Move over Johnny Depp...

... because your Willy Wonka's got nothing on this candy lady.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I was invited to a candy-making day at Derek's Grandma Noma's house, along with his Aunt Paula and cousin, Mandy. Noma has been hand dipping candy for years and as with everything else she does in her kitchen, her candy is amazing!
I was so excited to be included in with the Clark women and make my first attempt at candy dipping.
I had no idea what a process this is. It was a full day of mint, peanut butter and caramel centers with hours of dipping each piece into silky milk chocolate. Although we did not weigh or count how much candy we ended up with after roughly 8 hours of work, we used 15 pounds of chocolate so that is some indication. All I know is the end result is a whole heap of candy at my house to use for gifts and parties that is constantly beckoning me to have another piece.

Hmmm... maybe just one more...

Getting started

One of my tasks was the peanut butter centers. I don't want to brag, but they are absolutely heavenly!

Trays all over the garage while the chocolate sets.

Putting them in candy papers -- the finishing touch.

Decadent

Family + food = Excellent holiday

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this holiday. So unassuming. So un-commercialized. So filled with amazing food.

If you can't read it, her shirt says: "Everyone is thankful for ME!"
How true it is.

This year we spent the holiday with Derek's parents and some of the extended family on his Dad's side: Grandpa Bruce, Aunt Cindy and Aunt Pammie. Dinner was amazing -- thanks to Diana and Cindy. Diana tried to incorporate a favorite food for each person intermingled with the traditional Thanksgiving fixings. Rolls for me (yeah!) Cheesy carrots for Derek (they sound disgusting but are delicious) and too many other favorites for everyone else to list here.

Our family's corner of the table.

No surprise that Lydia thoroughly enjoyed the meal -- she is such a good eater -- and continued to enjoy eating all day long as Grandma spoiled her endlessly with cookies and her first sampling of the Larson family Thanksgiving tradition: Homemade chocolate pie. It's divine. After one bite, Lydia was hooked just like the rest of us.

Thanks to Diana and Kurtis (Derek's parents) for hosting such a great feast.

Derek, Lydia and Diana looking at Derek's baby book.

Derek's Aunt Pam and his Dad, Kurtis. Pam was so cute playing with Lydia. They seemed to hit it off.

We attempted to get a photo of Great-Grandpa Bruce and Lydia but Lydia was not having it. For some reason she really shies away from Bruce, but I don't know why. He's such a sweet man. Sorry Great-Grandpa, hopefully we can get a better one next trip.

She did, however, LOVE the chocolate pie.

This is sign language for "more" which she did after each bite. It's so cute, how can we resist?

Adorable antics

I know I've said this a thousand times but I'll say it again: I cannot get enough of Lydia. She is at such a cute stage. Seeing her explore and discover things is amazing -- every day its like a whole new world for her.

Eating off a spoon!
She's been expressing interest in feeding herself with a spoon for a while and she's starting to get pretty good at it. I can't believe she's growing up so quickly!

She's doing so well, Derek decided to try chopsticks.

Lately I've had to get creative with toys because she's needing some new things but I want to wait for Christmas. The other day she was so enthralled with a mixing bowl and plastic clothespins. She sorted them back and forth. I'm definitely noticing her attention span is starting to expand, which is a beautiful thing.

Enjoying fall!

Kicking off the Christmas season at the Jubilee of Trees.

A new friend
Today Lydia is particularly attached to this pink bear (a gift from Great-Grandma Petty). She kept wanting to sit in the rocking chair with it and carry it around, even have it join her in her high chair. So cute!

Family time

Are these the cutest kids or what?

(For some reason, Lydia opted for somber face in photos all weekend -- when the camera was put away she was happy, I swear :) )

We all loved having Karen, Kate and Dylan here. Lydia stayed so busy trying to keep up with her cousins and my parent's dog.

Baths. Coloring. Late nights talking. Snow.
Mom's home cooking. Great-Grandma's birthday.
Kid's kitchen.

I wish we could all be together more often but we had a wonderful time while they were here.

Karen and I had a great time hanging out as sisters.

Breakfast at my house the morning before they flew home.

It's almost time...

For the cousins to reunite!

This cute picture was taken the day my sister's family moved to Texas last May. Since then, Lydia has not been able to see her cousins -- except via modern technology like Skype, which is hardly a suitable replacement. Now, while Lydia is a little young to really notice the separation, I have missed my niece and nephew and my SISTER like crazy!

They'll be here to see us on Tuesday. We can't wait!