Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Our Thanksgiving R & R Getaway at Sorrel River Ranch


On this Thanksgiving, I untied my apron, ran out of our home sweet home, and drove away with my family for a getaway!  It was a lil bit of luxury time, which I am entirely thankful for.  

 Our family loves to take quick "zip trip" vacations  scattered throughout the year, packing our itineraries full of fun and activities. (click here for my vacation ideas) ,  I am quite skilled at finding ways to push many things into only a handful of days.  It's a golden talent. ;)

But recently, I've forced myself to add variety into our travels with restful, do-nothing, vacations.  They didn't sound appealing to me until we tried it last year and I fell in love, head.over.heels.in. love. with R & R getaways!  Last year we vacationed at Gateway, Colorado, for Thanksgiving.  It was dreamy.

 So, we did it again!  We wandered away for a couple days over Thanksgiving holiday for some R & R at Sorrel River Ranch in Utah, with clear schedules and ready to relax.



Sorrel River Ranch is located just outside famous MOAB, UTAH!  



Sorrel River Ranch is a luxurious resort of peaceful solace in the middle of the Utah desert.  It is the quintessential destination for rest and relaxation.  The quiet red cliffs and the long ranch fields are a desert harbor for busy minds.   It is the ONLY luxury resort in the Moab area, with a full spa, room service, and valet parking.  Roughing it suddenly isn't so rough.  It's the unlikely marriage of rustic living with polished class.  


In November the new beginnings of winter whisper to our eyes.  Only a few brave leaves cling onto bare branches.  The full trees are cleansed and transformed into rustic lace branches in the sky.  The otherwise green grass is muted back to the peaceful colors of earth, with blades humbly nestling down until their spring dance begins again.  The winter sun in the desert is clear and clean, lighting a quiet canvas that encourages peace and rest.  




Sorrel River Ranch was first settled in the early 1900s by strong pioneers.


  
This farm settlement was established in a pristine and perfect landscape, with incredible views of the red rocks and the wide running river.  The original home and barn still stand at the resort.  



There is still a garden lining the historic buildings.  Titus discovered a lone tomato still hanging on! 



We were excited to learn the history of the ranch and experience the beauty!  This is our getaway experience at Sorrel River Ranch told in story by pictures...


We were so excited to arrive at the ranch!


We stayed in a family suite cabin right on the river! 


When we arrived, the resort had plates of special Utah cheese assortment, crackers, and fruit with sparkling water.  


Our family cabin:


The boys were very excited to discover stairs that led up to their own room!



They were all smiles as they bounced up the stairs with their luggage.  



My VERY favorite part about our stay was the sound of the river by our cabin.  It was literally footsteps away from us.  Here is the view from our front porch of the river!

 I actually took this photo in the very early morning the next day as the sun was rising.  You can see the fog lifting off the freezing waters. 



We kept the door open most the time to hear the river. 


We started relaxing and getting cozy as soon as we unpacked.  I brought a stack of books...



The kids were able to walk over to the lodge and choose board games to play.  We did a lot of reading and game playing.



We did some "front porch sittin".  





The boys also watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movies!



We spent some time with the horses and at the beautiful stables.  Maximus is a wild mustang who lives at the ranch now.  He was so fun to "visit".



The boys also had so much fun at this Labyrinth maze! 



We spent a lot of time outside, exploring and walking (oh and posing for pictures too!).  










I walk up to find Titus sitting perfectly still like this.  I ask him, "Titus, what are you doing?", his response in a monotone flat voice,  without missing a beat, "meditating".




Later that afternoon we walked over to the lodge for our gourmet Thanksgiving meal!  Earlier this week our family celebrated with a simple, traditional Thanksgiving dinner that all five of us cooked together.  This meal, however, on Thanksgiving Day was... ooh lala, NICE!   Sorrel River Ranch restaurant applies the "farm to table" approach to their meals.  Food is grown on their ranch and prepared fresh.  Their menus are adapted to seasonal fruits and vegetables.  


It was such festive experience.  The meal was served in courses and we brushed up on table etiquette lessons between courses.  Collectively, our favorite part of this incredible meal was the homemade frozen custard!  




Happy turkey/feast/Thanksgiving Day! 





After our satisfying feast, the boys bounced off some energy.  (See the entire photo collection of our vacation in my album here to see the boys big JUMPS!) 

We walked back to our cozy cabin for some holiday traditions.  Dakotah is such a true sweetheart.  He volunteered to let his brothers break the wishbone since only two kids could participate.  



I LOVE the look of Titus eying his opponent! 



Titus won!  But his wish was to beat Cameron at their Monopoly game later that night and it didn't come true! Darnit.  Silly wishes...




Another Thanksgiving tradition we share, which I've shared about before, is giving a Hallmark Christmas ornament on Thanksgiving.  Ever since I was little my grandparents gave me a Hallmark ornament on Thanksgiving.  My Grandpa would sometimes write clever riddles which led me on a chase to find my hidden ornament.  When I had kids, they started giving them to the kids!  Well, my Grandma gave them ornaments this year and I wrapped them and prepared them for the ornament hunt!  To be eligible to participate, each boy must answer some Thanksgiving history fact questions.  

Ready, set, hunt!  The timer is going...

And, one by one, they found their ornaments!


It was such a festive, relaxing, and memorable Thanksgiving Day!  We ended it with a walk to the big firepit by the lodge.  The resort gave the boys cute lanterns to use to lead the way, which made it extra fun.


 We huddled around the fire,  just to hang out, our family 5, and talk.  We chatted about girls (Shhh), our favorite trips, school, and just other fun stuff that friends talk about.  








Then it was off to bed so we could rise early for outdoor adventure!  This is the kids' upstairs room at the cabin, beds quickly emptied as the morning sunlight sprayed in.



Water bottles grabbed and shoes tied as we prepared for a little hike in the red sand.  




Making desert discoveries along the way.


Trying not to fall off a cliff.
obviously.


Then repeat, repeat, repeat of above.
That's a wrap on our vacation timeline!

Our weekend getaway at Sorrel River Ranch Resort was made to order beautiful.  We so appreciate the hospitality of the staff and the beauty and relaxation we experienced   I'm a lover of getaways...added to my favorite things list!

We have more photos of our vacation on Moore Minutes Facebook page. Click on over to see the entire set.


I hope you had the happiest of Thanksgivings.  
Do you travel for the holidays?  
Where should our family go next year?  
Share, share.  


*The government makes me say that I was compensated for this post but all thoughts and opinions are my own and always will be!

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This post is linked to: Under the Table & DreaminNifty ThriftySeasonal SundaysMade by You MondayMet Monday, Tuesday Tutorials and TipsHOMEWORK: Be InspiredTasty TuesdayTip JunkieGet Your Craft OnWorks for Me WednesdayOrganize and Decorate EverythingCelebrations at Home,Transformation Thursday,Tablescape ThursdayStrut Your Stuff36th AveFoodie Friday, Frugal FridayI'm Lovin ItTickled PinkFriday Flair, Design Dazzleeighteen25Be Different Act NormalFunky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up sew many ways Six Sisters Saturday


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Making your Facebook photos into a movie: TimelineMovieMaker.com


This is pretty NIFTY...have you seen TimeLineMovieMaker.com?  Within seconds you can have a little slideshow of your Facebook photos past to current set to music and ready to share with friends and family!  


I'm a Facebook girl!  I'm one of "those" Facebook people who..."is alllways on FB and doesn't have a life".  You know the ones.  I fully appreciate the benefits of a social network that has breathed an entire new life into how we connect.  This fun movie feature is a sweet summary of our modern lives. 



I made two movies, one for my personal Facebook account and the other for my blog's Facebook page.



If you'd like to see my personal Facebook movie slideshow, click here.





And to view Moore Minute's Facebook page slideshow click here.


Enjoy 
and click over to create your own! 


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This post is linked to: Under the Table & DreaminNifty ThriftySeasonal SundaysMade by You MondayMet Monday, Tuesday Tutorials and TipsHOMEWORK: Be InspiredTasty TuesdayTip JunkieGet Your Craft OnWorks for Me WednesdayOrganize and Decorate EverythingCelebrations at Home,Transformation Thursday,Tablescape ThursdayStrut Your Stuff36th AveFoodie Friday, Frugal FridayI'm Lovin ItTickled PinkFriday Flair, Design Dazzleeighteen25Be Different Act NormalFunky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up sew many ways Six Sisters Saturday

Friday, November 23, 2012

Our THANKSGIVING IN A BOX dinner and family cooking day


We are on a mini vacation over the Thanksgiving holiday so we celebrated our turkey feast the weekend before.  We enjoyed a  Thanksgiving in a Box for our family this year!  I wanted to get the entire family in the kitchen (instead of just ME!) to teach our boys some cooking tips for this traditional holiday dinner.  To keep it simple for the kids, I designed our menu to be part homemade and part quick cooking from the box so they wouldn't get too overwhelmed.  I set up 2 boxes: one with the boxed and canned ingredients and the other one full of the kids' cooking tools.  I set the boxes out on our table as a surprise as I told the boys our plans to cook all day as a family.  




Our THANKSGIVING IN A BOX menu:
Roasted Turkey
Homemade Mashed Potatoes creamed
Homemade Savory Gravy
Stuffing from the box
Homemade ClassicDinner Rolls
Cranberry Sauce from the can
Homemade Tart Pear and Cranberry Mini Pies
Homemade Spiced Pie with Pumpkin (both pies using store bought pie crust not homemade)



Again, I wanted to keep our menu as simple as possible since it was the kids' first time helping me prepare a big dinner!  Homemade rolls aren't so simple so I made them the day before!

photo via my new Instagram account

We started in the morning, ready for a festive day together in our home sweet home, listening to Jack Johnson and just being a family because that's what we enjoy best of all. 


I left Chris in charge of preparing the bird because...ewww...I can't stand that job.  It has been known to make me cry real tears of disgust.  True story.  

The boys intently riveted to the turkey as Chris shows them how to prepare it for the oven.





Aprons tied, oven on, ready to stir together love and magic. 



We made mini Tart Pear Cranberry Pies, embracing the fruit of the winter season. 



And here we are, not even half way through and I'm seeing a YAWN.  This cooking stuff is hard work.


Whispering a little cooking tip to my favorite boys! Throughout the day I taught the boys different cooking tips and techniques and threw out pop quizzes while washing dishes.  



And soon (actually not so soon) our hard work paid off!


Oh and, 
by the way,
 did you know?




Our Casual Colors table was set!  I made the table decor fun, colorful, and casual to embrace a kids' atmosphere since they helped make our Thanksgiving dinner.  

We all brought the traditional family feast to the table.  It was extra satisfying for the boys to sit down to a big meal that they had actually helped cook! 












Throughout and after dinner we wrote gratitude lists on our kraft paper tablecloth!  It was such a meaningful and fun experience to share around the dinner table.  To see all of the details and to see more photos of our Thanksgiving Table decor 2012, click here: Casual Colors Table.  


It was a full day in so many ways:
full cooking schedule
full tummies
full hearts. 




I'm so very thankful for each of you! 
From our home to yours...




This is PART TWO of a two part series.
Please CLICK HERE to view PART ONE.



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This post is linked to: Under the Table &; DreaminNifty ThriftyMade by You MondayMet Monday, Tuesday Tutorials and TipsHOMEWORK: Be InspiredTasty TuesdayTip JunkieGet Your Craft OnWorks for Me Wednesday,Transformation ThursdayTablescape ThursdayStrut Your Stuff36th AveFoodie FridayI'm Lovin ItTickled PinkFriday FlairBe Different Act NormalFunky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up sew many ways Six Sisters Saturday
Between Naps on the Porch