Christmas Family Tradition

Our family outside getting ready for the show

Peyton and cousin Roman all bundled up

Mommy, Brayden and Frosty:)

Brayden and cousin Pedro with a drummer girl

We started a new family tradition last year that we love. My dad made a deal with my youngest sister Desi and her husband Jimmy. If they come home for Christmas (they live in California) and we can all be together, my parents will take us out to a family style meal at Maggiano's in Bellevue for dinner. Then after dinner we will catch the show on Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square. We did it tonight and it was a blast! Dinner was amazing. They serve us family style and it's all you can eat. We had stuffed mushrooms, mozzarella marinara, house salad, caesar salad, spaghetti with meatballs, gnocchi with vodka cream sauce, chicken piccatta, chicken Parmesan, bread, and of course dessert with cheesecake and an apple tart:) So yummy! Then off to the free show we went. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. It's outside and they have a whole bunch of real drummer boys who play to different Christmas music. It's so cool to hear all the drummer boys together. They also have Frosty, Rudolph, winter princess, and more drummer boys walking around giving candy to the kids. Then at the end the show it snows! The kids just loved it and we had a blast. Till next year...

Life in the snow

This table has been our snowmeter. We think it's about 10 inches!

Beautiful trees... It's like we live in the woods:)

Frosty

Well all of us in Washington are probably amazed at how much snow we have gotten the past few days. I love it! I think it's beautiful and I hope we have a white Christmas! There are of course a few negatives as well. Travis has to take my car to work (for the 4-wheel drive) and that means I'm stranded. No fun, but I'm trying to make the best of it by keeping the kids busy. Yesterday we all took a walk in the snow, did a little sledding and Travis and Brayden made a snowman. Fun times! Well hope you enjoy the pictures and have a Merry Christmas!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

We just had a fun time playing outside in the beautiful snow! Thankfully both children are feeling heaps better today, so I thought Brayden and I could go outside for a few minutes. I asked him if he wanted to build a snowman or ride around in his wagon. He said "no I want to play with my shovel." So, just like at the beach, he shoveled snow into a pail for 30 minutes and was quite content. Cute! I love the beautiful snow, but I'm feeling a little cabin fever lately. I've pretty much been in the house with sick kids for 5 days:) Thankfully they are getting better and we have a whole weekend full of Christmas festivities! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

There is nothing worse than a sick kiddo

...except two sick kiddos:( Yes, both of my kiddos have been sick since Friday and not doing well. It has progressively gotten worse over the weekend and I went into the doctors this morning. Bronchitis and ear infections for both:( We have medicine now though and I'm hoping they will progressively get better. They have so many medicines and breathing treatments I had to make myself a schedule (my inner nurse coming out). Seriously I have to medicate them 12 times during the day. Not fun! I'm hoping and praying that Travis and I don't get it. I'm not even sure how that is possible though. The kids are coughing in our faces, wiping their snotty noses, and are up all night. How is a mommy not supposed to get sick with no sleep? This is the first time they have both been sick together and wow, no fun. We're hoping everyone will feel 100% by the weekend because that is when our Christmas festivities start. We would love your prayers if you think about it. Hopefully your family will stay healthy and happy during this holiday season!

The making of a gingerbread house

I was so proud of Brayden, he did all of the candy decorations!

Here's our crazy bunch!

The finished product. Brayden keeps asking when we are going to eat it:)

Yesterday we got together with our HFG buddies and decorated gingerbread houses. It was pure chaos, but a lot of fun. The kids loved it, and they did such a good job! We bought a gingerbread house set from Costco, which I highly recommend if you aren't into making your own gingerbread. It came with the house, 5 trees to decorate, 2 different colors of frosting, a piping bag and tip, and a lot of candy. Not bad for $9.99. Thanks to Tiffany for hosting this crazy event. My only regret is that daddy wasn't here to help us. Maybe next year...

The perfect Christmas tree

Bryaden cutting down the Christmas tree

Peyton was here last year but in my tummy, weird...

On the tractor ride out to get the trees

Growing up we went Christmas tree hunting every year. It was a big deal and I have a lot of good memories from those experiences. Since then my parents and both of my sisters have gotten fake trees, and I'm sure we'll follow suit soon. Until then, we've really enjoyed passing this tradition on to our children. This year we went to Hunter's Tree farm with a whole bunch of friends. It was fun, we found our tree, visited Santa Claus, and went out to pizza for lunch. We decorated the tree the next day which was really fun, especially for Brayden. Our tree doesn't look like a department store tree, but most of the ornaments have special meaning to us. We all love our tree. Even Peyton who keeps wanting to check it out:)

Brayden putting on the star

Peyton putting on the star

He loved hanging up the unbreakable ornaments:)

The finished product

Finally some pictures

Here are some of our family pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy...

Travis and Brayden were able to walk through Fantasy Lights. They had a blast! (Mommy wasn't feeling good:)
This is Thanksgiving at Travis' parents house. Peyton was obviously exhausted because she never falls asleep on anybody:) Grandpa didn't mind.

Peyton with Lita (my mom). She fell in love with this bear on Thanksgiving and kept laying her head on it. Since then my dad has got her her own bear and it's her lovey. She sees it and immediately puts her head down on it and rocks the bear. She will also pat it and give it kisses. So cute. She is ready for her baby doll which will be under the tree Christmas morning.

Thanksgiving Day

Brayden enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with his cousin Pedro

Cute!

Time to share

It's been awhile since I've blogged thanks to our computer crashing. Hopefully Travis can fix it, but while I'm waiting to upload some pictures to blog about I thought I would share a few of my favorite things:)

1. The Buttered Biscuit- It's a fairly new restaurant in Sumner, and OH MY GOODNESS!!! If you love home cooking, this is the place to go. We have been floored by the food there. The first time I went I had the "Bacon-Bacon", which is a huge waffle with four pieces of bacon cooked in the batter!! So yummy. They have awesome breakfast food, and it looks like dinner is so good too. We've been looking around for a good breakfast place, and finally we found one! Everything is made from scratch and fresh daily. If you go, you have to try a piece of cornbread (you'll see what I mean when you have a bite:)

2. The Megablocks and Roseart Warehouse clearance sale. Travis and I checked it out last weekend thanks to Sarabeth for the heads-up. I couldn't believe some of the prices. For example, remember those Lincoln Logs we used to have growing up? They had a new version of those, with magnets in them. A huge set for $8. A Curious George Puzzle for $1 (I've seen it in the stores for $10), ect... The sale is only for a few days and is done now, but I highly recommend keeping it on your list for shopping next year.

3. Oreo Truffles. My sister Desi introduced me to these and they are so yummy. I packaged them up and gave them as gifts to friends. They are easy, cheap, yummy, and freeze well.

1 package of oreo cookies (Try different variations for different flavors. I did the mint oreos)
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 teaspoon of vanilla or mint extract (optional)
Melted chocolate to dip truffles in (I used almond bark)
Sprinkles or toppings (Optional)

Crush the whole package of oreo cookies in the food processor until a fine crumb.
In a mixer mix crumbs, cream cheese, and extract until mixed well.
Form small balls from mixture and put on a pan lined with a silpat or wax paper.
Freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours or until balls harden.
Dip balls into melted chocolate to cover.
Sprinkle with whatever toppings you desire. (I used crushed peppermint sprinkles).
Enjoy!

These turned out so pretty and package well. I just made some more tonight for presents for my neighbors. Let me know if you try them!

That's all for now. Hopefully we'll get our computer fixed and I'll be back with more pictures soon.