.christmas break.

Christmas break has been absolutely wonderful! At the beginning of break – with two full weeks and three weekends – there were so many possibilities for what could fill that time. Now that it’s back to school tomorrow, some of our hopes were granted and some didn’t get to happen.

I got to visit with friends that I haven’t seen for a long time – Eric & Dottie, Jody, the Heider crew…watched a lot of movies, took naps, worked in the craft room, read a little bit, and watched 2 seasons of Gossip Girl on Netflix. Success. :)

I finished my first Dresden blocks and the quilt top they go on.

Naps all around!

 

New nail polish for back to school – inspired by Pinterest!

 

Samson laying on the couch is like kryptonite for me…makes me want to lie down with him and snuggle in. Going back to school is going to be brutal!

 

.craft day.

All break I was looking forward to January 5 – because it was craft day with friends! Jessica, Amy, & Kate were planning to come over to craft and chat and eat and laugh – always a favorite day! Jessica didn’t end up getting to come – darn committed momma’s making sure their little girls get to birthday parties!

We had a fun day – lots of everything I’d hoped for: crafting, chatting, eating, and laughing! I think we all got a lot done – in all of those categories!

Mom got a lot of play time with Kamryn in!

I got a lot of “Marcie help you!”

 

 

Some iPad games – I think the 2 year old is teaching the 60 year old here. :)

 

I went out to Nick and Kate’s in the evening and we made dinner with a recipe I found on Pinterest! It was yummy and definitely a keeper. Kate & I agreed that adding pineapple would make it even better!

 

http://recipeschmessipe.blog.com/2012/07/30/kings-hawaiian-baked-ham-swiss-sandwiches/

I cannot wait for the next craft day – which WILL include Jessica – and I think it WILL be a whole weekend long. YES!

. new years.

We spent New Year’s in Chelan again this year – with a smaller group than some years, but still lots of fun. It snowed as we unpacked the car and as we packed the car and that’s it. I didn’t feel great most of the time we were there and ended up with the flu on New Year’s Eve. I missed the big dinner and our shopping day – big bummer.

We got some card playing in – Rumoli, Spot It, and May I?.

Lots of food, chatting, football game watching, napping, gaming, and generally being lazy and loving it!

Already looking forward to next year!

.books i read in 2012.

I’m afraid I didn’t get as many books read in 2012 as I have in the past…perhaps Pinterest took up too much of my time?! ;)

• Middlesex
• Summerland
• The Future Homemakers of America
• Most Talkative
• Skinnydipping
• Becoming Sister Wives
• Flat-Out Love
• I Am Nujood, Age 10, and Divorced
• The Pioneer Woman: From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels
• Mockingjay
• Catching Fire
• The Hunger Games
• Eva's Story
• One For the Money
• The Pregnancy Project
• The Magic Room

.pickle backs.

Yesterday, I got to go to the Tri-Cities with Nick, Kate, & Kamryn to run some errands and then meet up with the Clark’s!

Kamryn had super cute french braid pigtails – seriously adorable!

It was so great to see Chris, Candace, Delt, & Libby! I was at the Lake this summer and missed seeing them, so it had been about 10 months since I’d seen Chris & the kids last. They are growing up so much!

 

 

These two are so cute together!

 

 

 

We left the kids with Dale & Ginger, Chris’ parents, and went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Even though it was past our birthdays, Candace took a quick ride on the saddle!

 

We went to the mega liquor store – did some browsing and a little beer tasting…

 

and then met up with Delt, Mari, and their friends at Uncle Sam’s Saloon. They had been there for quite a while and were having a grand old time! One of their friends ordered Pickle Backs – which look as nasty as they sound. I didn’t even have one and they still made me cringe. It was supposed to be a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice – but they came already mixed together. Dis.Gust.Ting. Chris had THREE – and we made a quick getaway after the 3rd so he could get something to cleanse his palate. I think it’s permanently damaged after that nastiness.

It was so fun to get to be with Chris & Candace – but makes me really miss getting to be around them all the time. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they’ll come back to the area before too too long!!!

.christmas eve with the Heider’s.

Even though I would love to go to Mexico for Christmas every year…I was so happy to be back with the family for Christmas Eve and our traditions.

We went to Mark & Kim’s for lefse dinner before church – and the grandchildren picture.

Where’s Grandma?!

We went to Grandma’s new house after church for the exchange game – and I know why it’s sometimes called Dirty Santa! It was a rowdy game this year and lots of fun!

Alex got to open the first gift

 

which Mark wrapped himself! 40 scratch tickets wrapped around a jar of homemade pickles!

 

It was so fun and relaxed this year – everyone really enjoyed themselves! There were great gifts that got traded around A LOT – makes the game much more fun!

 

 

This was the funniest moment of the whole night! Kim opened this gift – a “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul” book. She flipped all through it and was nervously laughing - “what’s this about?!”

She finally looked underneath it and found a Nordstrom gift card! We were laughing so hard and Amber was the one to point out, “Mom! You got schooled at your own game!”

Kim is famous for giving gifts like that in the exchange. An enormous bra with a Victoria’s Secret card…a paper plate with a gift card to a restaurant…a hideous 80’s sweater with a gift card to a clothing store. It’s always fun to see what she comes up with – but it was even funnier to see her caught at her own game!

 

Mark & Kim gave Grandma this locket with a picture of her and Grandpa in it. I think it was the best gift of the night – she loved it and it was so special!

 

More family pictures…

   

Scenario: Grandma just took a shot of Fireball!

 

Scenario: Amber just threw up…

again…

 

We miss you Lisa & Melissa!

 

 

Scenario: F U Melissa for not being here!

 

A wonderful Christmas Eve – love my family!

.christmas.

I did a lot of baking this year before Christmas…truth be told, it kept me from doing any more online shopping once I was “done” with my Christmas shopping! I tried some new recipes from Pinterest and made some of the tried and true ones too.

I made White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge (click for recipe). It calls for Peppermint Extract…I made one batch with the extract but it was too overwhelming. I made the 2nd batch without extract and it was much more enjoyable!

Mom & I rolled out Sugar Cookies while watching “White Christmas” on my iPad. It was perfect! That’s one movie we watch every year without fail – but it was the first time we watched it on the iPad!

 

Christmas morning was low key – just Mom, Dad, & I and then Dad picked up Grandma later in the morning. We were all up early so we watched “The Family Stone” at 6:15am! We got ready for the day, made breakfast, got Grandma, and then finally opened gifts around 10:30am. We enjoyed opening gifts, called Felix & Elsbeth in Switzerland, and scratched our lottery tickets. Mark, Kim, Karlye, Amber, & Alex came in the late afternoon and we played some cards and Just Dance.

Coco loved her new “Koko Chanel Perfume” toy!

 

We had a White Christmas! It began to snow around noon. We got about an inch and a half or so. Just enough to cover everything and give us a White Christmas.