Christmas Fun

I'm so glad I got to spend Christmas with my family. Since I went down a day early to avoid weather problems, (Ha! Take THAT snow!) I got to watch my sister's children open their presents. They were so cute in the matching PJ's that their mom and dad got them.

Here's Max opening his talking helmet:

It says things like "Warning, danger ahead," and "Code Red." Apparently, it does NOT say, "Danger Will Robinson!" so I said it over and over again to make up for the oversight.

Here's Kenzie with her "Just Like You" doll:

I think she's unwrapping the little earrings for her doll to wear. They didn't have cool stuff like this when I was a kid. I love that she's wearing one of the bows on her pajamas. I always wear some part of the wrapping accoutrement when I open presents. Glad to see she's crazy like me following my example. (Do I get bonus points for using "accoutrement" in that last sentence?)

Here's Madison checking out one of her books:

I somehow managed to chop off her head, so you can't see her new headband. It goes with her leg warmers. Leg warmers!! I guess everything truly does come back in style again, even if it shouldn't. I probably got such a bad angle on this because it was 7:00 a.m. and I was just too tired to get up off my chair for the picture taking. These three pics are the only decent ones I got, and they're not that great. But I was really really tired!!

After hanging out for a bit, we went over to my brother's house. They only live about a mile away. However, they are on a pretty good sized hill and it was so snowy and icy that no one could leave once they parked. There was a lot of chaining up and fancy maneuvering going on to get people home.

Here is my brother, Tim and his wife Angela:

Aren't they gorgeous? There was an uneven distribution of the good-looking genes in my family. As in they went to everyone but me. (But I got lots of the smart genes...or so I like to think!) Tim and Angela, of course, have beautiful children. After I ask them, hopefully I can post pics of their two boys, Carter and Bryce.

It suddenly dawned on me this year, that my brother is a foodie. I know he likes to cook and play around with recipes, but it never occurred to me that he really loves food. Part of this realization was from the fabulous dinner they served, which featured a Lamb Rib Crown Roast. I'd never had this cut of meat before, and it was AMAZING! It was perfectly cooked and they served it with an herb reduction. I must have eaten at least 4 pieces. I've never had lamb that was so tender before. Now I understand why they prepare Lamb Rib Chops on Top Chef all the time. They rock!

The other thing that made me realize Tim's foodie tendencies was this appetizer:

They made dates stuffed with marcona almonds and bleu cheese and wrapped them in bacon. I have always wanted to make this. But I was afraid of the dates, and it's a bit out of my price range (I'm playing the "poor teacher" card on this one.) They were SO GOOD!

Monica was the first to sample one, so I commemorated the occasion.

Monica showing off her bacon wrapped stuffed date.

Monica about to take a bite of her bacon wrapped stuffed date.

Monica making the "yum, this is a really good bacon wrapped stuffed date" face.

See what I mean about the good-looking genes? My sister is gorgeous! Back when I was young and skinny, people used to ask us if we were twins. HA HA HA! I wish!

Overall, it was a great Christmas. I hope your holiday was also filled with family, food and love.