give thanks with a grateful heart.

we had two thanksgivings this year...one at nana's house and one at our house. my mom and her husband mike were going to be on their cruise on thanksgiving, so we shared a meal together the week before. always a good time! my mom cooked the turkey and we all brought a side to share. i made a delicious sweet potato casserole. so not a healthy dish, but worth all the calories! the kids played kinect pretty much the whole evening, while we sat around filling our bellies even more with apple cinnamon cake and pumpkin pie.  we celebrated with stephanie and devin as they are now ENGAGED!  so excited for them!  it was such a relaxing day with my family. love our time together, talking and cooking in the kitchen.  so thankful to have family close.

can't wait for their wedding next summer!

kaden and his nana.

mike and kyri were a pretty good team on the kinect.

such a joy to host thanksgiving for my family!  my dad, dana, steph, devin, and melody came over on thanksgiving day.  so much fun (and a lot of work) for me to host my very first thanksgiving in our new home.  i decorated the table as creative as i could with what i had.  love the place cards!  easy way to personalize your table.  we brought in a folding table so we had an adult table and a kids table.  the kids always love that!  for dinner, i cooked a juicy turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gluten free stuffing, cranberry sauce, as well as gluten free rolls.  i also baked 2 gluten free pies...pumpkin (a must) and coconut cream (my dad's favorite).  the coconut pie was a labor of love.  the crust, the coconut cream, the whipping cream...all homemade.  i pretty much spent 2 straight days in the kitchen, but that is where i was born to be!  i definitely have a great appreciation for my mom and all of her hard work on thanksgiving growing up.  it's a lot of prep and cooking to have everything ready at just the right time.  thanks mom!

we did not have a shortage of food, that's for sure.  steph and devin brought a fresh green salad and drinks.  my dad brought all the appetizers.  well, i just had to also have the hot artichoke jalepeno dip from costco.  have you had that?  oh my, it is the best dip ever!  everyone came over early so we were able to cook in the kitchen together.  some of the best memories are in the kitchen or while sitting around the dinner table.  food really does bring people together.  i'm so thankful for my loving family and that they were able to join us for thanksgiving.  it will be one that i will cherish forever.  looking forward to hosting many more thanksgivings for my family!

centerpiece and place cards.

fall table decor.

all natural bird.
butter and herbs and roasted to perfection.

coconut pie goodness.

is that tasty, buddy?

ok mom.  just let me eat.

hi there, cute face melody!

this photo makes me happy.

 devin and steph.

melody is such a hoot!

kaden says, "papa, play rough!"

so good to have my dad join us!

thanks babe, for all your help in the kitchen.

you're the best!

ni-night cuddles with mommy.

perfect way to end the day.

proud mama.

my big girl! kyri had her very first awards assembly at school. she received an outstanding citizenship award, as well as an award for perfect attendance. i'm so proud of her! she is doing amazing in kindergarten. she is right on track, doing so well in writing and reading. my thriving little five year old is in love with school! sure makes me a proud mama.

love her.

lake tahoe getaway.

after kevin and i were finally done with moving into our house, all the painting, projects...the one thing we wanted was to getaway, just the two of us.  well, God really does give you the desires of your heart.  we got an email from our pastor that our worship team was asked to lead worship at a pastor and wives retreat in lake tahoe.  kev would be going to play bass and i would get to go too!  everything would be paid for...hotel, food, gas, plus the retreat and lots of time to just enjoy time with your spouse.  it sounded too good to be true!

we asked our dear friend lauri if she would be up for watching the kids for two nights.  we knew that was a lot to ask, but the only way we could go.  lauri is like an aunt to kyri and kaden so we felt very comfortable leaving them for that long.  we had never both left for more than one night.  lauri said yes and we were so excited!  the trip was in early november and it felt like we were counting down the days for months.  we saw this trip as such a blessing for kevin and i, as well as our marriage.

a little extra bonus was that a lot of our close friends would be at the retreat too.  so fun!  we met as a large group a couple times with all of the pastors and their wives.  time for worship, times of prayer and encouragement.  all so refreshing.  we were left with plenty of time to hang out with friends.  we all got together in one of our rooms to have late night hangout time.  we stayed up sharing our "how we met our spouse" stories and eating tons of junk food.  how often do you get to do that?  so much laughing!  on the last night, we walked over to the casino and had a nice buffet dinner with an incredible view.  every part of this retreat was perfect.  it really was one of the most refreshing getaways for kevin and i.  lots of walking around, hand in hand.  quiet time in the snow by the lake.  there was so much space for us to reconnect with one another and focus on each other.  it's not easy to do that when you have two little ones at home.  we were so thankful for this lake tahoe getaway.  in every way it was just what we needed. 

burrrrr...it was cold!

emmaus worship team.

 hanging out in the hotel room.

junk food galore!

sandie and darrell.

rebecca and josh.

tim and kerri.

nathan and carmen.
our pastor and his beautiful wife.  love them!

coffee break.

walking around, checking out the local shops.

apparently we all got the memo to wear our black coats.

the haskins.
irreplaceable friends.

majestic lake tahoe sunset.

my handsome man.

kissy lips.

me and you.

one day women's retreat.

this year, we decided to change it up a bit and do a one day retreat with the emmaus women.  we found the perfect facility for an incredible price and booked it for november.  we just needed a break from the very labor intensive weekend retreats, but we still wanted to provide a refreshing getaway for the ladies.  kerri and i asked jill randall to be our guest speaker.  she is our pastor's wife from the church we both went to in redding. she is an amazing woman of God and we knew the women at emmaus would love her!  she also brought a few other ladies with her to minister to us.  so wonderful.

the day couldn't have gone better.  the room looked so cozy and cute, there were 30 women that joined us, and our time together was so meaningful.  we spent a few hours together in the morning, took a break for lunch, and then got back together for more time for prayer and reflection.  God really met us that day.  our hearts were ministered to, through jill's words and testimony.  i felt it was just what so many of us needed to hear.  thank you, Lord, for blessing all of us with relaxing day connecting with you and the women at emmaus. 

table decorations.

ladies ready to start the day!

welcome table.
we made little notebooks for each of the women.

beautiful centerpiece for the snack table.

the redding clan.

jill was a part of leading sandie, kerri and i in our move to lincoln to plant a church. 
can't believe that was 7 years ago!

trick-or-treat.

for some crazy reason, i decided to make kaden and kyri's halloween costumes. what was i thinking?! kaden just had to be woody. he LOVES all things toy story right now! for his costume, i made his hat out of brown felt (sort of with a pattern), his vest, his belt, gun holster, and boot covers.  most everything was made out of felt, except for the cow print on the vest. the jeans i bought at target. lauri found a real woody costume shirt at the thrift store (so perfect!) and all i had to do was cuff the sleeves. the bandana i bought at joann's. it was so much cheaper to make his costume than to pay the $40 at the disney store. i thought it would be a little easier to make. time consuming? yes. worth every minute? of course. look at that adorable little cowboy!

after going through all the disney princesses, kyri finally made her choice to be belle. now on to hours of sewing! i bought a basic dress pattern and used my creativity for the rest. i wanted the top layer to look like lots of ruffled layers.  i used a sparkly sheer fabric and elastic thread.  it came out exactly how i pictured it!  i made two yellow satin flowers, one for the sash that went around her shoulders and one for her headband.  i did velcro in the back instead of a zipper so it was easier for her to put on for dress-up.  many, many, many hours of sewing went into belle's dress.  not only did i make her beautiful flowing gown, but i also made fingerless gloves and a matching headband.  when she first tried on the dress, she was glowing! she said, "mommy, it's perfect!"  melt my heart, sweet girl.

on halloween night, we had our traditional potluck dinner at brian and lauri's house before taking the kids out for trick-or-treating.  we had a yummy taco bar and root beer floats.  the kids barely ate anything because they were so excited to collect candy!  we walked the neighborhood, with buckets in hand, for over an hour.  this was the first year for kaden where he really knew what was going on.  so fun for him!  candy overload made for a very fun night for all of our little ones!

ready to go!

my beautiful belle.

he wouldn't wear his cowboy hat.

oh well, he's still the cutest cowboy.

tiny karis fairy.

kryi saw a couple girls from school.  so adorable!

grace, kyri, and sophie.

one last group shot.

kaden and karis were only interested in the candy.

too many choices.

when did she grow up to a beautiful little lady?

love that face.

not sure what this is, but i know it's going to taste good!

more candy please.

happy halloween!

love, the hornacek family.