Christmas Vacation

Let me just say......10 days off work. Bliss!

We've had a great last couple weeks of the year! I started off the break by baking Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls to give to the neighbors & a couple friends for Christmas. It went perfect, believe it or not! I was pretty proud of myself since it was my first time to do anything with active yeast! I did the dough one evening & let it rise & do its thing in the fridge overnight. It would be good to make them ahead & freeze them for different things also. I'm planning to do them every year now and hopefully I will perfect it!


Eric's mom was able to come to Tulsa this year for Christmas. It was a last minute thing & we were so happy to have her from Tucson. She got in Christmas Eve, to a nice cold, overcast day :)

We had Christmas Eve at my Nanny's house with my Mom's side and then Christmas Day at my Dad's. What a blessing to have another Christmas with Nanny, who is 91 and still in great spirits!We had a yummy dinner and then watched Christmas Vacation & Elf. We all bunked it up at her house, despite it being slightly cramped. Makes it cozier anyways :)

Christmas morning was gift wrap madness once the gift opening began. What fun! My most surprising gift was from Eric & was a new computer. Yay! We had planned to wait until next year to get one but he worked up a good deal and changed up the plan. Its a new TV/Monitor, so we can use it for the computer or to watch tv. Genious! And its huge, such a nice improvement. It has plenty of memory for all my pictures, which I am most protective of.

We then had Christmas Day at my dad's house which was nice even though my aunt couldn't make it in this year. After the Christmas festivities ended at my dad's, we took Bonnie to look at Christmas lights around town. It was cold but lovely!

My mom's birthday is right after Christmas we celebrate that the next day. Bonnie & I went shopping for after Christmas deals & then to the birthday dinner (pizza & cupcakes!).

The next couple days we went downtown to have lunch with my mom & go ice skating at Winterfest, made Pioneer Woman's White Enchiladas (delish!) for dinner, went to see the new Narnia movie, and had a little watch party for the OSU Bowl Game.

New Year's Eve we drove to Dallas to stay with our friends Peete & Bethany. We went to dinner at Uncle Julio's with 3 other couples and their kiddos and then back to Peete's house for the night. Capone came along also & was worn out after being the main toy for the kids to play with :) He was pretty good though & slept the entire drive back home. New Year's Day we went to visit our friends Ty & Natalie and to see new baby McClain and big sister Kate! She was the cutest little doll running around & McClain is perfect! On the way home we stopped in Southlake to shop & I finally found some new pajamas :)

What a blessing to have so much time with family and to have my grandmother for another Christmas! We are looking forward to what 2011 has in store & have some high hopes on what God will be doing!

Christmas 'round our house

When we first looked at our house with the realtor we commented how fun it would be to decorate at Christmas. And here we are! It has been a lot of fun and I'd keep it up year round if I could, haha :) Here are some glimpses around our house for Christmas, makes it such a pleasure to be at home! I've always wanted a kitchen tree and I started one this year with a baking theme. Last year I received 12 Days of Christmas dessert plates & they fit perfectly on the plate rail in the kitchen. I've always loved copper cookie cutters & they look so pretty in front of windows :)

I started collecting the Dickens Christmas Village last year & just love it! It looks so cute lit up at night. I found the German pyramid at an estate sale last month, it was $30 & it retails for about $400, so I was pretty excited! I grew up with one of these that my mom has & have always liked them.

Anyway, enjoy our version of Christmas at home. We wish you & yours the merriest of Christmases and many blessings in 2011!

Dining room with Dickens Christmas Village & German Pyramid

My kitchen baking tree

Breakfast room

Copper cookie cutters & 12 Days of Christmas plates

Christmas Cookie Exchange

I have a Cookie Exchange Party coming up this Saturday. I want to bring something fabulous and have found so many fun things!

I love these parties and hope to host my own next year, they are so fun!

What do you think I should bring from the below choices?

Yum to all of them, I can't wait :)

Peppermint Candy Cookies
Molasses Spice Cookies w/Orange Sugar

Chocolate Caramel Cookies w/Sea Salt

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Pomegranite White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies w/White Chocolate & Dried Cranberries

Thankful

We are thankful for....

~Our health. All year I have heard of so many young, wonderful people getting diagnosed with something awful. Its hit pretty close to home recently.

~My husband. Sometimes it still hits me that I can't believe I ended up with him. He truly is a gift from God!

~Our jobs. Despite being frustrated with my job a lot, I am grateful for it. And grateful for Eric's and that he does enjoy it! Plus, the airline miles & hotel points are a nice perk :)

~Our family. We really are blessed with the sweetest, most caring family one could ask for. So thankful to have mine nearby and that my sweet Nanny is still with us at 91. And grateful for Eric's so we have fun places to visit!

~Our fur baby, Capone. This dog is our little man. He is so much company, especially to me when Eric is out of town. He is the best dog (most of the time) and I can't imagine not having him!

~Our home. We are really thankful for this house we were able to get into this year. Such a blessing. It is truly feeling more like home each day as we make it our own.

~Tulsa, Oklahoma & the United States. We love living here. We love this city, the houses, trees, quiet, good food, limited traffic, & downtown. We are thankful for all the freedoms we are so blessed with & try to never take them for granted.

~Our church. Grateful for our pastor, our Life Group, and the music program at church. All our such a blessing to us!

~Our friends. They are so spread out, and we wish more of them were in town but we really do have a wide circle between both of us all. Also thankful for recent new friends we have made recently in Tulsa.

~OSU football 2010 :) This season has truly been a blessing and so much fun to watch! Praying for a Bedlam win this weekend and more fun games to enjoy in the coming weeks!