Thanksgiving

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie

We just returned home from a lovely Thanksgiving weekend away at Whistler together.  We almost pulled the plug on our time away, the forecast was looking pitiful and Paul and Sydney were both sniffling away with colds, but I so desperately needed a change of scenery and a few days R&R that we jumped in the car and headed up for what ended up being a fantastic weekend away.


I was dying for a turkey dinner, a real turkey dinner complete with all the fixings, so we headed to the Wildflower restaurant at the Fairmont Chateau for the most delicious Thanksgiving meal, made all the better by the fact that I didn't have to cook a thing!  It was the highlight of our weekend!

We went for walks, did a little shopping, ate some good meals, watched hockey, played games and relaxed in front of the fire before snuggling up to bed early enough to get what felt like a sleep in.  Loveliness.

The village was so beautiful with leaves changing colour all around.

Sydney collected a leaf bouquet for our hotel.

We loved all of the great fall fare for sale at the Whistler Farmer's Market too.

Sydney went swimming about a dozen times over three days, she simply could not get enough of the pool and hot tub!


Sydney told me this afternoon that she wanted to make a list of things that she was grateful for.  Here's her list, made all by herself without any prompting from me:

1.  Family
2.  Friends
3.  Birthdays
4.  Baking
5.  Grocery Shopping
6.  Flowers
7.  Painting
8.  Exercises
9.  Cleaning
10. School
11. Making Dinner

She asked me to title it her "Thanksgiving Day Thankful List".  I'm thinking a new, wonderful Thanksgiving tradition has been born.


I too have many things to be thankful for today, here's a few from this past week:

Thanksgiving Card

Sydney came home from school this week with the most adorable Thanksgiving card for Paul and I.  She had made a turkey with her handprint and inside was the sweetest poem.  Loved it!


Dinner with Sarah

Sarah and I again celebrated our birthdays together this year and went for the most amazing dinner at Oakwood restaurant last week.

Sarah gave me the most beautiful silver earrings from Folli Follie, I absolutely love them!

So grateful for our friendship and celebrating together every year!


Artwork

Sydney's passion for painting at home has taken a resurgence again after the back to school lull.  She made three beautiful canvases the other day and continues to come home with some gorgeous paintings too.

Parcel from Brandie

I got a very special parcel in the mail this week from Brandie for my birthday, a gorgeous scarf and a list diary with the most beautiful letter tucked inside.  Brandie is my most long standing and dearest friend, she is so thoughtful in every way. 


New Parents Dinner

Last week Sydney's school put on a beautiful dinner to welcome new parents to the school.  My fellow Mom and new friend Kim and I went together while our husband's put the kids to bed and had a lovely time of visiting with other parents and hearing from many important people at the school.

I had the good fortune of sitting next to one of Sydney's teachers and chatted with her for most of the night.  I left feeling like I had made a new friend. 

We all came home with a DVD of a home movie that they had filmed of all of the new students during the first couple of weeks of school.  Just loved the shot of Syd and her teacher snuggled up together working on something smiling and happy.  Such a relief to my heart to know that she is happy in her environment.

My Girl

Just love this shot of Sydney snuggled up doing a sketch on her favourite chaise lounge couch in the hotel this weekend overlooking the fire station.  Dreamy! 

Happy Thanksgiving!