Christmas 2008

I am giving you fair warning...this will be a long post but a lot of it is pictures. We have returned from our Christmas excursion across the South and have many memories to share with you.
Last Saturday night we saw the Rockettes with E.J.'s dad and stepmom and some of their dear friends. We had so much fun and would recommend it to anyone.

Then we left the next morning after church on our journey westward. We stopped to see my Papaw and my aunt and her sweet family. By the way, if you have been praying for her, we found out today that she is cancer free...praise God!

Then we landed at E.J.'s mom's house for a good visit with relaxation and time with some of his side of the family that we haven't seen in a while. Monday we all went to their family farm and chopped wood and rode the four wheeler in 20 degree weather.

We played golf and I just want to publicly announce that I beat all of E.J.'s family. Now that I have mastered W*i golf I will work harder at learning how to play real golf but I am pretty sure that no matter how much I practice I will never beat any of them at real golf.

And we cuddled with their new little puppy Bandit. He has a white face with a little black mask around his eyes. He is so sweet.

Then we left on Wednesday to travel southward to my parent's house. My oldest brother and his whole family were able to come down from Indiana and my other brother came down from the Boro so it was the first time we had all been together in over a year and a half. Our nieces are growing up so fast which makes me sad that we can't see more of them but it makes me smile because they are growing up to be such sweet, polite little girls. With a two year old and four year old at the house during Christmas we could tell many stories but we will just limit it to a few.

Christmas Eve we all went outside with the girls for them to spread reindeer dust in the yard (you know, so the reindeer could find us). After the dust settled, Chali decided that we should all sing Christmas carols so she directed our choir as we all sang in the driveway for a good half hour at least.

This is just a sweet picture I wanted to share of Karis holding baby Jesus under the tree.

Karis is very interested in hair and make-up right now and she always makes sure that everyone has their lip gloss on. Here is a picture of her sharing some lip gloss from her stocking with Uncle E.

We were invited to multiple fabulous tea parties over the course of the 3 days and had wonderful hostesses.

Saturday morning we all got up and went to a little girl boutique in the mall. Mom and Dad gave the girls each a package at this boutique for Christmas and we had a blast watching the girls. They each got their hair and make-up done, nails painted and glittered, each dressed up with an outfit of their choice and then each picked one accessory for their performance on stage. The talented young Moss girls drew quite a crowd in the mall for their show.

We have had such a great time visiting with our family this season (so far...we still have Christmas at E.J.'s sister's house on New Year's Eve). We regret that we can't see everybody during Christmas but we are thankful for all of our friends and family and hope that you had a joyous and blessed CHRISTmas season.

Technologically Challenged-No More!!

I finally figured out how to save my pictures on my phone to my computer!! So here are some random pictures from my phone over the past year. Enjoy!

Kala & Duke-best buddies (at least in this picture)Kala backseat driving.
Jack beating a 30 year old man in a guitar hero contest.Connor Texas Ranger

(he is wearing a power ranger costume with cowboy boots)

Karis picked up one of Papa D's bad habits...sucking her own toe!

So now that I know how to put them on my computer...I need to figure out how to make them bigger.

Just call us Martha and Betty

That is Stewart and Crocker. During the holidays we are in the kitchen baking for special occasions a lot. Yesterday we made a few things for some parties and I thought I would share the recipes because they are yummy and easy.
Caramel Apple Crumble Bars
1 package yellow cake mix
1 1/4 C old fashioned oats
1/2 C butter or margarine, chilled
1 egg
4 Granny Smith apples
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C pecans, chopped (optional)
1/2 C caramel ice cream topping

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9x13 baking dish with oil. Combine cake mix and oats in large bowl. Cut butter into cake mixture with pastry blender until mix resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 C crumb mix for topping; set aside. Add egg to remaining crumb mix; mix until well blended. Press onto bottom of dish for crust.
2. Peel, core, and slice apples; cut slices in half. Finely chop pecans. In large bowl, combine apple pieces, brown sugar and pecans; toss lightly. Layer apple mix over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumb mix.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown. Drizzle with caramel ice cream topping.
(Nutrients/serving: calories 340, fat 14g, sodium 320mg, dietary fiber 2 g)

Buffalo Chicken Dip
2 lb chicken breast, boiled and finely shredded
2 T butter, melted
1 C buffalo wing sauce
16 oz cream cheese
1/2 jar refrigerated blue cheese dressing
2 C shredded mozarella

1. Toss chicken with butter and wing sauce. Marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Spread cream cheese in 12 inch cast iron skillet (or any baking dish). Spread blue cheese on top. Sprinkle mozarella and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
3. Serve with corn tortilla chips or celery sticks.

ENJOY! and Merry Christmas from our kitchen to yours!

Frosty The Snowman

We got about 2 inches of snow tonight!! We made our first snowman together with a carrot nose, 2 starburst eyes and a mouth made out of trash...not exactly the same as the song but it's all we had.

Kiddos

E.J. spent some time with his sister's kiddos on Saturday night, and I wanted to share an adorable picture of him and Meg.

Then Connor their youngest son came to spend the night with us last night. Here are some pictures of our night.

We made Christmas cookies and Kala really enjoyed having Connor over. She followed him around the whole time! We have been kind of worried about how jealous she would be when a baby comes into the picture (not anytime soon...you haven't missed anything), but kids don't seem to bother her as much as Duke.

O Christmas Tree

Here are the promised pictures of our Christmas decorations and our 2oo8 Christmas card picture. (I have re-posted with pictures because my mom said she couldn't view the slideshow, so just in case you are in the same boat, here a few of our decorations.)

Christmas Time!

Even though I have been listening to Christmas music for a month and a half already, we just decorated tonight. And since we decorated our house, I figured I would decorate our blog as well. I love this time of year! With Thanksgiving reminding us of all of our blessings and Christmas reminding us of Who blesses us, it is just a warm and fuzzy time of year. I will post some pictures of our decor after I put all of the empty boxes back in the attic.

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."