Joel and I are enjoying the holiday with family, but I wanted to stop by to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Peace and Joy!
-XOJO
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Holiday Warm Up:: Cookie Day!
The weekend before Christmas is always packed up full of all kinds of activities and this year was no different. Joel and I finished up our Christmas shopping, we meet up with the Odell family for a holiday get together and the icing on the cake was Saturday morning, when I headed over to my sister's house to meet up with the rest of the extended family for a James Family Cookie Day!
For several years now, my mom's side of the family gets together to bake a billion cookies and decorate them. We all take home our favorites and the extra cookies are saved for the Christmas Eve family gathering. It is really fun to see how creative my family is. Everyone loves Cookie Day and we all really get into decorating the cookies.
The table was such a mess! Such a glorious, delicious mess!
Can you believe that Christmas Eve is tomorrow?! Joel and I will be traveling around to visit friends and family this holiday season, so posts might be sparse and few, but what else is new right?!
For several years now, my mom's side of the family gets together to bake a billion cookies and decorate them. We all take home our favorites and the extra cookies are saved for the Christmas Eve family gathering. It is really fun to see how creative my family is. Everyone loves Cookie Day and we all really get into decorating the cookies.
Porter and Kaleb entertain themselves as we get everything set up.
Check out the ugly sweater cookies! So cute!
I made a Joel cookie, a me cookie and a Jack cookie.
Did you know if you turn a gingerbread man cookie upside down, you can make a reindeer cookie?
Here are all the cookies we baked and frosted together.
There are even more cookies under production in the kitchen! Too many cookies!
All the lovely bakers!
Me, Shaina, Riley, Tonna, Sidney, Betty, Maddie, Jackie, Moriah, Holli, Pat, Anne, Farrah, Leann, Karen, Porter, Janice, Kaleb, Tiffany and Jaisha
The table was such a mess! Such a glorious, delicious mess!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Weekend Up Wrap Up :: Thanksgiving
I know, I know - a weekend wrap up on Wednesday? But it was Thanksgiving weekend and my weekend was jam packed with stuff and it took me several days of work to unwind from the weekend. Yep, it was that great!
For the second year, Joel and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house. All but one sibling and my parents came over early in the day on Thursday to help whip up a delicious Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. We had a great time hanging out together, eating way too much food, watching game after game of football and feasting on a meal to end all meals.
Joel and I were up early on Friday, not for black Friday shopping, but for the Apple Cup. We had tickets to watch the UW Husky's take on the WSU Cougars and we were excited to watch the game. We made sure to get there in time for all tailgating fun. Our tailgating group was cooking up not one, but two deep fried turkeys! But the best part was the fact that Anna was coming to the game! I was really excited to hang out with my bestie and get caught up on all things baby Ellie!
After the great game, we ran a few errands before heading home to my waiting family. Yep, they were still there! They went to the Museum of History and Industry while Joel and I were at the game. They said it was great and had all kinds of interesting facts to share with us. I think Joel and I might have to go check it out soon. We spent the rest of the night hanging out and playing games together. It was wonderful!
You would think after two busy days, we would lay low and just relax. Nope. We decided to surprise Jackie with tickets to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker! Chris, Joel and I have been planning this for months now and let me tell you - it was tricky keeping this under wraps. She is very intuitive. She even tried to talk me into buying tickets to the show the night before! She said later that I did a great job of being interested while preventing her from buying. That's right, mad skills. Even though she figured out what we were doing when arrived at McCaw Hall, she had no idea how close we were sitting. We sat dead center, in the second row from the stage! As always, the dancers did an amazing job and I loved every minute!
We headed home to another night of hanging out at my house with my family, yep - everyone was still there. We drank way too much and played a great game of Things. Seriously, if you don't already own this game, order it now! It would be a great Christmas gift.
On Sunday afternoon we headed over Joel's sister's house to hang out with his family for bit. I guess we had spent enough time with my family, I could pull myself away for an hour or two. Kendall made us all a delicious turkey noddle soup with his leftover smoked turkey and homemade noodles. It was delicious. Poor Connor was sick with pneumonia, so he was a mellowed version of his normal self. We watched more football together and made plans for Christmas. Can you believe it - it will be 2014 in no time!!
Well there you have it. That was my Thanksgiving weekend. I have so many things to be thankful for this year; two great families, wonderful friends, UW has the Apple Cup, and most of all, my wonderful hubby. Life is so good.
For the second year, Joel and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house. All but one sibling and my parents came over early in the day on Thursday to help whip up a delicious Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. We had a great time hanging out together, eating way too much food, watching game after game of football and feasting on a meal to end all meals.
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| Here's the table, set and ready for the food! |
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| This is only half the food we had! Good thing Joel and I put the extra leaf the in the table, we needed the space for the food! |
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| My sister Jaisha celebrated Thanksgiving with her in-laws this year, so before we started eating, we took this picture to text to her! |
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| After taking the picture for Jaisha, they couldn't wait to dig in! |
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| So Good! |
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| The Baltimore Ravens were playing during dinner, so we kept an eye on the game using the Surface. Dinner and Football - What could be better?? |
Joel and I were up early on Friday, not for black Friday shopping, but for the Apple Cup. We had tickets to watch the UW Husky's take on the WSU Cougars and we were excited to watch the game. We made sure to get there in time for all tailgating fun. Our tailgating group was cooking up not one, but two deep fried turkeys! But the best part was the fact that Anna was coming to the game! I was really excited to hang out with my bestie and get caught up on all things baby Ellie!
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| The Dawgs are in the house! I love cheering on the team as they arrive. Might be best part of tailgating in the tyee club area! |
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| We may or may not have had a bit of fun with the confetti tube we found. |
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| It's game time baby! |
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| Kick off! |
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| A Washington First Down! Check out my free paws that I got - so fun to cheer with these! |
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| Touchdown Washington! |
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| Go home Cougar - you're loosing. |
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| It's hard to see, but this is the team accepting the Apple Cup trophy. |
After the great game, we ran a few errands before heading home to my waiting family. Yep, they were still there! They went to the Museum of History and Industry while Joel and I were at the game. They said it was great and had all kinds of interesting facts to share with us. I think Joel and I might have to go check it out soon. We spent the rest of the night hanging out and playing games together. It was wonderful!
You would think after two busy days, we would lay low and just relax. Nope. We decided to surprise Jackie with tickets to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker! Chris, Joel and I have been planning this for months now and let me tell you - it was tricky keeping this under wraps. She is very intuitive. She even tried to talk me into buying tickets to the show the night before! She said later that I did a great job of being interested while preventing her from buying. That's right, mad skills. Even though she figured out what we were doing when arrived at McCaw Hall, she had no idea how close we were sitting. We sat dead center, in the second row from the stage! As always, the dancers did an amazing job and I loved every minute!
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| Photo Via |
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| The dance of the snowflakes is usually every one's favorite dance, but it is my second favorite. Photo Via |
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| The peacock is my hands-down favorite dance. I love, love, love this part! Photo Via |
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| Via |
We headed home to another night of hanging out at my house with my family, yep - everyone was still there. We drank way too much and played a great game of Things. Seriously, if you don't already own this game, order it now! It would be a great Christmas gift.
On Sunday afternoon we headed over Joel's sister's house to hang out with his family for bit. I guess we had spent enough time with my family, I could pull myself away for an hour or two. Kendall made us all a delicious turkey noddle soup with his leftover smoked turkey and homemade noodles. It was delicious. Poor Connor was sick with pneumonia, so he was a mellowed version of his normal self. We watched more football together and made plans for Christmas. Can you believe it - it will be 2014 in no time!!
Well there you have it. That was my Thanksgiving weekend. I have so many things to be thankful for this year; two great families, wonderful friends, UW has the Apple Cup, and most of all, my wonderful hubby. Life is so good.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween
Hope your day is Spooktacular!
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| This is Joel's pumpkin. He even used a power tool (pretty sure it was his dremel), to carve this bad boy! |
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| Here is my creepy but friendly spider. Yuck - I hate spiders but thought this was super cute. |
I have plans to hang out at home and great the adorable kids in costumes who ring my door bell. I'm so excited to hand out candy. So if you find yourself in the Kenmore area, be sure to stop by house!
- XOJO
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