Thanksgiving 2015

Happy Thanksgiving! I realized today, as I was preparing our Thanksgiving feast, that this could be the last time we are all together for Thanksgiving for awhile. E is in the process of preparing his application to serve an LDS mission, with the hopes of leaving soon after his spring semester of college. And he'll be gone for TWO WHOLE YEARS! Luckily, today was a great day for some emotional eating.

Of course, when it comes to being thankful, this is the thing I'm most thankful for in the world.

And as much as I hate being in pictures, the whole "we might not be together on Thanksgiving for awhile" thing made me reconsider.

After the picture taking, we sat down to a fabulous meal, if I do say so myself. Has anyone else noticed that Thanksgiving dinner takes 3 days to make, 2 hours to clean up, and approximately 27 minutes to consume? Or is the person who makes Thanksgiving dinner the only one who notices this?

Also, we really like mashed potatoes. Pretty much the only time I use that enormous bowl is on Thanksgiving day for mashed potatoes.

In other exciting news, T found out he is getting his braces off on December 31! It's a few days too late to enjoy my homemade Christmas caramels, but I'm planning to stash a few away for him to enjoy on the first day of the new year.

And if that's not something to look forward to in 2016, I don't know what is.

Picture a Christmas

I was going to let the photos tell the story of our Christmas day. Then I realized.....I at least need to explain that my husband got a Stormtrooper helmet for Christmas.

Three Things I've Given Up to Make the Holidays Less Stressful

You may have noticed that Halloween came and went and I didn't post a single picture. Because I didn't take a single picture. And everybody was a-okay with that. We didn't carve any pumpkins either. Heck, we didn't even go to the pumpkin patch this year.

Pumpkin Patch Circa 2009

C dressed up as a Dalek from Dr. Who and went trick-or-treating with his dad. T went to a Halloween party at a friend's house, and E hung out at home and helped me pass out candy. And the truth is, I think we all kind of enjoyed our new, laid back Halloween. To be honest, I've never been a fan of carving pumpkins anyway.

And with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, I thought I'd share a few other holiday traditions I've let go. I haven't let all of our traditions go, of course, but I've also learned that the tradition of just spending time together is the best tradition of all.

Photo credit

1. I stopped sending Christmas cards, letters, family photos, etc. I know. GASP! How could I?

First of all, every photo that gets taken and important event that occurs gets recorded right here on this blog, where everyone I know can see it. And then there's Facebook, just in case I forget to share something here. Which means that there isn't a single thing I could tell you in a holiday letter that you haven't heard about already. Not to mention the cost of cards, family photos, stamps, etc. Sending Christmas cards has to be one of the most expensive holiday traditions known to man! Now I make a short Christmas video with highlights from our year, then email it to friends and share it on Facebook. 

I know what you're thinking--that's so impersonal! But really, it's no less personal than sending the exact same letter to everyone you know. And you know what? Everyone loves our annual Christmas video. I spend about $30 a year for the service from animoto.com (way less than the cost of cards, paper, stamps and photos) and spend an hour at most making the video. 

2. I stopped making holiday treats for everyone in the neighborhood. I used to make dozens of holiday cookies for my family, plus dozens more to pass out to all the neighbors. It was exhausting. And I always felt like I was rationing holiday goodies so there would be enough to go around. Of course, you are more than welcome to bring holiday treats to me!

3. I stopped making homemade pie crust. And sometimes I don't even make the pie! Yes, I have a food blog and I just said that. Who came up with the ideas that pies should be a traditional holiday dessert anyway? They've got to be one of the most stressful, time consuming desserts to make (especially if you want a pie with a top and bottom crust), and people are so judgmental about pie crust. Which is funny, because I've found that most people can't tell the difference between store-bought and homemade crust. My family could care less, and would much rather I spent pie crust making time watching Christmas Vacation with them.

This is my family's favorite pie. Blackberry Sour Cream Pie. Notice the tell-tale flimsy aluminum pie plate--a sure sign of a pre-made, frozen pie crust. It's also worth noting that besides a store-bought crust, this pie has very few ingredients. Sometimes, keeping it simple is the way to go.

Also, Marie Callender makes some pretty darn good frozen pies. And you can buy a fabulous Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake at Costco and everyone will love it!

Lest you think I'm a complete Grinch, here are a few holiday traditions we'll be hanging on to. I hope they'll matter more to my kids in the long run than whether it was me or Marie who made their holiday dessert.

• Writing down what we're grateful for each day in November and hanging it on the fireplace mantle to be read on Thanksgiving day.
• The Twelve Days of Christmas, in which we choose a friend or neighbor to secretly surprise with 12 small gifts leading up to Christmas day.
• Finding a way to serve in the community, such as a donation to the local food bank.
• Driving around looking at Christmas lights....because we're too lazy to put up our own.

Oh....one more thing that won't be happening around here. Gingerbread houses. Not our forte. It's always a debacle. 

What are you doing to simplify your holiday season this year?

Freedom Friday: Except on Monday

I know. Independence Day was Friday. And I'm just now sharing. Whatever. This is America. I can do that.

My parents were in town for the July 4th weekend. We indulged in fireworks, eating, board games, parades, shopping, and more eating.....followed by more eating. Of course, no one wants to see photos of us eating, so I'm sharing photos of the local Independence Day parade instead.

Happy July 7th!

A New Year's Resolution

A Christmas Day Photo Album

The excitement of Christmas morning, as told through photographs.....

We realized, after opening most of our gifts, that we'd had a pretty geeky Christmas. Minecraft, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Firefly, Lord of the Rings, Lego Mindstorm. All were represented at our house Christmas morning.

There was a lot of Lego action.....

The most popular gift this Christmas was undoubtedly a giant stuffed dog for C. He was promptly named Mr. Corndoofles. Don't ask me....I have no idea how C came up with a name like that.

But he's been taking Mr. Corndoofles everywhere.

He makes an especially good t.v. watching pillow.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We all (including Mr. Corndoofles) wish you a blessed and happy 2014!

Update: Peyton Manning on the Shelf on the Denver News

First, if you missed Peyton Manning on the Shelf, you need to check him out! My husband decided it might be fun to email that blog post to all of the Denver sports anchors. And Lionel Bienvenu of Denver7 News feature him on air!

We had to use our iPad to record the recording from our television, so the quality is not great, but check this out!

Peyton Manning on the Shelf

Many of you have an Elf on the Shelf hanging out at your house this holiday season. But for some reason, the elf has never come to stay with us. So imagine our surprise on December 1 when we woke up and discovered that someone had gotten into the orange and blue sprinkles.

It looks like we've got Peyton Manning on the Shelf making mischief at our house this holiday season.

Oh, Peyton Manning on the Shelf! You're so silly! Where will we find you next? Okay seriously, it creeps me out a little bit, never knowing what he's up to while we're sleeping.

I'm finding it very difficult to enforce the "no video games after dinner rule."

I can't seem keep him out of the Christmas chocolate.  And he just doesn't play well if he eats too many Snickers bars before a game.

To be fair, Peyton Manning on the Shelf isn't always making mischief. Every once in a while, we catch him using his time wisely.

Because one does not simply walk into Mile High Stadium. One bowl ring to rule them all!

You may have heard that Peyton Manning on the Shelf doesn't play well in cold weather. But just between you and me, he looked pretty pleased when I found him in the icebox the other morning. Maybe it was some sort of training for last week's 18 degree game against the Titans.

After that game, Peyton Manning on the Shelf told all those folks with their cold weather criticism to stick it "where the sun don't shine." And in case there's any doubt about where that is.....

From what I've heard, the Elf on the Shelf leaves after Christmas. But I have a feeling Peyton Manning on the Shelf might be around until February 2, 2014.

And you know, even though he just showed up this year, Peyton Manning on the Shelf has won us over. Maybe we'll let him stick around until February after all.

As long as he stays out of the sprinkles.