Christmas!

What fun - Santa made it! The lights on the house acted as a runway and Santa delivered! The snow dumped all day; luckily Aunt Emily, Aunt Lindsay, Jeremy, Dallen, Tylar and Alex made it through the storm. It was the perfect storybook day; complete with power outages and family all around! A very Merry Christmas!

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Snow! The perfect Sunday afternoon kids sledding in the backyard Chili in the Crock Pot; life couldn't be better!

Football Chili

2 pounds ground beef, browned

1 pound Hot Italian sausage, browned

4 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained

2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 green chili peppers, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon bacon bits

4 cubes beef bouillon

1/2 cup beer

1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons hot sauce (Tapatio)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon white sugar

Drain excess fat from beef and hot sausage, add to Crock Pot with all other ingredients. Simmer on low for 8 to 10 hours (the best) or on high for 3 to 5 hours. Serve with Frito's and shredded Cheddar cheese. The makings of the perfect Chili day!

Meeting Santa

Santa came to Eli's work Christmas Party. He brought gifts for all the kids under age twelve and knew them by name, it was very special. After meeting Santa and eating dinner there was a magic show, Noah got to volunteer and did a little magic himself. Erika was shy. After Noah made it through the volunteer process she had her hand up and was ready to be chosen, but no such luck. Josh claimed to know how the magic tricks worked, maybe he'll do a little magic show!

Erika's Dance Performance

This year Erika is taking Basic Jazz, as you can see she is the smallest girl in class; she has been taking Dance classes since age three and does really well. This weekend is her final Christmas show.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving! My Favorite Holiday! This year was no exception our home filled with family, friends, and yummy food. The turkeys were perfect, the stuffing superb, gravy and potatoes to die for, and my favorite cranberry relish was as always the star of the show.

Cranberry Relish

2 pounds fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

1 orange zested and juiced

Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor, pulse several times to break down the cranberries and incorporate the ingredients. Refrigerate overnight.

Halloween

Halloween this year was fun the kids all carved pumpkins the night before. Noah and Erika both used knifes for the first time, so it was an extra adventure. Erika fell down while we were out in the nieghborhood, so we had to make an emergency run home for band-aids. Josh wasn't feeling well; he insisted on passing out the candy.