our annual card

although 2020 was far from normal, there are a lot of things to be grateful for.  several milestones were accomplished, and the future ahead looks bright. so long 2020.....

christmas morning

 the girls were up early, ready to begin the day's long awaited festivities.  

 

we received lots of very nice gifts this year.

i finally repaired daddy's quilt that i made him while we were in college.  he was very happy to see his old, upgraded "friend!"

i received a new fancy camera (sony Alpha6100) - 

so excited to learn how to use it!

we nibbled on some breakfast as we waded through all our new goodies.

we took a family photo before retreating into our gifts for further exploration.  with no one to take our picture, we pulled out the trusty tripod.

for late lunch/early dinner, we enjoyed spiral ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes (for the girls), twice baked spinach-artichoke-dip sweet potatoes (for the adults), and rolls.  in spite of the pandemic, it was a very magical christmas and we are so blessed to be healthy and together.  

merry christmas!!

christmas eve

 today was spent getting ready for the excitement of christmas day.  the girls lounged around in reindeer onesies and decorated a gingerbread house.

i made rice & beans for dinner to go along with the fundraiser tamales.

  the girls each chose one gift to open tonight.

we played uno while watching christmas movies, and ended our night snuggled in front of the fireplace.

christmas jammies

  this year, i shopped early for matching christmas jammies.  i am so very sad that the girls no longer fit into children's sizes......(they actually have not for a few years now, but it does not make me any less sad when i come across so many cute girls christmas pajamas!)

however: getting them adult sizes means that i can join in on the matching fun!!

i also picked out a shorts version for them, because little sister prefers shorts! she has been wearing the pants before bed, then changing into shorts to sleep in.  twice the fashion, and twice the laundry! ;-)

drive-thru lights

for the first time this year, our town hosted a drive-thru holiday lights event.  i bought an early-bird ticket back in november which admitted one carload.  start to end, it took around 20 minutes, and the coolest part was the drive-thru light tunnel.

pie time!

 an abundance of apples in our fruit bowl had me wanting to make something homemade with apples.....bread?  muffins?  pancakes?  how about a pie?!

i searched for recipes with gala apples, even though i know they are not the usual tart type of apple used for pies.  but that is what i had.  in doing so, i found a buttery shortcrust recipe (my new favorite lately!) and figured it would be a great base.  not usually a pie baker, i felt up to the challenge ahead.

i ended up with way more crust than needed, so i dug out another pie pan, molded a bottom crust, and filled it with a yummy pecan filling, which i luckily had all the ingredients for in my pantry.  my house sure did smell heavenly while these little gems baked.

because i barely needed one whole pie to eat, much less two, i froze the pies after cooling, then cleanly cut them in half, and delivered two halves (to make one whole!) to a friend for her family to enjoy for christmas.  they are almost magazine-cover worthy!!  and they tasted pretty great too!

christmas cookies #11 & #12

cookie #11 has become a favorite in our house: andes mint cookies.  oh so yum!!

cookie #12 is another favorite - but it almost slipped my mind to make this year: snickerdoodles!!after all that baking, i was hungry for a hearty dinner - and i tried out a new lasagna soup recipe.  it was very good - even the girls asked for seconds!

christmas concert

tonight the girls attended a live recording of their christmas concert while daddy & i watched from home via youtube. with restrictions on having an audience inside the auditorium, the school's av team produced the show with several cameras set all around.  i am thankful that they found a way to still hold the concert, and that it did not get cancelled like so many other things this year.

here is the video that was posted of all 4 groups: 

percussion ensemble (little sister - 0:08 to 2:36 in video)

symphonic band

symphonic winds (big & little sister - 15:20 to 24:48 in video)

wind ensemble