November has been a busy month for us. On the 2nd, my sister-in-law, Hermana Xiomara Ruiz, came home from her mission in Montevideo, Uruguay. We missed her so much, and it's wonderful to have her home.
ThanksgivingFor Thanksgiving, Mario's parents, brother, sister, and grandmother came to dinner. Although I've hosted several Thanksgivings before, this was my first time doing basically the entire dinner myself. Xiomara came a few days early to help me. I absolutely couldn't have done it without her!
The last Friday in November, Mario said to me, "Let's go to Yosemite--tonight!" He booked a hotel, Xiomara drove down, and we were on our way. The drive there was very creepy and uncomfortable. The GPS took us through dark, winding country roads. There was nothing but orchards, and fog set in. We were completely alone in the middle of nowhere. We all agreed this would be the perfect place for a hitchhiker to murder us. Add to that the fact that I got really car sick and Windham woke up and screamed to be let out of his car seat for an hour and a half, and you can imagine how relieved we were to reach the hotel.
We began the day by hiking up to Bridal Veil Falls. Translation: Xiomara pushed the baby in the stroller up the trail, Mario scaled the boulders up to the falls while carrying Windham, and I just tried to keep up.
We spent the rest of the day in the valley doing some short walks, playing in the leaves, having lunch in shadow of El Capitan, and perusing the disappointingly tacky souvenirs at 2 different gift shops. On our way out, were lucky enough to see a bear cub up a tree, and a doe with her fawns. Mario, of course, took some fabulous photos, none of which are pictured here. 
Despite the discomforts of getting there, it was a wonderful trip. It wasn't too cold or very crowded, and we didn't get eaten by bears or wolves. I'm actually looking forward to our next trip!
For more photos of our busy November, click here.
