Family time in Northern California

I love California.......so much to do so little time.  So we were in California for a whole week at Thanksgiving visiting my dear Sister-in-law Joanie and her husband Jeff.  They are such wonderful hosts and we had such a great time.  We made Thanksgiving dinner together and it was yummy.

Went to Napa to some wine tastings and a great Gallery where I bought a print.

We ate lunch at Dean & Deluca's under the olive trees and bought some food items......it was fun to see the real place after receiving the mail order catalog for years.

The guys went to a Raiders game Jeff's favorite team.....his garage is floor to ceiling Raiders stuff.....this picture is not very good of the guys........so don't tell that I posted it.

We went to Columbia, California which is an old gold mining town sadly the cold weather had followed us to California from Michigan so we could not pan for gold.......too bad because I know we left that huge gold nugget we were going to find behind........darn the weather.  Columbia is also where numerous Western movies have been filmed High Noon being one of them with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.

We did lots of other fun stuff like eat at great restaurants......Thai and Mexican, shop at an amazing Design Center where we bought a new Christmas tree and lots of other fun Christmas decorations.  I bought some of the most beautiful ribbons I have ever seen..........but the fun ended way to soon and we had to head back home.  We have lots of fond memories of our visit.......looking forward to visiting again soon........Thank you Joanie and Jeff.

To bad we don't get any snow around here......LOL

So I think I would like to stop all this snow and ask Spring to please come back.  I would like nothing better then not to have to climb up and over 10 foot walls of snow.  We take a daily walk through the woods at the end of our street which back up to a shopping center parking lot.  The other day after the big blizzard we came to the end of the trail and found a 10 foot wall of snow blocking it.  My inclination was to turn back and go back home through the woods................but Hogan my little English Cocker had other plans and before I knew it he had scaled the wall of snow and was on the other side so what's a girl to do but climb the wall of snow to find him on the other side running along behind the shopping center.  He loves his walks and looks forward to them no matter what the weather.  Me on the other hand I have to start talking myself into the walk at least an hour before we go.......so do you kind of get the picture.......Florida girl living in the snow country..........it is sheer torture for me and if it were up to me I would just join all the smart animals and hibernate for the winter.  But alas that is not an option so I must suffer and hope to whine enough that Mark will eventually move me away to a warmer climate or let me go to my home in Florida for the winter.  Sorry for the long break between postings I promise not to let as much time go by in the future.