.

I tried to find a massive pumpkin that would dwarf my son. Instead, I believe it was opposite.

As it turns out, pumpkins are not all that cushy. Thank you for indulging me on this one, Ethan.
Ethan's just hanging out in the pumpkin thermals.
I love this boy.

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