Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Such a horrible blogger I have been. I'm sorry! Christmas and New Years have come and gone and it all went by waaaaay too fast. 

The week after Thanksgiving was spent getting all of the Christmas decorations out and getting the exterior lights in order. Bobby did an amazing job outside this year and he is just looking forward to going bigger and better next year. I've been told that music will be added to the mix....Oh boy! I'm hoping to have started a little tradition and purchased an 8 foot blow up snowman for the girls to give Bobby for his birthday. The snowman had yet to be received by Bobby when these pics were taken, but rest assured, the big chilly dude fit in quite nicely. 

 

Like we do every year, we planned to have Bobby's mom and his Nina (godmother Tia Marilyn AKA Tina) down to help us decorate the tree on December 2nd. The day before, I bundled up the girls to head ALL THE WAY out to.....Home Depot only to step out of our garage into perfect 70 degree weather and a blazing sun! Thank you Southern California. We rocked our Ugg boots and furry vests anyway, fell in love with the first tree we checked out and took it home with us. I made a crockpot full of Caramel Apple Cider and we ate Costco pizza and Caesar salad for dinner. Festive, right? The tree turned out beautifully and Jordan had an absolute blast seeing all of the lights and decorations. She kept saying, "Look at all the decorations!" and "Lights are bootiful!"

 

 The weekend after that was Bobby's Birthday. His Birthday was on Saturday, but he spent Friday playing golf with some of the guys from work and then I was lucky enough to get a sitter for the evening and go out for a few drinks with him and his work crew. We had a blast and were still home in time to put Jordan to bed. The next morning we loaded the car up and took off up to my mom's. I got Bobby tickets to that Sunday's Laker game, so we were able to leave the girls with my mom while we went to dinner and the game.

Bobby's Surf and Turf Birthday Dinner!

Happy Birthday, Love!

We had another fun night and the girls did great with grandma. Even after enjoying one of Dada's birthday treats that mama made!

 

Thank you for babysitting, Gamma!

The following weekend, Bobby's mom and Nina hosted a small Christmas dinner. His Uncle Acie is battling Alzheimers and seems to respond really well and enjoy his time when Jordan is around, so we welcomed the idea of getting to spend some extra time with them and enjoy yummy food. The prime rib that Bobby's Nina made was to die for! Jordan wasn't a fan of the dinner choices, but sure did enjoy her very own gingerbread man!

 

B in her Christmas outfit and ready to go!

Bobby left for a business trip bright and early the next morning and the girls and I had a little play date with one of Jordan's friends, Sophia. We made salt dough ornaments, ate lunch, and enjoyed our time together. Here are B and J's handprints from the day. 

Bobby returned home late Wednesday night and the rest of our week was filled with Christmas shopping, cleaning, and treat making. I took several of my recipes/ideas that I had pinned on Pinterest and put them to use to put together some gifts for our neighbors. 

From the top left, I made Slower Cooker Cinnamon Almonds that are absolutely delicious and SO addicting! Next, I attempted to make Peppermint Serving Trays. These weren't a complete success or a complete failure. The shape is never quite perfect without a little manipulation before it cools and you definitely need to use parchment paper vs. wax paper. I also used a spray sealer on them to eliminate some of the tackiness, but they were still a tad sticky. All in all, a cute touch, but not amazing. 

Bottom left shows the final product with White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge shown on the right of the tray. As Jordan would say, "Deeeeelishus!" She did manage to sneak a piece off of one of the trays before I was able to wrap it in cellophane! Lastly, I made White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies. Such a yummy treat! I skipped the Peppermint extract in the batter because the M&Ms were enough peppermint for my taste and they were great! The cookie is so chewy, almost brownie-esque. 

Bobby and I also made a tag team effort on gifts for both of our mom's and his dad. We put our own little spin on these picture holders and were very happy with the way they turned out. 

My mom showed up on the Friday before Christmas and was a huge help with the girls, running errands, and with the treats for the neighbors!

Then came Christmas Eve. We dined on homemade tamales, took a walk around the block to look at Christmas lights...

watched A Charlie Brown Christmas (a Christmas Eve tradition), and ended the night by making sure we left some yummy treats for Santa and his reindeer!

B is totally not amused!

Bobby's mom arrived bright and early around 6:30am Christmas morning so she could watch J open presents. B slept in, but once J was up, I made sure that Bobby had the camera ready to catch her reaction when she saw all of the "prizes" that Santa had brought. We got a few good shots...

but she was more concerned with making sure Santa and his reindeer enjoyed their milk, cookies, and carrots. Then she wanted to eat the left over cookie, so I let her. 

We had a lot of fun opening gifts with her and she was in heaven with all of her new toys.
The rest of our day was spent munching on yummy snacks, cooking, watching TV and playing with the girls. Not too shabby if you ask me!