Merry Christmas

Tyler set his alarm for 7:00, so we were up bright and early this morning. We started things off with the usual homemade cinnamon rolls, but this year we decided to bake them in the shape of a Christmas tree and decorate them with sugar sprinkles.

Yummy!

Then it was time to start opening presents.

Santa brought all kinds of presents wrapped in fancy red glittery paper. Someone must have been really good this year! Tyler ripped into those first and found a new Wii game system and a K'NEX roller coaster.

From Grandma he got an animal atlas and a little harp seal.

Rick got a new coat, slippers, gadgets for the garage, and a new poker chip case.

I got a new Cathe workout DVD and some accessories like this toning tube band....Tyler thought he'd break it in for me.

Also under the tree were a number of new board games....Operation, Connect 4x4, and Monopoly Revolution.

Cookbooks and more cookbooks! I can't wait to start looking through them!

For dinner this year we wanted to do something kind of simple. So instead of turkey or ham, we made a pot roast....a quick and easy one from one of Tyler's cookbooks. I went instant on the stuffing, but did take the time to make the mashed potatoes and cut up some fresh green beans. For dessert we had red velvet cake.

Bavarian Village

Yesterday we spent the day in Leavenworth, a cute little village town about 2 hours north from here. We'd never been there before, otherwise we might have brought some sleds with us. They have snow covered hills everywhere that are perfect for sledding. But instead of playing in the snow, we spent our time browsing our way through the stores.

Next year it might be nice to go earlier in December so there would still be time to shop for Christmas presents. I saw several things that would make nice gifts, but we were already done shopping for this year. I saw some cute winter caps that are a bit more fashionable than the ones I already own, but I didn't buy any of them. I'm kind of regretting that now. I also came across some fig jam and some fig and walnut butter, which I didn't buy either....what's wrong with me!? But on the food front, I did bring home some cashew coconut brittle. Super Yum!

Leavenworth really dresses itself up for Christmas and when the sun goes down.....gorgeous!

For dinner we ate at this little German bistro and tried the sausage sampler that had Bratwurst, Knackwurst, and Weisswurst. I couldn't tell which was which, but I liked the pinkish one the best...it tasted kind of like Kielbasa. Rick also tried the Rheinischer Sauerbraten which was really good. I especially liked the spatzle that came with it. Tyler had the Knackwurst from the kids menu, which is basically a giant hot dog, but it was served plain on a plate with french fries. No bun. I thought that was weird.

After dinner it was time to head back home, but not before Tyler slid down the hills a few times.

Dinner Date

After the ceremony last night we went out to eat at Zesta Cucina, a slightly upscale Italian restaurant on our side of town.

The tables are covered with huge sheets of paper so you can draw while you wait. The restaurant was pretty packed so we were drawing for a while.

This is me with a hungry belly.

This is a drawing of the camera Tyler brought with him that he made out of K'NEX pieces. So I drew a picture of his camera, then pretended to take a picture with it, and then drew the picture I took. It's Tyler enjoying his soda while I starved to death.

My food finally came, but that was after Tyler had already finished his meal and was ready to leave. I ordered the chicken cannelloni and it was alright.

Rick ordered the lasagna, which I could hardly recognize with all those pesky vegetables sitting on top of it. Rick didn't love it, but I thought it was better than my dish.

For dessert I tried the eggnog creme brulee.

And Rick went for the pumpkin cheesecake.

After all that food my belly was full and I was happy about that, but secretly between you and me, I still wanted a piece of wedding cake. Maybe I'll make that red velvet cake that I had planned for our Christmas dessert. Then it can serve a duel purpose.

I Do

Today was the day. This evening we headed over to the courthouse for our big date with the judge.

We were married in the tiniest courtroom ever, which was actually fine because we only had Tyler and our two witnesses with us.

I think the judge was hungry for dinner, so he moved things right along. This is the part where we said our vows.

Then it was time to exchange rings.

My turn.

You know how the rest goes....I now pronounce you husband and wife.....

You may kiss the bride.

Then it was all business and time to sign the marriage certificate.

The Day Before The Big Day

Well I never really expected to say these words, but after nearly 10 years together, Rick and I are getting married tomorrow.

We've got our marriage license.

And the rings.

I've been wearing this one around for about a week, while I try and get used to the idea of wearing jewelry on my fingers.

And the dress. It's not really a traditional wedding dress, but what else are you supposed to wear for a civil ceremony? Anyway, it's that dress I found in the Tri-Cities in September, but passed on it. I went back for it a few weeks ago and they only had one left in the store and it just happened to be in my size. That's kind of lucky don't you think?

In The Spirit

We didn't put Christmas lights on our house this year and we're running a little behind on finishing the Christmas shopping, but we're still finding time to squeeze in some fun holiday activities.

Yesterday I took Tyler to the bookstore so he could pick out a new Christmas picture book for his collection. At first we couldn't find the display of holiday books, which is usually at the entrance of the children's section. In the meantime Tyler wandered over to the chapter books and found a couple of Captain Underpants books that he wanted. Suddenly, the Christmas book idea went out the door and instead all the cared about was Captain Underpants.

But then I found the holiday display (way over by the cookbooks) and we got ourselves back on track.

Tyler kept flip-flopping between Merry Christmas, Splat and The Polar Express, but we decided to go with The Polar Express.

And then today I baked some holiday cookies.

I found the recipe in one of my Country Woman Christmas annuals, but it's just a basic sugar cookie dipped in chocolate. Nothing fancy. Hopefully next week Tyler and I can bake a batch of candy cane cookies for Santa. I'm sure he'll like those.

New Ornaments

Every year our tree looks the same. We use the same tree and the same ornaments year after year. Frankly, it's starting to get a little boring.

Thankfully, I can count on Tyler to liven things up. Last year he brought home a star shaped ornament that he made at school out of recycled cardboard tubes and sparkly pipe cleaners. I loved it! And now this year he brought home not one, but two new ornaments to hang on the tree.

The first is a glitter glue embellished snowflake picture frame.

And the other is made of festively colored beads and buttons.

I ♥ our new ornaments.