Letters from Santa!

The other day the boys received a letter from Santa in the mail. This made their day, no, their week! They were so excited! The letter said that Santa can't wait to come visit their house on Christmas Eve. It came complete with Magic Reindeer food and some stickers. Yes, a letter really came in the mail, no I didn't put it in there. :)

Okay, so I actually order them a letter every year from here. It costs me $5 a letter and then the looks on their faces when they read them...priceless! That is a secret though...shh!

Santa's Sleigh!

Monday night for family night we finally got around to putting together the gingerbread Santa sleigh kit that I bought awhile back. The sleigh is one that we haven't done before, and we had a lot of fun. We do a gingerbread creation every year. It's sort of become a tradition. Here is the final outcome. Why must my youngest child always make goofy faces when I take a picture?

Christmas Time Happenings!

Christmas is fast approaching and with that comes all the fun activities. Thursday night we took the kids to Rawhide hoping to see Santa. Well Santa must have been busy somewhere else that night cause he wasn't there. Apparently he is only there on the weekends. Well that would have been nice to know before hand, but we still had a good time. There is so much to do at Rawhide. The boys went on a burro ride and they even rode the mechanical bull.

Friday was half day at school, so right after the boys were out of school, we headed to the mall for lunch and to see the movie Bolt. That was a really cute movie. Well of course we had to make a stop to see Santa. Luckily he was there and they finally got to rattle off to him what they want for Christmas. We made them limit it to telling him only the top 3 things that they want. After all, there was a line of kids behind us and they have sent their letters to him already, so we are pretty sure Santa knows what to bring to this house. ;) He was such a cute Santa and we all agreed that he was the REAL Santa! We did some Christmas shopping after and actually finished!

Saturday night was our Ward Christmas party, Luau style. I made a trip to Savers a few days before and bought us all Hawaiian shirts. We had a Hawaiian singer that was singing Christmas songs while we ate and then some ward members participated in Karaoke and a talent show after dinner. It was really a lot of fun. Of course Santa made his appearance towards the end so this time all 4 of us got in the picture with him, Hawaiian shirts and all! Jacob asked me after if he was one of Santa's helpers and I asked him why? He told me that his beard looked fake so there was no way he could be the real one. Haha, very observant indeed. I told him that yes I believe he is a helper cause Santa needs lots of those this time of year. Cole is the older child, but has yet to ask me anything like that. I'm so glad, because I really want him to have that belief for awhile longer.

This coming Tuesday is their music concert for school. They have been busy practicing Christmas songs during music time at school, and I'm excited to hear the final outcome. Cole kept debating last night about whether or not he should get up on stage to do some Karaoke, but he chickened out and decided not to. No big surprise there, he hates getting up in front of others.

I look forward to this time of year, despite how busy it is. We always have so many fun things going on. The boys last day of school is this Friday and they have a party in their classes that day. Nick's last day of work is this coming Wednesday. He will have a total of 17 days off for the holidays. He can't wait, and neither can we! We want to go see the Temple lights, the zoo lights and whatever other lights that we will have time for. We want to go to Tucson to see Nick's dad, and we want to take a trip to the snow to go sledding. Then of course there is Cole's 10th birthday on December 28th. We have agreed to let him have his first slumber party and he has agreed to limit the number of guests to 3 boys. I'm not brave enough for more than that. ;) That is going to be held on New Years Eve, so I have concluded that Christmas break really isn't going to be a break afterall. There is a lot going on, but I'm looking forward to spending time with family! It's going to be a fun one! Can't wait for Christmas!

Pictures from Rawhide:

Here's the boys on an old carriage.

Here they are on the burro rides. Cole looks a little hesitant as he gets ready to take Bert for a ride. Jacob gets to ride Blue. That would have been Jacob's middle name if I would have let Nick use it, but I didn't like that name. Appropriate that Jacob is the one that rode him, haha.

Cole looks a bit happier to be riding him once they got going.

This is where Santa was supposed to be, but he wasn't there that night. Nick decided to take his place. After all he is "St. Nick". HAHA!

Here is Cole on the Mechanical Bull. They bug us everytime we go to Rawhide to ride on it, so we thought we'd let them try it out. They have to wear that helmet so it was hard to see the looks on their face.

Now it's Jacob's turn. He wore his cowboy hat, boots and gun so he could look like a real cowboy of course!

Pictures from the mall:

Here they are telling Santa at the mall on Friday, what they want for Christmas. He was such a cute Santa! He listened to them and was so patient. He was the real one for sure! ;)

Here is a video of them talking to Santa. He discovered that they sure love Star Wars!

Pictures from the Christmas Luau.

The picture on the left is Jacob being goofy with his Lei that he got. I'm not sure what he was trying to do exactly, silly kid. Nick and Cole posing for a picture on the right.

Here is our family photo with Santa. We concluded that this guy was actually a helper to the "real" Santa. This is the only Christmas family picture that we had time to take this year, so this is what people will be getting when I get around to sending out Christmas cards. Don't you love the Hawaiian shirts that I found at Savers? They will be saved for the next Luau we get invited too. :)

I'm thankful for this time of year because I can reflect on the birth of our Savior and the sacrifices that he made for all of us! Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Good Holiday Recipes!

Last night was my turn to host Bunco. I thought I'd post the recipes that I made for dinner that night, cause they are good ones to use this time of year.

The main course was Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice soup and I used bread bowls this time! Yum! I actually posted that recipe already here. I found the bread bowls at Bashas too.

I made a Cranberry salad also and for dessert I made Chocolate Mint Brownies! Yummo, those were good! So here are those two recipes. All are great things to serve this time of year. Enjoy!

Cranberry Salad

1 bag whole cranberries
1 regular sized bag mini marshmallows
1/2 cup sugar
1 pint whipping cream
1 apple
4 cups grapes (You can slice them in half to make them easier to eat)
1/2 cup pecans (Optional. I don't use cause I don't like them)

Grind up the cranberries in a food processor or blender. Mix in sugar (can use less or more if you want) and marshmallows. Refrigerate overnight. Mix in grapes, one apple chopped into bite-sized pieces, and pecans. Whip up the whipping cream and mix it in (do not need to sweeten the cream, the marshmallows and sugar sweeten the salad). Instead of the grapes and pecans, I put in one large can of pineapple chunks.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Bottom layer:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup

Mint layer:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring

Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons water, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate syrup in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. BATTER WILL BE VERY THIN! Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

3. To prepare mint layer, combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, and next 3 ingredients (through food coloring) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake. (You can substitute vanilla extract for the mint extract if you want the non-mint version.)

4. To prepare the glaze, combine the chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over top. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. They taste better chilled. Cut into 20 pieces.

This was the first time I made these brownies, and they really were so good! I think I will make them on Christmas. They have changed my life for the better. Okay, not really, but close! :) I have no pictures either, sorry. Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanksgiving Recipes!

I forgot to post these earlier, so here goes. I made a tossed salad and two desserts for Thanksgiving. I made a Banana Cream pie and Strawberry Whipped Sensation. Both were new things that I've never made before, but they both turned out really good.

Strawberry Whipped Sensation

Makes: 12 servings

4 cups fresh strawberries, divided
1 can (14 oz.) EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
8 OREO Cookies, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

LINE 9x5-inch loaf pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mash 2 cups of the strawberries in large bowl. Add condensed milk, juice and 2 cups of the whipped topping; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
MIX chopped cookies and butter. Spoon over whipped topping mixture. Cover with ends of foil and gently press cookie mixture into whipped topping mixture. Freeze 6 hours or until firm.
INVERT dessert onto serving plate when ready to serve; remove pan and foil. Spread remaining whipped topping onto top and sides of dessert. Slice remaining 2 cups strawberries; arrange over dessert. Store leftovers in freezer.

Layered Banana Cream Pie

Makes: 8 servings

3 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar

6 oz. cool whip

2-3 sliced bananas

6 oz. package instant banana pudding

1 1/2 cups milk

1 prepared pie shell

Directions: Mix together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip. Spread mixture over the bottom of the pie shell (layer 1). Top with sliced bananas (layer 2). Mix together pudding and milk. Spread over bananas (layer 3). Cover and refrigerate until top layer is set. So easy!

Preparation Time: 20 minutes to make, more to chill.

Soccer Star!

Cole is almost done with Soccer and I finally remembered to take my camera to the game on Saturday. Go Red Bulls! Here are some shots of our soccer star in action! He is number 5!

Maybe the next David Beckham? Without all the tattoos of course! Haha. ;)

Cole has the best smile! I LOVE it! :)

Cole loves every sport and he's good at all of them too! I love watching him play every one. We are so proud of him! He's so dang cute and he's getting so big! I can't believe he's going to be 10 in 3 weeks! Love you Cole! :)

Oh Christmas Tree...and lights!

We put our tree up on Monday for family night. The boys are too big for me to hold them up high so they can put ornaments up there, so I did the top part, Nick did the Angel at the top and the boys did the rest. This is the first year where I didn't go back once we were done to "rearrange" the ornaments that they did. They actually did a really good job so I'm just leaving it the way it is. Part of me wants to fix it, and I'm a little bugged by it, but I'm ignoring that part and letting it be. Now the inside is done being decorated so all we have left is the outside lights. Nick will do that this week next time he has a day off. He always does a great job so I will post pictures of that later.

Monday was also my birthday so we had a small celebration here at home. Nick brought home a small cake and we ordered pizza so it was our combo birthday/family night/tree decorating party. The boys made me flowers out of paper all on their own, so cute! Nick and the boys gave me a nice watch and then Nick put candles on the cake that they had me blow out. Earlier in the day I treated myself to a pedicure and then my mom and sisters treated me to lunch! I got money from my parents with which I bought Rollerblades for myself. Oh yeah, it will be fun rollerblading around our neighborhood in those! It was really a great day. Decorating the tree that night really topped it off! Here are some pictures of the day.

I just realized that I never published this post and it is now Saturday, 2 days later. I got sidetracked when I went to add pictures, LAME! Now I have more to add so here goes. Today we put up our outside lights. I know we are a little late this year. Nick finally had a day off this week to do it so that is what we did today after Cole's soccer game. Nick always does such a great job. Our house is the prettiest one on the street! Seriously, there are only like two other houses on our actual street that are decorated and they got nothin' on us. While finishing up after it was dark, people would slow down to get a look. That is when you know you've done a good job! :) Great job Nick! Okay, so I helped a bit, literally a bit, he really did 99% of it and it looks fabulous! I took pictures, but to get the full effect you have to come see them in person. For those that live in Maricopa, while you're out driving around looking at lights, come by!

The boys really get into their decorating. :)

Cole is deciding where to hang that ornament.

Jacob is also thinking hard about where to put that ornament.

They were sure interested in watching me open up the new watch I got! :)

This is the cake Nick got me. I thought it was so cute that I had to take a picture. We NEVER get to buy girlie cakes or girlie anything around here, so this will probably be one of the few true girlie things we ever do buy. I don't like the big ole 3 9 candles on display though. The cake is just too cute so how could I not take a picture? Thanks Babe, Love ya! :)

Nick wanted to take a picture of me wearing the new "ring" he got me. HAHA! It was one from the cake. Doesn't it look fabulous next to my diamond wedding ring? I should have snapped a shot of the fancy watch I got, but it was a bit big. I had to go get it sized the next day.

Here are the paper flowers the boys made me. How cute is that? They made them all on their own without Nick's help or without being asked to do it. I have GREAT kids! Love them! :) Cole's is on the left and Jacob's is on the right.

Here are the outside lights. Don't they look fabulous? This is the view looking at the right side of the house. We have 3 deers, a snowman, presents and 2 trees! You can also see the 3 big, round colored balls hanging from our big tree. We have more lights too, but we may be out of room. The big tree may be the only place that actually has space for more lights.

This is the view looking at the left side of the house and the driveway. Nick gets annoyed every year when he can't figure out a way to get lights up on the 2nd story. It's just too scary to stand up there. So we only have the one strand over the garage and then we add a lot of lights to trees and bushes and even the ground! We have some around the front door also. I LOVE this time of year and all things Christmas!