Christmas and Birthday

We had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed spending time with family and the gifts were an extra special treat. The boys were so much fun this year. Keegan kept repeating "this is the best Christmas ever." Truitt loved each gift he got. He was so excited about each one that he actually cried when we tried to take it away so he could open the next one. He finally got into it though and had a blast. We consider ourselves very blessed!

We celebrated Truitt's 2nd birthday yesterday. It was a great party with family and friends. When Truitt woke up Sat. morning the first words out of his mouth were "happy." He was trying to tell us that it was Happy Birthday. He then showed Chris how to blow (blow out candles) and immediately pointed to his mouth. He was ready to blow out candles and eat cake.

Today was his actual birthday. We had a great day together as a family just taking it easy.

We love our little man. He is so opinionated. He definitely knows what he wants. Someday that will prove to be a huge asset for him. It is very obvious that he loves his family. I love the little kisses he gives and the big grunts he makes as he trys to squeeze us hard as he hugs us. Most days he asks for Keegan and Daddy first thing when he wakes up from his nap. He loves his cars and balls. He is definitely a little boy! Truitt, I think God for you and can't wait to see what he has in store for you this next year!!! Happy 2nd Birthday, Snugga!!!!!

Holiday Meme

I stole this from Kristen. I can't wait to see everyones answers.

Eggnog or hot chocolate? hot chocolate

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? There is usually a large gift left unwrapped for each child and then a few wrapped from Santa.

Colored lights on tree or white? White!

Do you hang mistletoe? No

When do you put decorations up? The day after Thanksgiving. I want to enjoy them as long as possible.

What's your favorite holiday dish? Christmas Eve Potatoes...YUM!

Do you open gifts Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Chris and I each grew up with the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve. We continued this tradition when we got married and now do it with our boys. We always get new pajamas. Everything else is opened Christmas morning.

How do you decorate your tree? We also grew up with a tradition of getting a new ornament every year. This is something that we enjoy doing. It is so much fun to pull out our ornaments every year and remember all the great memories that are attached to each one. It is fun to see what ornament each family member will pick each year. They usually represent something that we enjoy or something that has happened in the last year.

Snow. Love it or hate it? Love it...as long as I don't have to go out in it.

Can you ice skate? I don't think I have ever tried.

What's your favorite holiday desserts? How do you choose just one?

What's your favorite holiday tradition? I am all about tradition. I love each one. I wouldn't ever think about changing anything we do!

Candy Canes- yum or yuck? I'm not a huge fan of candy canes. I hate the sticky mess. I do like a little peppermint flavor in certain things though.

Favorite show? All the old animated Christmas classics....Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Charlie Brown Christmas......

Holiday Meal

I love tradition! Every year I grew up with the same holiday meals. I look forward to it every year. I am one that does not like to mess with tradition. Why mess with it if it is working?

Well, I am adding something new to our holiday meal this year. I almost feel like a trader saying that. LOL! I stumbled across a salad recipe last year and fell in love with it. I will be adding it to our Christmas Eve dinner. It is a simple, refreshing and festive salad. Some might consider it a dessert since it has whip cream, but I still consider it a salad :)

Cranberry, Grape, Pineapple Salad

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of red grapes

1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

1/2 cup broken walnuts (optional)

1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained

Put cranberries through the food grinder, using coarse blade. Or chop in processor. Stir in sugar. Let stand overnight.

Next morning, drain well, pressing lightly to remove excess juice. Cut grapes in half and remove seeds if necessary. Add grapes, pineapple and nuts to well-drained cranberry mixture. This much may be done ahead. Refrigerate.

Just before serving, fold in the whipped cream.

Serve immediately. Recipe doubles easily.

Catch Up Time

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted! So much has happened there is no way I can write about it all.

First, we had a great Christmas! We had a wonderful time celebrating the Savior's birth. We were so spoiled (as usual). It was so much fun to watch the boy truly enjoy this special time of year. The best part was knowing that Keegan really understands the true meaning of Christmas.

Next we celebrated Truitt's 1st Birthday! I can't believe a year has passed since he entered this world. Wow! Everything just goes much faster with a second child. He is a happy boy that loves to be around people. His cute smile and big dimples brighten my day. He is feisty, opinionated, cuddly and sweet. The week of Christmas he took his first steps. He can stand for long periods of time and walk (when he wants to). Before long he will be cruising everywhere all the time.

I also missed my blogiversary. It has been more than a year since Chris created this blog while we were in the hospital, after giving birth to Truitt. I haven't updated the blog as often as I wanted to, but I will try to do better this year.

We were able to get away with Chris' family (thanks to his parents) for a few days around new years. They rented an amazing house for us to stay in. The kids had so much fun feeding the goats, sheep and pony. They also enjoyed jumping on the trampoline. It was nice to get away from all the normal pressures of life and just relax and enjoy some time away.

Currently, Chris and his brother are under a huge amount of stress. They are working night and day to finish their novel. They missed the Dec. 1st deadline the publisher had for them, but thankfully they are being very gracious and extended the deadline to the end of Jan. Please pray that they would finish this novel on time. We can't wait for it to be done so that he isn't working non stop. I have read the first part of the book and I am amazed at how good it is! Not just because he is my husband, but because it is really good. I kept finding myself saying "Wow, I can't believe how good this is and my husband wrote it!" Now I need to find time to read the first book.