Oh, Christmas Tree

One beautiful Saturday afternoon, we went out in search of the perfect tree. We found a "smaller" tree this year...only 12 feet tall. While Jeff cut down the tree, Lily and I had fun playing in the trees.
Lily, our nature girl, loves being outdoors.

1200 lights later...
Lily had fun looking at the ornaments and playing under the tree.

Cookie Baking Part B

It is a Gwynne Family tradition to gather for cookie baking each December, a traditions that has been going on for over 30 years! Bakers are always greeted with a sign on the Christmas train. Everyone who comes brings two types of cookies, one that is premade and one ready to bake. Then we spend the whole day laughing, chatting, and baking yummy cookies!

Christal made her traditional peanut butter balls (which are delicious and really do take her all day!) and thumbprints.Lea made her traditional red and green spritz and Russian tea cakes. She did get some help rolling all that dough in to balls by her mom, Laura, who also made refrigerator cookies and peanut butter blossoms. Angela followed in her mom's traditions with M & M cookies, carefully placing a balance of red and green M & M is every cookie, and a new delicious soft ginger snap. Lily was really excited to be in on all the action. She played in the kitchen with the cooks most of the day. I think she was hoping to sneak another taste of cookie dough. She "helped" me with our pretzel-rolo candies and magic cookie bars. This is just a sample a few varieties of cookies. We each went home with bins filled with 10 different types of yummy holiday treats. And we took a break to Skype with Grandma Kay who will get to enjoy some of these cookies when she comes up to visit in a few days!Lily loved playing with her cousins! She was really into exploring everyone around her. When all the cousins would jump up and run off to the next adventure she would watch them with longing. Next year I am sure she will be right behind them to join in all the fun.
Some of the fun was making ginger bread houses. This is the second year in a row cousins have decorated houses and it is a highlight for them!

Even sweet Sonohoma joined the fun for a little while! Next year maybe she can have a cookie, too!

Cookie Baking Part A

Oh the fun of cousins!

This year Lily and I got to join in a fun family tradition to baking and decorating sugar cookies. All the cousins (and their moms) head to Grandma and Boppo's house for a day full of fun and sugar. The kids roll out the dough and pick their favorite cookie cutters to make fun shapes.Even Lily got in on the action with some help from Grandma! She did sneak a little taste and then kept trying to get more, but she managed to make a very nice candy cane cookie, too. After the cookies are baked and cooled (and little ones have taken their naps) more sugar comes out in the form of frosting and sprinkles. Charlie loved to play with the sprinkles! But really it is about a fun day for the cousins to play together.

Look at these sweeties!Lily's favorite part of the day was playing on the stairs with Boppo and Hudson.
Next year will be even more fun with even more cousins!

Lily and Sadie

Sadie got a new bed...and Lily really likes it! These two friends don't mind sharing!

Thanksgiving 2010

This year Jeff and I had the pleasure of hosting Thanksgiving for his extended family. There were 21 of us total so we had to get creative with our table. I was very excited for an excuse to use my Thanksgiving plates!With all the pressure of cooking such an important meal for so many people, I was thankful for the many lessons I had been given throughout the years on how to roast the perfect turkey. My uncle used to live in Idaho and would come over every Thanksgiving weekend to cook for our family. Every year I was excited to wake up extra early to help get the bird prepped and in the oven. During those early morning cooking lessons I gleaned as many tips as I could. This year was my first time roasting the turkey all by myself, but I was glad to have my uncle close by as I sent him questions throughout the week. It turned out pretty well and I learned a few new lessons for next time. The crew digging into to round one. We did miss Jeff's parents at dinner but had fun skyping them later in the afternoon.All the girls chatting with happy full tummies.

And of course Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a snowball fight...

It was great to share the holiday with such a great family and fun to host it in our home...but I wasn't a fan of all the dishes. Thankfully Jeff was a great help at getting the house restored to normal.Lily has lots of fun, too. She got to play with her cousins and spent lots of time with her great aunts and uncles.
At the end of the day we all enjoyed some time to relax and get ready for the rest of the fun. Friday we headed up to my parents for our traditional noodle night and Saturday we enjoyed superb pizza and decadent desserts at my uncles. It was a great weekend full of family, fun, and food. What could be better?

Winter Wonderland

This November we had an early snow fall. It was odd to see winter mixing with the colors and sights of fall. After a few days of snow, we ended up with around 7 inches in our yard.
The cold created some pretty amazing icicles.

Lily didn't enjoy her snow suit very much. And she wasn't too sure about that cold white stuff outside.
Lily's first snow angel...with some help.

Sadie loved the snow! Her energy was a bit overwhelming for Lily who didn't like being toppled over.
Lily preferred to stay warm inside by the fire. We were very thankful for our wood stove when the temperatures outside dipped into the low teens.

We enjoyed the extra time to play and relax as a family. There was enough snow to cancel school for two days.

Yummy!

WARNING: Reading may lead to compulsory bathing Lily has been having fun trying lots of new foods recently. This night she was eating quinoa and then finished with a yummy teething biscuit...both of which are very messy. When she was done we went straight upstairs for bath!


And tonight Lily got to practice feeding herself with a spoon.

Good thing we have Sadie to help clean up the floor.

She loves making a mess!