A Platter

I wanted to share a Christmas gift from Bryce that I absolutely adore.  This beautiful platter is handmade and hand painted by artist, Michael Chandler of Chandler House.  I gave him details that I wanted him to include, such as the garden, the orchard, the woods and the house.  I love how it's not literal, note the garden is in front of the house, but rather a bit more whimsical and like a fairytale storybook.  Around the edge of the platter he included flowers and vegetables that we grow.  

For now, I have it hanging in the den where it fits the vibe and aethestic but I'm worried it looks a little lonely/spare in this spot.  I also can't decide if I want it hanging on the wall or want to use it to serve food!  Decisions, decisions...

50

Last week I turned 50!  I can't quite wrap my head around it, not because I'm upset to be 50, but rather because it's just strange to be out of my 40's!  Strange that one of my children is a junior in college and one will be leaving in the fall.  Strange that I don't feel any older but I look in the mirror and I definitely look older.  Strange that, unless I live to be 100, I'm over halfway through this wonderful life.  Just strange.  I say it every single birthday but I'll say it again... I'd rather be 50 than not. 

I had a great day on my birthday, though I was fighting a cold.  I went to lunch with a good friend, some dear girlfriends came over for a champagne toast and my favorite cupcakes, Bryce made dinner and later that evening Grace came home from a visit to Mexico with her roommates.  My friend Kristin put up these fun balloons on our farm sign!

I didn't plan a big party as Bryce and I will do something special together for our 50th but we did celebrate with my family.  Bryce and Grace made me a beautiful cake (Grace made all the parts and Bryce decorated) that was so, so delicious.  It was an Orange Salted Custard cake and was perhaps the best cake we've ever made!

The Grand Canyon National Park (in the winter!)

 

I read up on visiting the Grand Canyon during the winter months so I knew that it was a risk to visit during this time of year, but it was still a blow when we arrived and discovered that the canyon was completely obscured by fog!  Unfortunately, speaking to the Ranger did nothing to make us feel better as she very directly told us that there was indeed a chance that we would not get to see the Canyon over the next couple of days!  That morning, we genuinely believed that we might leave the Grand Canyon having not seen the canyon at all!  This was our very first view looking over the rim of the canyon.

We walked along the rim trail hoping that the wind would whip away some of the fog and by what felt like a miracle, it did and we got our first glimpses of the canyon!

By afternoon, the canyon had cleared out enough for us to put spikes on our shoes and hike some of Bright Angel Trail.  The trail was covered in ice so the spikes were a must.  

The next morning, we headed out in our rental car to drive the 25 miles to the Watchtower, stopping at pull offs along the way.  It was fairly miserable weather, rainy and gusty.  Along one pull off we were able to see the Colorado River, which was nice to see.  You can't really see it in the picture below but there was even a brief rainbow!

We were in the Watchtower for maybe 15 minutes but during that time, the rain turned to snow and the canyon became obscured again.  We could not believe how quickly the snow started to pile up.  The drive back toward the village was crazy.  The snow didn't stop for the next 18 hours!

Since we were in the room more than we might have been, we were glad we brought cards to play peanuts and other card games.  We also watched the Georgia and Ohio State (that game!!) which was a fun way to bring in the New Year.

Would I have preferred to have sunny skies?  Yes, but it's also pretty neat that we saw the canyon at a time when most people don't.  The snow was beautiful and there were no crowds to deal with.  Also, as long as we had all our layers on, were were comfortable instead of brutally hot like it gets in the summer.  All in all, we are glad that we went even with not perfect weather or views.  

P.S.  Even though it was covered in snow and slippery, and he was in explicably in pajama pants, Harris still had to carry on his tradition of climbing atop the National Park sign for our picture.

Las Vegas

Back when the children were little Bryce and I made a bucket list of things we wanted to do before the children left home.  One of those things was to see all 50 states, and the last one on Harris' list was Arizona (Grace finished them all before she left for University).  While we were on our cross country trip, we did not stop to see the Grand Canyon because Bryce really wanted to hike down into the canyon and spend a couple of days.  Unfortunately, this just hasn't happened yet so we decided the time was now!  We flew into Las Vegas and spent a night there before heading out for the canyon.  While there we wandered around the strip, saw the fountains in front of the Bellagio, wandered through some casinos, ate dinner at Giada's and grabbed an In and Out burger on the way out.  

While there I did let Harris convince me to play $4 in the slot machine and we won $23 (that was all the gambling we did!).  

P.S. We also stayed a night on the way home and went to the David Copperfield Show.  

Christmas Eve and Christmas

 

Our Christmas was really wonderful, especially after the disappointment of Covid last year.  My family came over for Christmas Eve and we drank thick, fluffy eggnog, ate a scrumptious dinner and my Mom even wanted to watch the end of the Eagles game (never too late to find something new that you love!).  

As a fun aside, Grace wore a skirt that my Mom made for me before we ever even had children!

Christmas Morning we had our traditional breakfast and opened gifts (Santa broke tradition and wrapped this year!).  

A bit later in the day, we headed to my sister's house for a delicious lunch and opening more gifts!  Somehow, even though I took my camera, I got no pictures there!  We cleaned up most of Christmas pretty quickly because we were headed out for an adventure.  More on that soon.