Top Events of the Holiday Season Part II

Welcome Back to Top Events of the Holiday Season Part II!

Thanksgiving: (Oops! I knew I'd go out of order!)

We've lived in our house 7 years and I've never been able to cook a turkey in my own oven because... I am quite sure it is the smallest oven in the world. Seriously, it can't even hold a regular sized cookie sheet. I usually cook it at my neighbor's house because I host Thanksgiving for 30 family members/friends every year.

Who takes on that task with the smallest oven in the world?

Uh... thatd be me!

The Smallest Oven in the World has been on the fritz for over a year now. I can cook most things with it if I put it on broil first, then put it on the temperature I need to cook and then switch back and forth between broil and bake. It's a great way to cook on a regular basis when you cook almost every day for seven people. Yeah, so....

I cook at my neighbors house often.

Why don't I just get a new oven? Because I can't stomach spending $800 for an oven that's way too small the minute I buy it. I really need a whole new kitchen, but that's neither here nor there at this point.

SOOO, to make a long story short, I had Shelby take 2 corn casseroles over to my neighbors on Thanksgiving. I sent her back an hour later, when it was time to eat, to get them.

They were still sitting on the countertop.

Depressing!

More on that later in the Top Events of the Holiday Season.

Coming Home from the Overnight Trip:

I was almost not allowed to go on the trip with Janae because the weather men were predicting a snow storm on Sunday. Never mind that Saturday didn't even require a coat.

I won. I went.

I stopped blowing leaves on Sunday morning (see previous post) and woke up to a steady rain. We drove into a snowstorm midway through our way home. While I was white knuckle-gripping the wheel with my hands at 10 and 2, Paul called. I was trying to play it cool like the roads were no problem when... AS I AM ON THE PHONE... I am passed on both sides by semi- trucks. Waves of snow and slush completely consumed our car. We couldn't see a thing.

Janae, who I sometimes fondly refer to as Carol Brunette, loudly announces, "Geesh! We were just in the cradle of death!"

Because that's what Paul needed to hear.

The cradle of death.

Children's Choir Concert:

We made it out of the cradle of death to attend a wonderful brunch at a golf club. We were invited by our really fun friend Jen, who we have had the pleasure of getting to know over the last couple of months:-) There was a famous Santa at this brunch. He's the Santa for the Target commercials... or something fun like that.

We all left there and went to my favorite event of Christmas. Shelby sings with a children's choir. They have superb instruction and what they get these kids to do with their voices is simply amazing. On top of that, it's all about Jesus (from a city choir believe it or not) and it is the best worship of the season.

We drove home in a picturesque winter wonderland that perfectly set the mood for Christmas and had the kids betting on wether or not they'd have school the next day. (They lost. 2 hour delay.)

Getting Pictures Taken:

Our great friend Nikki, who's recently started a little photography business, offered to take our pictures. She'd only been offering for months and we finally got it scheduled for December. Even though it was freezing cold, it was a super fun photo shoot. It was really snowing during the shoot. No fake stuff for our pictures! The snow made for some great shots and some great memories.

Nikki did an awesome job! If you are in the area, you must schedule a photo shoot for your family. Here's a few of our pictures:

Don't you just want to pull our hats off our eyes! Geesh!

Shopping with My Mom:

I was able to spend a whole day doing Christmas shopping with my mom. We always manage to squeeze in one day during the season. It was really fun. We got all her shopping done and found perfect gifts for everyone. We had lunch together and laughed a lot. My mom is really funny! We went back to my house and ate dinner and watched a Christmas Carol. The one with Jim Carey.

We spent the rest of the night consoling Jackson and making him a bed in our room. Who knew a horror flick could be disguised as a Christmas movie? Geesh! It was really freaky!

Part III tomorrow!