New Floors!!

My dad put down hardwood floors in our kitchen just in time for the New Year's Eve Party. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!! We have the flooring to put all throughout the first floor as well (dining room, entry, living room, and bathroom) except for the bedroom, but we will get to the rest whenever Dad has some time to do it. For now, I am happy with just the kitchen being done! Also notice our new stainless steel dishwasher, which goes nicely with our stainless steel oven. Thanks, Dad!!

New Year's Eve

Ben and I thought we would have his family that was in town over for a New Year's Eve party. Nathan, Hannah and Dan (they are practically family, too- Hannah and Nathan's brother is Noah, our brother-in-law) came, too, as well as some friends of theirs they invited named Ellen and Trenton. Ironically, I also invited my cousin Jason over since I knew he'd want to see Ben's brother Carl (they are good friends), and Trenton is Jason's roommate and I never even knew it! It was strange the way we were all connected!

I made a bunch of stuff to munch on (meatballs, bacon-wrapped pineapple, chips and salsa, chex mix, blue cheese dip, candied pecans, and pumpkin pie), Nathan brought some sodas, and Hannah and Dan brought a Chick-fil-A party tray of chicken!

We played Wii games, ping pong, and toasted in the New Year with some champagne. We turned the TV on to watch the ball drop at midnight, but found that our TV in the living room doesn't get ABC. So, we all piled into the bedroom to watch it!! Hilarious!

Christmas #4

Ben's parents went to Los Angeles for Christmas to visit Ben's sister Ellie and her husband Noah. So we didn't celebrate with Ben's family until December 30th. His brother and sister and families came in town from Baltimore and Atlanta and we opened presents late at night since we couldn't wait until the next day to do it! We didn't have our presents to everyone over there since we were planning on opening the next day, so we still opened a few presents on the 31st as well. Why not spread Christmas out as long as possible, right?

I didn't get very many pictures since I forgot my camera, but a did get a few on my new iphone (thanks, Carl and Deena!).

My mother-in-law Deena looked very stylish in the leopard-print Snuggie we got her! Ben's sister Emma is in the background, showing us all up by doing the dishes after our fabulous turkey-mashed potatoes-mashed sweet potatoes-corn pudding-carrots-dressing-green beans-rolls-and-sweet tea-lunch made by Deena! My mouth is watering just thinking about how good it was!!

Ben's nephew Quint looks so much like Ben!

Ben's brother Carl opening a little present...I already forget what that one was!

My father-in-law Carl opening the present we got him (a photobook from our traveling with him in Europe this summer).

Our niece Reagan playing with some new toys with her daddy and CH.

Among the best gifts- iphones for me and Ben, luggage for Emma and Shanon, luggage for Carl and Lindsay, and for the whole family- one share in a syndicate for a thoroughbred fillie, as yet unnamed!!! That's right, we have one share of a race horse! What fun it will be to see what she is named, to follow her progress on the internet, and hopefully get to see her race someday! Awesome present- we all LOVED it!

Cooking Spree

With the leftovers from the Christmas lunch, I made 3 things from scratch which I had never made before. With the leftover turkey carcass, I made turkey stock. I made a ton of it, most of which I froze for later use. It was so easy to do- I just put the leftover carcass into a stock pot, filled with water, and added carrots, celery, couple cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

This picture looks pretty gross, but it smelled delicious! I brought it to a boil, then turned the heat down and let it simmer for 3 hours. I strained it with a mesh strainer so all that remained was the stock. Easy!

With the leftover turkey, I made turkey potpie with homemade crust and everything, which turned out to be so good!! I made two, so we ate one and I froze the other one for later use.

Finally, I made cinnamon rolls with my leftover dough from the rolls I had made for Christmas lunch. Let's just say that the house was smelling pretty good after making these!

Christmas #3

On Christmas day, Ben and I exchanged our presents to each other (except for a few that we opened the night before!). I got Ben some clothes, a belt holder, a hat, Wii Fit Plus, and Super Mario Bros for Wii. He got me a workout ball, yoga mat, 4 dvds (Brian Regan, When Harry Met Sally, A Christmas Story, and Phantom of the Opera), and a paper shredder (yes, I'm a nerd and really wanted that!). We had a lot of fun exchanging this year since our budget was a little higher than in years past!

We had my parents and grandma over for lunch since my siblings were with their in-laws and Ben's parents were out of town.

We made turkey; mashed sweet potatoes; spinach salad with feta, pears, pecans, and sun-dried tomatoes; broccoli casserole; and homemade rolls (first time I've made my own dough before!).

I made my mother-in-law's delicious Italian cream cake for dessert (Mom helped me ice it and she didn't ice the sides like Deena does though, so it looks a little different), which was a big hit.

It was fun having everyone over since I enjoy entertaining, plus we love having all the leftovers!

Later that night, Ben and I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie with Nathan and his parents (Ben's sister's in-laws, so we're practically family!). We were trying to make the 6:15 showing, but the next couple showings were sold out until 9:35. So, we all went to the only place open on Christmas- Waffle House.

We still had time to kill after that, so we went back to the Sorotas' house for a while. We finally made it to the movie, which was really awesome- Ben and I both gave it a 10 out of 10. Of course, we waited to watch the credits since Ben's brother-in-law Noah (whose family we were with) works out in Los Angeles doing music and he played the violin for the movie! Check it out- "Featured Soloists: Noah Sorota" (yes, I actually took a picture of the credits)!

Christmas #2

On Christmas Eve, my parents hosted the family get-together with the extended family. We always have a great time when we all get together! We had turkey and ham sandwiches, chicken tortellini soup, and white chili to eat...yum! This year was complete with presents (notice the Bubble Bobble clock I cross-stitched for Amanda from a picture I saw on http://www.spritestitch.com/?p=2244)...

...game-playing (Bananagrams, a scrabble-like game which was new to most of us and really fun!)...

...and a "Happy Birthday Jesus" red velvet cake...YUM!

The mood felt a little somber when we first arrived since we used to always have Christmas Eve at my grandparents' house. It would have been too sad to do that this year since we all miss Nana, so that's why my parents decided to have it. The mood soon lightened as we ate and had fun together. Even though we missed having her with us this Christmas, we all rejoice in the fact that she is spending this Christmas was Jesus, pain-free and happy! We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to earth to live among us, so how awesome it must be for Nana to be with Him face-to-face in paradise! Praise Emmanuel, God with us!

Christmas #1

Christmas started this year with going to my parents' house on December 23rd to celebrate with my parents and siblings. Of course, the house was as beautiful as if I had stepped into a magazine.

The food was delicious (homemade chicken pot pie was the main course) and so was the dessert- fudge and individual-sized cheesecake bites...YUM!

The last few years, my mom has put an ornament at the table for each one of us. Ben got a train since we had a lot of funny experiences and memories from the trains in Europe this summer.

Mine was a pair of high-heeled shoes that Mom made herself- how cute!

She also made Jenn an ornament of a jewelry box...

...and Leslie one of a purse!

It was fun exchanging presents and having my grandma in town from Illinois to join in the fun with us.

Just look at all these presents from where I was sitting!

Of course, we had our traditional scavenger hunt with the clever clues my dad makes up each year. The last clue this year lead to the garage door opener, so we all went out to the garage to find our best presents- for me and Ben, a stainless steel dishwasher!!

For Wes and Leslie, a couch, and for Jenn and Scott, 2 patio heaters! What a great surprise and a great Christmas!!