Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Let's chat over a cup of tea...

...and catch up.

Starting from Thanksgiving - this year seemed to be one of our favorites. It was made special with a visit from my husband's parents from Oregon. The kids were so excited and so were we.

Preparation for this Thanksgiving feast was so much fun.
My mother-in-law worked right along side me in the kitchen as we prepared a meal with all the fixings for 4 adults and 2 kids. :) As it should be - we had many leftovers. Mom shared her recipes for creamed peas and mashed potatoes, then I shared my recipes for the Turkey,
Cornbread Stuffing, Gravy, and a Holiday Yam Dish.

The next thing I knew, she was offering to teach me how to make Homemade rolls and Cinnamon Rolls (my husband had a smile on his face!) I don't think I will ever forget the special time of fellowship and meal preparation we had together. She got me over the fear of using yeast and getting my hands in dough with flying colors! What was even more meaningful was that this roll recipe was first taught to her by own Grandmother. It is not one that has been recorded on paper, but remains in her memory. So as mom, prepared the rolls and taught me the techniques, I was carefully/frantically recording the different steps and measurements. I look forward to some day passing this recipe to my own daughter.


Since then, I have made another batch of Cinnamon Rolls. The entire process went very well, although next time I will use much more cinnamon & sugar. Mom says, "It should be flowing out of the rolls ". Mmm...

Here are some rolls that I made for my husbands work.

Although, a wager had been made with his boss and fellow coworkers that if they let my husband leave early that day, then I would make them cinnamon rolls. Of course clarification was in order! Were the rolls going to be made from tube refrigerator rolls or homemade ones? Was my husband going to be let go more than say half and hour before quitting time or a substantial amount of time? Joking - all in fun.

Next thing you know, my husband returned home from work a couple hours early, helped finish packing the car, and then the guys received these yummy treasures when we returned from our trip:


Had to show you these happy faces of the kids mixing colors of frosting for Christmas Sugar cookies. They really enjoyed the entire process and the mess. Sprinkles and candy bits!



We made our way to Oregon with only one road closure due to inclement weather and a truck accident. Then the next day, my sister got married. Here is a picture of her in her sweet and beautiful wedding dress. The shoulder straps were so romantic.

I liked the Bride & Groom Elephant's placed on their wedding cake.
So fun!
Just like the two of them.

Then a surprise!
On Christmas Day, at about 2:00 p.m., I received a call from other sister Tiffany, that her water had broke. She was having a baby! So I quickly went up to the hospital to be with her. It was such a special time to spend the next 12 hours with her, her husband, friends, and family. Sophia Daisy was born the next day at 4 a.m., weighing 5 lbs, 7 oz. Healthy and cute as could be. It was such a privilege to be there for the delivery. Since Sophia was originally due in early January, she was such a good little girl to be born when her auntie was in town. She was the first out of my 6 nieces and nephews that I was able to see as a baby. This event was really the highlight of the entire vacation. Something I won't forget. :)


Proud parents! Just minutes after baby was born.

After a week of visiting dear Oregon, we then returned back to our "home" in Idaho despite another road closure and more inclement weather. New Year's was a quiet night at home with hubby, staying up and watching a movie till' midnight, and then watching 10 minutes of network T.V. parties.


Looking forward to another full year!

1 comment:

Short Stop said...

WOW...you had a GREAT holiday season. Those cinnamon rolls look deeeeeelicious! YUM! And, congrats on the birth of your little neice! How exciting! :)