Crepes....

a new, New Years Eve tradition?

I was walking through the store today and saw a cheese blintz package... which somehow made me think of crepes.  So I texted my Aunt Teresa and asked if she had a crepe recipe (for some reason I thought she did) and of course she did..... she called me to tell me the ingredients and then emailed me the recipe. 

I was a little leery if the kids would like them.  Abi and Jace did, Kade did not... Mike loved them!

Here is one of them cooking on the griddle.

Topping selection (of course we took more stuff out of the fridge as we went!)

Abi had fun making creations... strawberry and banana

Banana inside, caramel on top

Here is Mike making his creation

TaaaaDaaa... banana split crepe

With ice cream inside!

Abi had to try it too.... her ice cream going on

and the finished crepe (This was my favorite!)

Jace liked peanut butter inside and powdered sugar on the outside, he ate them so quick I did not get any pictures of him.  We also had strawberries and yogurt, hot fudge, banana and caramel, lots of different kinds!

Because of my new medical condition (cholesterol too low) I am trying to watch what I eat... so I only had one crepe with strawberries inside, then I had a bite of Jace's peanut butter crepe, a bite of Kade's hot fudge crepe and a bite of Abi's ice cream caramel crepe.  The kids had a great time thinking of creations... and they want me to make them again... I just finished cleaning up the mess and they are talking about "next time!"

Pictures with Cousins

For the first time in a few years we were able to get all 17 of my parents grand kids together for pictures.  This time instead of going to some overpriced photo studio, my mom asked Mike to take the pictures.  He said yes, and here are the results.

All the kids (love the reflection in the pond)

Another of all the kids.

Just the boys

and just the girls

Then great grandma popped by and we put her in one with 17 of her numerous great grandchildren.

The reason these pictures were done in black and white or sepia was the kids did not wear matching clothes... here is a sample of the color picture!  Not too bad... but not what mom was looking for!

My mom was super happy with the pictures and it was a lot cheaper to get the sizes she wanted than it would have been at a studio!  She will soon have a 16 x 20 at home and at the office, as well as some other ones!

Bravo to Mike for taking such great pictures!  It is not easy trying to get 17 kids to all look at you, especially across a pond!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning is always fun in our house.  Abi decided that we were not getting up until 7:30.... Mike and I quickly agreed, then she tried to back it up to 6:30.... we would not let her do that!

Here are the kids waiting on the couch

We always open stocking and Santa stuff first.  Jace got a new scooter which he was very excited about (so did Kade)

Kade opening socks.. obviously he was super excited!  (He also got Star Wars guys....surprise, surprise!)

Abi wanted an Easy Bake Oven, so Santa delivered!

Madison and her new socks (she also got a Dooney and Burke purse)

Hunter wanted Squeeze Cheese (she also got a lot of drawing stuff)

Cheila got scrapbooking stuff from Santa.

After we were done with Santa stuff, we opened presents from Grandma Sue and Grandpa Steve... here are all the kids with their money....  (Thanks Grandma Sue and Grandpa Steve!!!)

After the presents were opened, we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and got ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house... somewhere I have pictures of that, but I can't find my SD card!

We all hope that you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve... Pizza and Cookies

We have a couple traditions in our family for Christmas Eve.  1.... we make homemade pizza. 2.... we make, frost and decorate cookies for Santa.  3... Reindeer Food

Usually I get some good pictures of the pizza, but the kids were too hungry for that to happen, so here are 2 different views of the kids eating their pizza (note the new table!)

After dinner is all cleaned up, it is time to make frost and decorate cookies (I made them earlier in the day from slice and bake.... they do not work very good up here... or at least not in my oven)

Here is Cheila deciding what she is going to decorate.

Hunter and Abi

Abi, Jace, Madison and Mike

The finished cookies.

After the cookies are done, we put out stockings... this year we laid them all out in the middle of the piano room floor so we could see the Nativity they make.  I need to add some stuff still to them.

Then it is time for reindeer food.  Jace got reindeer food from school this year... it helps guide the reindeer to our house.

We always have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning.  I usually just make the kind you pop out of a can, but this year Madison made them from scratch.

Here are the finished cinnamon rolls... just need to rise.

And lastly... a picture of the tree.

We hope you had as great of a Christmas Eve as we did!

Christmas Eve Sledding

We took the kids sledding on Christmas Eve.  We were not sure how much snow would be up in the mountains, I asked a few friends that live in the area.... we were told no snow in town, but maybe up past Mt. High.  So we headed out and figured if there is no snow we will go for a hike.

Here is a pretty picture of the mountains.

Needless to say there was snow... plenty for our sledding needs!  Abi made the first "run" of the family.  She hit this bump and went flying!

Here is Abi and Daddy

Cheila and Daddy

Cheila

Hunter

Hunter, Kade and Abi... who is driving this sled???  All of their eyes are closed!

Mike with the three little ones helping them get ready

Abi, Hunter and Daddy

Jace... at first he was really scared, but ended up having a blast.

Jace and Daddy

Kade (this boy can get some air!)

Kade and Hunter

Madison and Kade

Madison

Kade and Daddy

Daddy and Mommy (This is how we ended up)

All of the kids.... everyone looks happy :)

When we were leaving, Mike said look at the view.  I asked if it was San Bernardino, he said "No it is Los Angeles..."  Then we determined that it was actually the ocean and Catalina.  It was amazing that we could see that far.  It was a clear beautiful day!

We had a good time.  Nobody got hurt and not too much fighting over sleds.  I guess we need to invest in a few more... 2 is not enough!