Happy '09

We had a fun little New Year's Eve party at home with just the 5 of us. Well, actually just the 4 of us, Travis went to bed quite early. We had such a great time. Even Dylan made it up past midnight. We were having so much fun that I kept forgetting to take pictures. But here's some I mananaged to get.



The kids have been asking to rent Star Wars: The Clone Wars for a while now. So that started our fun evening.



Then on to a few games. We got both of these for Christmas, and finally were able to break them out.

Bruce beat us all at Sorry. Dylan came in second, Courtney third, and I was last. It was a pretty ruthless game, no mercy given.
The teams: Dylan and I against Bruce and Courtney. Bruce and Courtney just killed us. They know way too much about Disney movies.

We had yummy chocolate fondue for dessert. I forgot to take a picture of our whole spread, so you just get the dirty pot. I cut up a bunch of fruit; Courtney and Dylan made super yummy cake balls earlier that day. I'll put the recipe at the end, if you dare try it. They are really good, so good luck having any left.


Getting ready for the countdown. I had a few poppers, and Bruce poured us Sparkling Cider.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...



HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!




Cake Balls
(from sis-in-law Jessica)

1 cake mix
1 tub frosting
melted chocolate

Make the cake as directed on the box. Cool completely. Break up into small pieces in a bowl and mix with frosting. Shape into small balls, about 1/2 inch. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze. Dip in melted chocolate and freeze again. Enjoy!!!

***We used chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and white cake with vanilla frosting, adding mini chocolate chips to both. Instead of dipping in melted chocolate and freezing, we just used them with our fondue. They were super good. Thanks Jess for the great recipe.


The Best Chocolate Fondue

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup milk
10 large marshmallows
1/4 cup whipping cream

Put chocolate and milk in fondue pot. Turn on heat to low setting. Stirring constantly, add marshmallows until melted. Gradually add whipping cream.
Serve with fruit pieces, pound cake, marshmallows, cheese cake, cookies, etc.
Makes 3 cups

Christmas Program

Dylan had a little Christmas program at his preschool last week. It was so cute. The kids all had their reindeer antlers that they made and their red noses. They sang a bunch of songs, a poem, recited the alphabet and some counting that they've been working on, and served us cookies they made along with a Christmas present for moms and dads. It was so fun to go to his class and let him show everything off.





Dylan with his good friend Eve. The two of them just love each other. They run up and give a big hug whenever they see each other, even in the middle of church.

Santa showed up, which worked out great since we haven't had a chance to see him yet this season. Dylan is still pretty nervous to sit on his lap, but once there, he knew exactly what to say. And then I handed Travis off for a quick picture with both of them. Travis hated it, but he did pretty good considering.

My Secret Addiction

Here's another blog about food and restaurants and eating. Can you tell I live for eating. I get such pleasure out of good food.

Travis and I were finishing up some Christmas shopping on Wednesday while Courtney and Dylan were in school. We left Toys R Us just in time for Sweet Tomatoes to open, with just enough time for a yummy lunch before picking up Dylan.



I do love this place. Everything about it is just so wonderful.

First of all, it's perfect for Travis. We can eat right away, not having to try and keep him entertained for 20 minutes while we wait for our order. And I can pick and choose what to get him, meaning he will eat just about everything, not just one thing on his plate. And he eats the whole time. If for some reason he starts to get a little fidgety, here's some more jello! He loves it.



Now on to my food.

They had a soup featured this month which I wasn't too sure about, but decided to give it a try. It was a creamy turkey and cranberry soup with a made-from-scratch stuffing to put on top. It was sooooo good I had to get seconds. I kept thinking how great this would be for Thanksgiving dinner instead of the usual fare.



And then the best part of the whole visit . . . the bread. Soft sourdough, hearty indian grain, and these yummy sweet orange and cranberry muffins. I won't tell you how many times I went back for more bread.



It just makes me so happy to eat somewhere that is so good, that makes me feel full in a good way, that lasts for hours after. I'm constantly thinking where to go next and how soon can I get there. It's an addiction really, this need to eat out at my favorite places. And living in this place, with so many more options then Lander, has only fed my addiction. But I don't think I'll be signing up for any 12 step programs any time soon. I'm enjoying myself too much.

On to the next one . . .

Decorating our Chistmas Tree

We got our tree on Saturday. It is a really beautiful Frasier Fur, but the pictures don't do it any justice. The picture actually looks pretty sad and pathetic. But it's so much better in person. We had fun getting all of our ornaments on tonight, trying to avoid Travis' constant swats at the low hanging ones.

Thanksgiving Weekend- Day 4

Final Day! I promise.

Carolina Beach


Here is the view from our hotel room.

We woke up to lots of rain on Saturday. But we were determined to make the most of it. Justin brought us all breakfast, then proceeded to feed the leftovers to the seagulls outside our balconies. That is, until a hotel employee started yelling at us from below. Oops! Peeking over from my balcony.


After breakfast, we took the kids to the beach to look for seashells. It was just sprinkling, but cold. Kim and I were miserable, but the kids didn't care. They loved running from the waves and finding treasures. After that cold activity, we went to the hotel swimming pool and hot tub.


Since it was so cold and wet, we decided to take the kids to the aquarium. It was really fun and the kids loved it. But that just put Bruce in the mood for seafood, so we found this great little resaurant nearby. It was such a yummy lunch. I had a blackened shrimp and mango salsa quesadilla. YUM!



After lunch we decided to head on home. Kim and Justin stayed in town for a little longer then took off for the first leg of their trip home. It was sad to have to say goodbye, but we had such a great weekend together. It's nice to be only 8 hours away from each other. We'll get to see them again next month when Kim has her baby. Courtney is out of school for the first 3 weeks of January, so we have lots of time to visit.


Now that we've had out first trip to the coast since moving here, I'm already planning when we can go again. There are so many things to do, even in the cold season: lighthouse tours, Captain Blackbeard, Wright Brothers museum, WWII battleship, Roanoke Island, civil war sites, and much more!

Thanksgiving Weekend- Day 3

We had a big work day on Friday.


Bruce, Justin, and Darlene worked hard to finish the fence. There's just a little work left on the gates, then some staining, then it is done!!! Yay!


I raked the leaves in the backyard. The kids were a big help carrying boards for the fence and helping me get the leaves to the street. Then they had to jump in them and throw them around for a while. This is the first time we've had big trees in our yard so it was fun to play in the big pile.






Kim tidied my house up and then made us a yummy lunch with our Thanksgiving dinner leftovers. Yum. That evening we took off for a quick trip to the coast. We got there late, but it was still really nice out. So Kim, Courtney, and I went for a quick stroll along the sand with our free hot cocoa we got from the hotel lobby. We all slept really well after a hard day, then had fun playing on Saturday. But I'll save that for tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Weekend- Day 2

The big day. I didn't get too many pictures this day because I was so busy in the kitchen. It went really well and wasn't too chaotic. I was on my feet most of the day and they really hurt by the end, but things really weren't too crazy. I didn't make too many dishes or plan anything too fancy. It just turned out really simple but very yummy. I worked hard to use really good recipes, and I always make everything from scratch for this one day. Lots of thanks to Kim and Darlene for their help in preparing food and huge thanks to Darlene, Bruce, and Justin for the great job they did on clean-up duty.

These two cousins are just the best of friends. They get so excited to visit each other and are inseparable the whole time.