Christmas Recap + Top 5 Recipes of 2013

Hi there everyone!  Our Internet has been down the last couple days, but now that it is back up, I can share our Christmas in pictures!

 

This was Christmas night, before opening gifts.

 

This was the night of the 26th.  Instead of gingerbread houses, we did toothpick and gumdrop/candy building competition.  Luke and I both did Christmas themed parks ... he won. :)

 

The weather was amazing!  We were able to just go outside whenever we wanted, without snow clothes and hats and gloves.  Here we are having a leaf fight ... which led to Gracie having to vacuum leaves out of her cast ;)

 

Since Gracie couldn't run around, we decided to paint.  Gracie is incredibly artistic, as is my aunt.  This was my painting, half done, and as long as you don't look at the painting I was using as inspiration, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Gracie didn't finish hers, so we didn't get pics :(

 

 

Boston, Gracie's younger sister, is a horse lover, and this is one of the ponies she rides on a regular basis.  This pony, Miss Larry, resides next door, and Elizabeth and Abigail (ok, me too) thought it was pretty cool that Boston could just walk down the road and ride Miss Larry to her front yard.  She was very sweet in helping the girls ride.

 

We also practiced lots of archery, since that was something Gracie could do sitting down (cool, huh?) and since we were all getting a little stir crazy after painting.

 

Our arrow assistant ...

 

The boys logged lots of basketball hours!

So, I think I ruined my ears by over using my ear buds on the drives down and back from Texas.  Oh yeah, and staring at a little iPod screen for more than, well, two hours probably isn't doing wonders for my health either.  Time to serve up some carrots!  And, despite my best efforts, I only beat the Solitaire app, like, twice.  If I'm going to ruin my vision, I'd like a better record.  One of my favorite Christmas gifts was two Adventures in Odyssey CDs.  They were my life saver this Christmas.  I listened to them over and over during the drive. 

Another favorite was this bag from Gracie.  I've been crushing on this style for a while now and I think the colors are gorgeous, not to mention versatile.

Christmas was, and always will be, memorable for the family.  That is what makes Christmas special; getting to spend time with cousins and aunts and uncles.  It is such a special gift that I look forward to every year.

Whew, 2013 is almost over!  Crazy, isn't it?  I only started food blogging in earnest this February and I have loved it ever since.  Below are the top five viewed recipes on my blog and I want to thank all you who read, comment, and share my recipes.  I wouldn't have any views on my own!  Hope you had a Merry Christmas and will have a happy New Year!

1. Pumpkin Dump Cake



2. Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bites

3. Cinnamon and Sugar Zucchini Bread

 

4. Fudgy Sugar Cookie Dough Brownies

 



5. Almond Joy Energy Bites