Autumn has come in all her golden-red splendor. It is really beautiful this time of year. Almost all of the trees are deciduous so the mountains are on fire with colour. I will hold this picture in my mind when the November winds howl through and strip the branches bare, leaving the world a dusty brown for the next 4 months. "At least the sky is always blue", says Kyle. "yeah, so are my extremities", says I.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with a number of Canadian teachers at a new hotel called "The Dynasty". I have never seen such a buffet in my entire life. Lily's eyes nearly popped out of her head at the bread selection; there were no less than 7 different kinds; and she immediately filled her first plate with buns and soft pretzels. Zoe was most pleased with the ice-cream bar, and John just wandered from place to place grabbing whatever he could get his hands on. They had a full sushi bar, crab legs, prawns, oysters as big as my hand (ok, gross), gourmet pizza, roast beef, and of course, turkey with all of the fixings. There was no inappropriate entertainment this year, unless you count John nearly falling into the coy pond while trying to get the fish to nibble on his skin. For once, I let them eat what they wanted in whatever order and it was worth it.

I am Thankful.