12/29/2006



Thursday my family came for dinner and a gift exchange. We were sad Julie and Dustin had to stay home because of the flu.

















Dress up time is all the time!















Andy's family visited from Friday-Wednesday. What a fun time!

Thomas!















More dress up! Is that a princess pose or a robot pose?












Happy Ezra.















Christmas is so much more fun with little ones!














At this moment I think Micah was wanting Thomas the train, who was the sought after gift. Once Rachel found him upstairs hiding with Thomas trying to get a little playtime in before the owner (Caden) could snatch it away.











Storytime. It was hard for Caden to sit and act interested.

Whew, it's done!

We finished our bathroom remodel before Christmas. It was nice to have it in use again and to have the den with no more mess.







12/14/2006

We are busy getting ready for Christmas here. I know that's the case for everyone, tis the season! Andy's family is spending about 5 days with us. We are so excited to have them! The poor kidos keep thinking they are coming today whenever we mention it.



Our bathroom is on the down down hill. Almost done! You will have to wait for the final reveal, but I will expose the mess it's made. No this is not the garage, this is a shot from the bathroom door into the den. How embarassing.



We are trying to clean, dejunk and rearrange, Christmas shop, do some baking, make a menu, and a list of fun activities for our company to do.

Sorry, but I can't seem to get my layout right! Oh well! Does anyone know what the problem is?

Here is a GREAT recipe for biscotti, one of our favorite holiday foods. It's so yummy to dip in hot drinks.

Holiday Biscotti

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped
Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.
Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.
Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.
Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet and drizzle biscotti with chocolate. Wait for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.
The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

12/04/2006

Birthday card from Leyla

just thought I would post the card Leyla wrote for my birthday a couple weeks ago:

Dear Daddy, Happy Birthday! I love you Daddy and so do you. Daddy I got a present for you and a card. I'm going to say happy birthday to you when I see you. Dear Daddy welcome to your party. You're the best Daddy ever! I love penguins and I love you!
Love Leyla

gotta love it!

and congrats to my former roomate and life long friend whom I never talk to any more M-T-H on kiddo numero duo!