Jack Adams

For those of you who haven't met Jack, here he is. Isn't he the most precious little guy? This is Steve & Cole's baby boy. We are having a great time watching him grow and look forward to the future years of fun with the Adams' family.

Christmas Day

Troy and I had such a wonderful Christmas. We spent our morning building a cozy fire, making homemade waffles and bacon for breakfast and opening each other's gifts (including our favorite stocking stuffer candy). It was perfect. I made a traditional holiday spread in the Collins family. It is butter, cream cheese & orange juice and orange zest reduced. YUM!! That has made it on every piece of toast, waffle, cracker I can think of this season. After breakfast, we began the process of making Troy's Mom's yeast rolls and cinnamon rolls. It was a lot of fun, and it is a good thing we took scrupulous notes when we made them over Thanksgiving vacation in Idaho. There are specific steps that just can not be left out. Thank you Jill!! They turned out quite well, but they still aren't Jill's rolls.

We traveled over to my mom and dad's house for dinner and had a great time. Their house was decorated so beautifully. My grandmother and brother were there, which we weren't sure they would be able to be due to the snow, so that was nice. My mom made a fabulous dinner of ham, squash, and pasta. It was amazing. We opened our family gifts together and enjoyed the simplicity of the evening. Another Christmas over too quickly.

Working from home

We have at least 12" of snow on our grill after a weekend snowstorm. Alas, I am reserving my right to take a snow day. I have a check-out laptop from work all set up and ready to go. This is my week for claim assignment so I don't anticipate being bored. I will attempt to drive in to the office tomorrow. Stay warm and safe!!

Cozy

One of my favorite things to do is be at home with Troy, holed up in our secure little house. We love a Friday night when we don't have anything else to do besides cook dinner, build a roaring fire and watch a movie. Our house is decorated for the holiday and adds an extra element of warmth. I only wish we could be home for Christmas every year.

Snow Falling on Cedars

Seattle is now a winter wonderland. Here are pictures taken from our front and back porch. Isn't it beautiful?

Friends

I love my friends. I especially love my friend Heather who introduced me to the Candy Cane Cake at the Icon Grill. It is scrumptious! We enjoyed a quiet evening dining over comfort food and engaging in great conversation. Merry Christmas Heather!

Whilst I was out, Troy was at home installing the newest addition to 208 Blakely Manor...here she is...our new microwave. Our old one pooped out. The fellas at Albert Lee were wonderful. I highly recommend them if anyone is ever in the market for appliances.

Christmas Cookies

I have successfully finished baking my Christmas cookies, all in preparation for Smallgroup's gift/cookie exchange on Thursday. I have dough underneath my fingernails, have lost my dinner appetitite due to sampling all of the scrumptious batters, and have finally finished the daunting task of clean-up. All of the recipes I made were passed down to me from my mother. I love you Mom.