Catching Up With All of You!

Hello dear friends!  I took a few days off to truly enjoy R&R and time celebrating Christmas with my family but I have missed connecting with all of you and I have so much to share with you!  I don't have all my pictures cleaned up yet but there is much more to come - I promise!  I found this little serving tray and I think it sums up my feelings about the holidays this year quite well.  We were blessed with a white Christmas just in the nick of time here in Michigan and everyone was so excited to see the snow arrive.  We are snowmobilers in this family and are excited to hit the trails in the upcoming weeks - you'll hear and see much more on that very soon.

The kids were really into the magic of Christmas this year.
At almost 4 and 9 they are just about the perfect ages - my husband and I treasured every look of awe and shout of excitement along the way.  And none of my fears about my daughter entering that age of disappointment came true - this was once again declared the best Christmas ever - even though she did not get the Nook she asked for.  :)    We (and Santa) managed to surprise them with some of the big items on their wish list and some  others they didn't know they needed but truly loved - like their own DVD players (with headphones for our sake) for those long drives to the cabin!

I managed to get some wonderful gifts as well - Santa brought me an awesome Cuisinart 11-pc stainless steel cookware set (oh for sure you will be seeing that a lot!).  And I got an awesome UnderArmour hoodie for under my snowmobile coat and a new smaller camera from my hubby and if you follow me on Twitter you've already had a sneak peek at the cool fondue pot from my mom.  My mom also gave me an awesome new camera I have yet to figure out that is perfect for food blogging pictures and other shot from a tripod - now I have to get serious and build myself a little photo box for taking better food pictures for all of you.  I am very grateful to have such a supportive family.

Family time was extra precious this year with my brother home for the first time in a year and after having some friends and family who lost loved ones recently.  We focused on quality family time and traditions like signing the tablecloth (I'll share more in another post) and building gingerbread houses.  

I hope you all had a wonderful of a Christmas as I did and I hope you all have fun ringing in the New Year!  I look forward to a new year of growing and sharing with you here on the blog.  I've gotten some great new ideas from you and hope you keep asking!