I always keep all the Christmas cards we get and pack them away when I undecorate. When I pull out the Christmas stuff each year, it's the first thing I look at. I'll toss them when I write our cards next year. I used this large binder ring to hold the overflow of cards this year, so I just added all of our holiday cards, plus my Christmas list to the ring to store them.
I love cards, giving and getting them. I really love picture cards. Hopefully, with all the wedding pictures that will be taken in May, I'll be sending holiday greetings with pictures of our family next year!
I fixed all the calendars this morning and got very excited when I saw how fast our trip is coming up! It's almost Disney time!
Nathan got home at 6 p.m. on Thursday evening. :O)
Everyone gathered here at our house for more food and finally, we got to open some presents! Nathan loved everything he got.....but he really loved the moose mugs! :O)
He also got a wireless printer and lots of $$$ and gift cards to spend later.
Nathan surprised Peter with a Dremel and a case full of grill tools. :O)
And he gave me two things from my wish-list: a crock pot and.......
I LOVE IT!!! :O)
Thanks Nathan- you did good! :O)
Julie gave me something from my wish list too.........
{Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" cookbook}
I've been wanting this cookbook forever! I love the movie "Julie & Julia" and love her book/blog about cooking all of the recipes from Child's cookbook.
I've already gone through the cookbook and marked a recipe from each of the categories. I'm hoping to try one recipe each month over the next year, along with one recipe every month from the Pioneer Woman cookbook! This should be a fun challenge!! :O)
Julie and Derek had arrived earlier on Thursday and exchanged gifts with Mom and Dad.
Julie had made Mom & Dad a picture book of the three grandsons which they loved. I really need to do one with the pictures from Nathan's Senior Trip. {Put that on the to-do list}.
We exchanged the rest of our gifts when Nathan arrived.
Logan called at 1:40 a.m. to let us know he was FINALLY home. What a long day!
We had our "Christmas" dinner on Friday. I baked a spiral ham and made a few other sides. Mom and Liz bought a couple of dishes, and Dad fried the oysters.
We ended up with eleven for dinner {Peter, Me, Nathan, Kayla, Mom, Dad, Julie, Derek, Liz, Mitch, Lois}.
It was so good to have Nathan home and we couldn't wait for Logan & Lindsey to arrive on Saturday!
Well, it's finally here! Crew change day!!! The boys are a little closer to getting home. Unfortunately, they still have hours of travel and waiting ahead of them. Logan's flight from Charleston to Philly isn't until 6 p.m., then add another 3 hour drive. He'll get home sometime around midnight. Nathan called at 10 a.m. and was just catching the launch boat. He should get home around 6 p.m. Praying for safety today as they head home!
I'm busy today whipping up all the stuff Nathan asked for, including a batch of Mrs. Moore's Peppermint Bark......
and his newly discovered favorite....cucumber sandwiches.
I love cooking for Nathan, he loves pretty much everything!! :O)
Despite the boys not being home, Peter and I had a good Christmas.
Peter worked half a day on Christmas Eve. I cleaned the house, baked, and finished wrapping. Since we weren't having our "Christmas" dinner until Friday, I waited to bake the ham until then. We ended up with steamed shrimp and a baked potato for dinner. I finally sat down for the day around 5:30 {actually, I got on the sofa and ended up taking a nap}. We went to the Candlelight Service at 7:00, stopped by Gina's house for our annual visit, and then after a short visit at Mom & Dad's house, we came home for the night!
On Christmas morning, we slept in and had a late breakfast.......
in my Christmas jammies!
Speaking of Christmas jammies.....I love this video!!:O) :O)
I opened a gift from my bestie Wanda.....
Thanks Wanda!! I LOVE IT!!!!
{My first Lush Bath Bomb!}
Peter has been talking about how he needs a good cup for our long drive to FL, so I picked him up this one. :O)
I bought myself the calendar album. I've already started putting it together and can tell I'm going to love it! Hopefully, it will spark my interest in scrapping again. This was one of my awesome Christmas deals. I bought it at Michael's last weekend. I had intended to use my 40% off coupon, but it was already on sale $39.99 for $19.99, and when I got it up to the register it rang up $15.99! I actually hit many great deals like this last weekend. Who needs Black Friday Shopping anyway??
We did a little visiting, stopping to see Peter's Mom and then stopped by his cousin, Hope's house.
Lacee and her new bike!
Later, we spent a few hours with Peter's family {his Mom even went with us this year!} and enjoyed a good treat and got to visit with everyone, including Hugh, Lori, & Lucas who were able to be home this year.
One more viewing of "Christmas Vacation" before calling it a night. Officially, Christmas was over, but it is just beginning for our family. My sister & nephew will be here in an hour, so I'm headed to my parents house to spend some time with them!
The past few weeks have been very busy with shopping and wrapping and decorating and writing cards and planning the holiday menu and baking and church activities and family get togethers. I haven't had much time for blogging, so here is a little December recap......
cookie baking
my new favorite "organizer"
I'm using it to store cookies!! :O)
I love my shutter card holder. It filled up quickly, so I put the rest on a binder ring.
Peter & I spent last weekend in MD, finishing up the shopping and enjoying a few nights in Ocean City.
An awesome ocean view from the top floor of The Dunes Manor {our favorite hotel in O.C.} We stayed there 2 nights in November too.
FOOD: Dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Friday night, breakfast at the hotel on Saturday morning, then lunch at Roly Poly, and dinner at J.R.'s Ribs. We had lunch at Red Lobster on Sunday before heading back home. With us, it's all about the food!!
HIGHLIGHT: Our first visit to........
Yummy......Sweet Frog....WE WILL BE BACK!!!! :O)
The weather was gorgeous {and HOT} on Friday and Saturday,
but we woke up to fog and rain on Sunday morning.
We got home late Sunday evening, just in time for the church's choir cantata. They did an awesome job!
On Monday, we were invited to a TEXAS bbq compliments of Peter {our niece Shelli's BF}.
BEST.STEAK.EVER!!! We also had jalapeno poppers, sausage, baked potatoes, and fresh guacamole w/chips.
Addison showing off her new boots. :O)
We were missing the boys, but it was nice to get together with the rest of our family.
I did some baking when we got home.....Christmas was almost here!
