As usual, there was no rest for Santa during X-mas! We've had non stop action here since the kids have been out of school. I need to step away from all the bad food and get back on track with good eating!
Christmas Eve we did our traditional dinner at Tracy and Kevin's house. This year it was a bit different because my Dad was the only out of town guest. Usually we have either Aunt Ellen, Kevin's mom or sister, or Cody's girlfriend. We still had a fabulous time! Kevin decided he would make a pork roast stuffed with feta cheese, spinach and sun dried tomatoes with roasted potatoes and some veggies on the side. It was very tasty! Of course our all time favorite is his home made carrot soup that starts our evening. Kevin doesn't hand out the recipe so it's a once a year deal for us. I was in charge of rolls, appetizer and dessert. This year I decided to try a bruschetta recipe given to me by my friend Piot. It was fabulous and I think I might make it again on New Years Eve. I will post the recipe soon.
Along with the fabulous food, we had a great time visiting with Cody. Last year he was in Boston visiting his mother and was missed. As a gift this year we gave him a guide for traveling Southern Asia on a budget. His plans this summer are to backpack across southern Asia for 6 weeks. Can't wait to hear how this adventure pans out!
Here's a few shots of the evening..........
This is the famous Carrot Soup!
Mackenzie enjoying the Carrot soup.......she had two servings:)
After the gifts were opened, Katie read us two books( Twas the Night before X-mas and the Polar Express) with a little help from Mackenzie and Steven.
Now for the highlights of Christmas Morning.......this the the abbreviated version! We awoke to the sound of the phone ringing at 8am......one of Steven's friends was calling to share what Santa brought.....not realizing we were all still in bed. Love having older kids that like to sleep in! Anyway, Santa brought a couple of huge items...an electric guitar for Steven (what was Santa thinking!) and an ipod touch for Mackenzie (Mom wants one of these now!).
Of course there were many other gifts that arrived.......gift cards, money, Wii games, swim suits, new boots, snow sled, DVD player, Wii guns etc.
One thing I always dread each year is what to buy my Dad. He's such a simple guy and really doesn't want for anything. Well, this year I may have done my best work yet......I bought him a new pool cue and case. Every day at 1pm they have a pool tournament out at his trailer park. He could hardly wait to go home the day after x-mas to try out his new stick! lol Here's a pretty bad photo of the moment. You can see his excitement!
Here's a photo of the kids before we left for Ray and Darlene's house.
I will post more later.
