Welcome 2011!

In order to welcome in the new year, a bunch of our friends met for dinner at Virg's. It was one of the few places that wasn't wildly crowded and their food was delicious.

After that, we hung out at the place where Charles was house-sitting. We got in our pajamas and played until midnight finally rolled around. We spent most of the night playing King's Cup and Disney Sing-It. It was a great night!

I don't remember what time we finally went to bed, but it was a great New Year's Eve! Bring on 2011!

Sledding with the Neighbors

Tonight was a beautiful and snowy evening, so when Craig went outside to shovel the sidewalks, Brayden and I joined him.

Brayden loves playing in the snow with his daddy and I love watching them.

One of the kids that lives next door to us was sledding in his front yard. Brayden was fascinated.

He was kind enough to give Brayden a ride a few times before we went back inside. I am really going to miss this family when we finally move.

Bowling After Christmas

Sure, it's the day after Christmas, let's go bowling! Craig would usually be here anyway, but his league was cancelled for Christmas. That didn't stop Craig and Charles from wanting to bowl today.

Ever since Craig joined his bowling league, Brayden's interest in bowling has really increased. Anything to be more like dad.

Since it was the day after Christmas, I figured it would be a good idea to join Craig at the bowling alley. Deana doesn't really like bowling, but Brayden asked nicely enough, so she came with, too.

Craig was really sweet to take the time to help Brayden. Someday maybe they can join a league together.

Christmas Morning

Woohoo! It's finally Christmas morning. This was our first Christmas completely debt free, so we pulled out all the stops. Craig and I were easily more excited to unwrap the presents than Brayden was.

Dont' get me wrong, Brayden thoroughly enjoyed himself, too! Every year he gets a little more excited about unwrapping gifts and this year was no exception.

Craig really spoiled me this year. Some of my favorites were my new purse, wool coat, and season tickets to Hale Theatre.

Craig's favorite was easily the PlayStation 3. All the accessories to make it work were close runners-up. He was having a really good morning.

Brayden didn't make out too badly. I can't wait to play his new boardgames.

And just for kicks, we put on the temporary tattoos that Craig hid in my stocking. Now Minnie and Mickey can join us for the rest of the day. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve at Home

Due to conflicting schedules, my parents' Christmas Party isn't until tomorrow evening, so we spent Christmas Eve at home this year. Craig played a game of Sorry with Brayden while I finished prepping dinner.

Craig requested that I make my amazing lasagna for dinner. Brayden loved sitting at the table with us rather than in his highchair. Not to be too egotistical, but dinner was incredible.

After such a wonderful and peaceful evening, it is finally time to bed to sleep. Sweet dreams, Brayden. And Merry Christmas!

Christmas Street & Grand America

We were really feeling in the Christmas spirit, so we kidnapped Deana and took her on a holiday drive. Our first stop was Christmas Street.

Every house on this street was extravagantly decorated. There were so many Christmas lights. It felt so festive. My favorite part was the large boards depicting the highlights of the poem, "T'was the Night Before Christmas".

Some of the houses were tastefully decorated, but most looked like the picture above. Lights were literally everywhere and the lawns were riddled with stuff. Oh well, I guess you can get away with that when you live on Christmas Street.

Our final stop was at the Grand America to see the windows and the gingerbread houses.

Growing up, I remember going to the ZCMI Center to see the candy windows. They used to be one of my favorite parts about Christmas until they stopped doing them. They were intricate pictures that were made entirely out of candy. I wish I had pictures to show because they were great! Well, I heard advertisements on the radio that these windows were back at the Grand America, so we came to check it out. We were sadly disappointed. The windows had some sort of ABC's of Christmas that were made up of some vinyl on the windows and some cardboard posters behind that. It was lame.

Luckily, at the back on the Grand America, they had a "Gingerbread Forest" set up which had a variety of ornate gingerbread houses set up as you walked through. They were really cool, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

This was the last thing we saw before we went home. I love this tree. Some day I will have tree like this in my front room!

Christmas with the Capizzi's

Today we met at Phil and Sharon's house for their Christmas party. It was great! The food was delicious and we had a really good time hanging out with the family.

Jill passed out envelopes to all the kids. Inside everyone found their own Christmas card and $2 bill. We love that Jill gives these as gifts. You don't see them very often, but now Brayden has his own little stash of $2 bills.

Now that Brayden is 2 he really understands opening presents. He liked having Craig hold the ripped wrapping paper as he opened the pajamas and clothes that he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa had a surprise for the kids this year. They made arrangements to have Santa Claus come visit this year to deliver some really special gifts. Brayden was really freaked out by Santa. As soon as Brayden heard Santa's voice, he hid behind a pillow at my feet and refused to come out.

We finally convinced him that Santa was an okay guy and Brayden agreed to go up there so long as he could sit on my lap and not Santa's. He really loved the laptop that Santa gave him though. Hopefully this was the start to a more positive relationship with Santa. Next year, Brayden might even sit on his lap.

But, all in all, this was a great evening. Thank you, Phil and Sharon! And Merry Christmas!

Dippin' Day

On Saturday, Craig and I spent about eight hours (before and after the Capizzi Christmas party) dipping delicious treats in caramel and chocolate. It was so much fun. I tried this last Christmas too, but I bought the wrong caramel and I tried to use wax paper to set my treats on. The wax paper was a horrible idea because the hot caramel would melt the wax to itself so it was impossible to get off. I learned my lesson though and bought parchment paper this year.

It was a huge success. We dipped:

• Caramel Apples
• Oreos
• Pretzels
• Marshmallows
• Almond Clusters

Then, to top it all off, we made fudge and wrapped bite-size pieces of it in wax paper. I really hope our friends, family, and neighbors enjoy our Christmas treats. My favorite part was that Craig helped me out every step of the way. I look forward to this becoming a tradition that we do every year.

Christmas Party with Friends

Christmas is only nine days away. It is time to party! We kicked off the party season with friends. We got together at Jen's house for an excellent turkey dinner and gift exchange.

Each person that came contributed something to the dinner. I made the turkey all by myself and it was delicious! Once dinner was cleaned up, we handed out the gifts. Just before Thanksgiving we picked names out of a bowl for our Secret Santa. We tried to keep things as much of a secret as possible and I think it was a huge success.

Charles bought Craig a bowling ball bag and he is getting a green sinister bunny (from the game Killer Bunnies) embroidered on the side. Craig has been joking about wanting to get that bunny tattooed on him somewhere and I think this is a great alternative.

Brayden couldn't let Deana open her gift on her own.

Deana bought me this gorgeous picture frame and to top it off, she had already filled it with pictures. I absolutely love it. All of my favorite memories with friends is represented in this frame (Vegas, camping, etc.). I can't wait to hang it up.

Jen was sweet enough to buy a gift for Brayden. It's a puzzle of one of his favorite cartoons.

I really love our friends. They keep us smiling, even when life gets hard. I'm so glad that we got to celebrate Christmas with them. Merry Christmas, everyone!



Playing in the Snow

The last few days have been beautiful, but that meant that there was no snow on the ground. It is hard for me to really get in the Christmas spirit when it looks and feels like October. It finally snowed last night, so I decided to take advantage. After getting us both all bundled up, we headed outside.

The snow was very sticky; perfect for building a snowman. I've never built a snowman before for as far back as I can remember, but we figured it out. Brayden was a really big help.

After that, I got down and made a snow angel. Brayden thought that was pretty cool, so he tried to make one. As you can see, his first attempt wasn't very successful, but we made it work in the end.

Once we were both sufficiently cold and wet, we came inside for cookies and hot chocolate. What a great way to spend a winter day.