I Love You, California!

As Thanksgiving approaches each year I say how I want to take so many pictures, but then I end up getting very few, even if I'm lucky. Last year I didn't get a single one so I guess I did better this year! We had a great time in Madison visiting our friends and family. We really packed a lot into the week and by the end I was exhausted. Some of the highlights of the trip were: On Wednesday night we went out to see our Madison friends, including the one and only Brittany!! Thursday we had a lunchtime Thanksgiving with my side of the family. Thursday afternoon we went to Will's parent's house for another Thanksgiving meal! They had a few international students from the UW join us. It was interesting learning about their lives and cultures. Friday we went to Fond du Lac to visit Grandma Gladys. She was in such great spirits! We ate lunch with her and decorated her home for Christmas. By Saturday it was time to head back to California alre

For our neighbor's birthday we were planning on a crab feast since we had been told it was the beginning of the Dungeness crab season. The crab feast was to begin in the early afternoon, so Saturday morning we all went on a trip to find crab to boil. Will and I found one at a market up the street, but others had little luck, being told that the season wasn't actually going to start until the following week. So a couple of the guests decided to bring lobsters instead. Great! Not quite what we planned, but things were working out . . . Until a few people who couldn't join us until later in the day made a stop at the fish market around 2pm only to find more crab than they had ever seen! Turns out we started our crab hunt just a few hours too early. So things worked out and we had an incredible lobster and crab feast poolside! Quite the feast. Will harvesting the crab for me.

There are only two days a year when tension enters the Kusch household (and the Foster household for that matter!), the days of the Packers vs. Bears game. Today was one of those days. Although Will fared better than I, peace continues in the household.

Will has been traveling a lot again lately, so we made sure to plan a day for us to escape from the hustle and bustle of things and just sit back, relax, and enjoy each others' company. What better way to do that than a trip to Napa? And especially at this time of the year! So beautiful. Our first destination was brunch. We ate at the Boon Fly Cafe which proved to be just as good as the reviews said. They serve fresh, warm, mini cinnamon donuts, spicy bloody marys, and mimosas that aren't 3/4 full of orange juice! The restaurant was really busy, which we knew would be the case, but we were lucky enough to get seats at the counter shortly after we arrived. There weren't any great photo ops here, but check out their website for some nice photos! It is a beautifully rustic/modern cafe. Next we set out for the Silverado Trail of Napa. The first winery we visited was Silverado Vineyards . This local is known for its spectacular views, as well as its wine. Spectacular