M-E-R-RY C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas filled with joy and peace.

We are thinking about all of you today and missing home but enjoying our first married Christmas together in California.

Many lovely gifts were opened and there were lots of surprises. Santa even remembered Marty.

Our good friend Matt will be joining us for a Christmas dinner feast consisting of some new recipes.

-Pistachio-crusted lamb chops

-Cranberry, pomegranate, & meyer lemon relish

-Gorgonzola scalloped potatoes

-Carmelized-apple & pecan pie

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!

Oh Christmas Tree

Saturday November 30th we ventured out in search of the perfect Christmas Tree. Charlie Brown was our inspiration due to the small nature of our appartment. We had hoped to purchase a living tree and plant it somewhere after the holiday, but we were unsuccessful in our search. Instead of the usual fields lined with trees ready to be cut down we found a Christmas Tree Circus Tent in "candy-cane alley".

We found a beautiful Noble Fir standing 4.5 feet tall.


Camerin has been collecting ornaments and trimmings for a few months now at local thrift stores and garage sales. We set out all of her findings and determined that the tree would kindof have a red and white theme. The theme was really realized when we found our star-topper (it glows from some of the lights below).


Although the tree is only 4.5 feet tall we had trouble determining how many lights it would need and ended up having to take a second trip to the store to buy lights.
We also found some great plaid fabric at our local craft store for our tree-skirt.

Marty was also very helpful during the tree trimming process!

SNOW [preview]

Here is a quick glimpse of the snow we experienced in the mountains.

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving with lots of great food.

We miss you all!

Since we have not experienced true "fall weather" here are a few photos from a past Thanksgiving trip and fall color.

Rotate-create

Thomas has been doing studies attempting to instill play or activity into daily life. Rotate-create (or so it is currently named) is a 4 foot by 4 foot by 16” square that is made up of different block modules. The blocks all share a similar dimension, which allows them to be rotated and reconfigured into a great variety of configurations. “Rotate-create” was originally designed to be a furniture scale toy for children and adults to aid active imaginations.

“Rotate-create” began through a study of the “lego” module.

Above are some images of the painting process.

These are images of the first prototype. The prototype was made of wood (specifically ultra-light MDF). It is intended to be manufactured out of a high-density foam so that it can be easily manipulated by both children and adults and have more of a long-term lifespan.

Vineyard Sunset

The sun sets early now and Camerin was able to capture a few shots on her way home from work at the winery one evening. There have been many beautiful sunsets, and we wish we remembered to take our cameras with us more often.

A Little Color Project

After rearranging the living room furniture about a month ago, Camerin decided she wanted to organize the bookshelf by color. It turned out looking pretty fun and bright. Now we just need to work on collecting more books in the 'Roy G. Biv' categories!

Don't worry, the bookshelf is not leaning perilously. It only appears that way in the photo.

Autumn

It is hard to believe autumn has finally arrived here mid-November. The air has a refreshing crispness to it and the days are certainly shorter.

Although we miss all the seasonal beauty of the Midwest, here are a few fall photos from right near our own front door. Pumpkins on the doorstep, a wreath on the door, and some leaves turning yellow.

Remember:
Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
-Elizabeth Lawrence

Lone Oak

The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert

Big Sur In Pictures

A bridge scene to begin the day. You can see the fog was pretty dense.

Happy travellers.

The infamous rocky coastline.

A view of the beach where we were able to enjoy a picnic lunch.

High up in the mountains about half a mile inland. Here we are above the fog layer and out in the beautiful sunshine. What was supposed to be a great trail for views of the ocean actually turned out to be the original driving route. Needless to say, we decided not to hike the entire 10 miles!

Ooops!

We entered at our own risk but were fortunate enough not to be swept away by any massive waves that day.

The water is so crystal clear and the prettiest shade of greenish blue.

Hope you enjoyed a little trip down Highway 1 (minus the hairpin turns and sheer drops).