Chislic

We did fondue the other day and when we were all done we fried up all the beef. Consequently I think beef fondue ends up looking like Chislic. I'm starting to think the South Dakota people had it figured out a long time ago...

For more on Chislic go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chislic

Cooking Making

Last weekend was fulll of cooking making. First we headed off to my cousins place to make around 8 different kinds of cookies. A few of the cookies we made Saturday were: Thumb Prints, Spritz, Peanut Butter Fingers, Mounds Malls, Sugar Cookies, Almond Bark, Christmas Wreaths, Pecan Tarts, Ginger Snaps, and Pixies.

Then on Sunday we got together with Brian's mom and made a few of her family recipes such as peanut butter kisses, mint surprise cookies, truffles, and mint cookies.

For the next 2 weeks our meals will consist of cookies, cookies and more cookies.

Ceiling

Our ceiling re-do was finished December 12. We really could not wait to get out of our basement. We took of the popcorn texture and replaced it with a knock-down and then had it painted. This is kind of what the final texture look likes, hard to show with a picture:

Where did all our furniture go?

I awoke on Sunday morning to find our front room like this...


And our family room like this...

And then I walked into the porch and realized that my new feng shui decorating was not such a good idea....

Bringing Home The Christmas Tree

Last Saturday we finally went out to pick up the tree we picked out so long ago.

From a distance we saw our red flag marking our tree...but when we got closer we found our trees decorated with the strangest ornaments: Ducks, Hearts and TROPHIES!

Evidently Jacques had gone out a few weeks ago with Daisy and had a ball decorating our trees.

Brian with the ornaments:

Removing the ornaments so we could take the trees home just to re-decorate them :)


Brian cutting down our tree, it would have been a lot easier if our stump wasn't 4-5 inches in diameter.


Most people only go home with one Christmas tree, whereas we go home with THREE:


The finished product:

Thanksgiving Squared + Crab

The week of thanksgiving came quickly and went just as fast.

We spent Thanksgiving day with the Ohs side - we enjoyed a wonderful dinner and had a lovely time. I also bribed Tom with a piece of Banana Cream pie and he came over and took this picture of the 5 of us...well technically 6.

The day after Thanksgiving I woke up at 3:37 am - it was suppose to be 3:30 but I really need the extra 7 minutes. So you would think that with waking up in plenty of time I would have scored some great Black Friday deals. Well, if you call $5 fleece pants, Crest Toothpaste and a York Peppermint patty a great score - then I win!

One I regained some sleep we decided to have crab legs for dinner. So we headed to Costco and bought 4 lbs. of 'Alaskan King Crab' (as Brian likes to proclaim). It was a delicious dinner!


As you can see there was not much left of the crab after Brian and Steve were done...

Then Saturday we revisted Thanksgiving at my brother James' house. I'm pretty sure there were close to 40 of us there - but I always forget to count because by the time I should remember I'm already in a food coma.

Things I am thankful for...

Seeing as it is Thanksgiving I thought it was right to post what I believe I am most thankful for this year....really it's at this moment - but I'll let it pass for the year...

Memories - whether stored in photos, in our minds or in our hearts. The way they remind of the time - good or bad. They keep those we've lost in our lives and they also serve as reminders of the fun and the love we have shared with our family and friends.

Fun, Love and Life - to me these three attributes should always just go together. One because we should always love those we care for unconditionally - even when people make mistakes and while sharing that love we should always remember that life should be fun. Even in the darkest of times I always try to reminds myself that I only have one life and if I had to choose how to live it I'd choose to live it full of love and fun.

And with out any explanation at all these are a few other things I'm thankful for: family, friends, banana cream pie, kitties, Sassy, internet, warm days, snow, cake, photography, randomness, and more.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!