A Year of Memories

Here we are at the end of another very full year. We were busy, we were tired, we had fun, we ate good food, we spent time with family. We lived each and every day to the max. Here are some of my favorites memories from each month of 2008.

January

We didn’t get a lot of snow this year. Here Matt enjoys the quick evening snow we had this month. He played outside till 9:30 p.m.



February

I get a squeeze from my granddaughter at my family birthday dinner.



March

Nothing like pink bunny Easter cookies.



April

Mackenzie was a proud lacrosse player this year. Matt helped us with this photo session.



May

Doug and I celebrated our 6th anniversary.



June

Father’s Day Lobster Fest.



July

Go Braves!



August

We had a screaming good time at Six Flags.



September

Let us not forget our recent gas woes.



October

Good times at the Pumpkin Patch.



November

Leaves everywhere!



December

An exciting night with my family.




From all of us to all of you



HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Auld Lang Syne” by Guy Lombardo

Eggs-cuse Me

We are a family who does stuff together. Yes, we travel, we go to the Y (okay, not lately), we play Wii Guitar Hero and House of Dead. One thing that we really like to do together is have a meal at the table. A real live table with real home-cooked meals (generally prepared by my wonderfully talented hubby Doug – Thanks, Babe!).

Our meal time is special. We talk about our day. Matt shares his multi-octave burps. Mackenzie carefully extracts every shred of mushroom from her dinner. Doug and I delight in grossing the kids out by quizzing them for their sex ed exams. Yes, we wouldn’t trade this time for anything.

Doug recently added a kick to our meal. Green food coloring. We had Green Eggs and Ham. Sounds tame enough. But just look at the hue of that green.





This color reminds me of that wretched Watergate Salad that ALWAYS showed up at covered dish suppers. You know, the salad with green jello and cream cheese and nuts. Eeeew. It was usually next to the three bean salad and deviled eggs.



Which reminds me of the time I quickly stopped by Kroger on my way to one of the aforementioned suppers. I purchased a lovely pasta salad, ran out to my car, and non-guiltily put said salad in my own very pretty dish. You should have heard the compliments. Oh, how I love to cook. Hehe



Okay, so back to our Green Eggs. The color was weird, but they tasted good.



Just like chicken.

Do you and your family mix it up at dinner time? What odd things have you prepared? How ‘bout them covered dish suppers? What’s your favorite concoction?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Dixie Chicken” by Little Feat (I was going to play “The Chicken Dance” but I just couldn't stomach that song).

Holly Jolly Memories

Can’t believe the New Year is just around the corner. Gotta show you my Christmas pix so I can jump back into my usual snarky blog posts. I’ve missed posting more often. School and all that, you know? Well, I’m BAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKK!

Christmas Goodies

Doug and I made cookies, as usual. Yes, people, the man cooks. He sometimes even bakes, although that is usually my department. I am a lucky woman, yes indeedy. Hey, I clean up afterwards for the both of us. Good deal.







I kept having to wash these same items over and over during our baking marathon.



Christmas Eve

I sent my elves out to make their annual delivery of cookies to the neighbors. Chocolate chip and oatmeal. Yummy.



Alia came over later that evening. We exchanged gifts. See how happy the kids are.



See how happy Doug and Teri are.



Just before I went to bed, I was able to catch a glimpse at what Santa left for everyone. I am stealthy like that.






Christmas Day

Doug got up before 6:00. I got up by 6:30. The kids finally got up at 7:30. Matt had threatened to get us up at 4:00 a.m. Big talker.





Matt is now our Guitar Hero on his World Tour.







Mackenzie is gunning for Ansel Adam’s fame with her new camera.





Doug will be able to see the TV in our bedroom with this new 32” screen.





My ears and neck are sparkling with these ruby red gems.





Once again, my Extremely Smart Engineer Hubby Doug cooks for his family. Homemade cinnamon rolls. He didn’t leave anything out. It’s Christmas, after all.






Christmas with Friends

This is the 4th year we have gone to my son-in-law Aeryn’s folks’ house for Christmas fun and food. I love hanging with this family. Everyone gets along great. No pressure to impress with over the top presents. And the adult beverages flow freely. My kind of day.

There is always a mass quantity of food. Here we are in the nerve center with Doug, Neil, Di, Genny and Jessie.



Our hosts, Di and Neil with daughter Genny.





Genny and her hubby Rob and with her mom, Di.





The kids disappeared for most of the day…except for when we were opening gifts. Matt, Mackenzie, Tristan, Shaila, Chelsey and Emma were all still long enough for me to grab this shot.



Chelsey and Mackenzie became fast pals several years ago.



Hey, it's us again!



Aspen surveys her Christmas prizes.



Aeryn, Neil and Doug keep watch.



Emma enjoys a chocolate bar in her pretty white dress. Believe it or not, that dress stayed white.



We usually have 4 or 5 main meats. The guys deep fried a goose this year. Had turkey in the last few years. Meat, meat, meat. This is the only time of year when I allow myself to devour a huge plate of meat. Truly yummy.



This is our enormous spread of vittles.





And here is the dish I drool about all year long…deep fried chunks of potatoes with gravy. I can almost taste them now.



Some holiday cracker fun, and we suddenly become quiet as we dig in.





We top off our meal with these scrumptious peppermint-topped cheesecakes. Sweet!!



Okay, that is my Christmas festivities post. I had a great holiday season. I look forward to more great days ahead. Hang with me, gang. My fingers are itching to write.

See ya!

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Thanks for the Memories” by Bob Hope