Merry Christmas

Shane had a big surprise for me on Christmas Eve.  He had scheduled a helicopter ride so we could look at Christmas lights.

It was very fun-we both think helicopters are cool and enjoyed the tour.  But sadly, our pictures aren't very good.  It turns out that when you turn the camera flash off at night, you need a tripod so the camera is very still-that's not very practical in a helicopter.  The pics aren't good, but they are pretty interesting- here's just one of them.

Our view from inside the helicopter, right before liftoff.

That was tons of fun, but it wasn't the only Christmas Eve surprise he had in store for me.  Once we arrived home, I was told to look for a surprise on the tree. 

Here's what I found!!!

...and a 2002 bottle of Dom Perignon.

I love champagne, but I'm not sure if this tastes any better than an inexpensive bottle; we are going to save this bottle.

I'm not sure how he managed it, but he totally surprised me & oh, I love surprises! He picked the ring out all by himself and I love it!  And I love that he proposed in front of our Christmas tree in the house we've spent the last several years dreaming about and the last year building. What a Merry Christmas for us.

Compared to that, the rest of the blog is going to be boring, but I know my mom wants to see some pics from our Christmas party & Christmas dinner.

The Party:

Homemade Christmas tree cookies (thanks for the plate stand, Mom):

Santa hat snack mix...(aren't those little hats adorable?)

Wonton appetizers and sweet & salty little smokies (not a single one survived the night!):

A cheese tree (shouldn't all food be tree shaped for Christmas?):

Pomegranate Cranberry Martinis, in the beautiful beverage dispenser that Nanette gave me for my birthday:

And the Christmas table:

Our placecards (they aren't as cute as the little Thanksgiving turkeys, but those turkeys were a tough act to follow!):

The entryway to the house (Shane hung all of those cute little greenery pieces):

Opening gifts:

More gifts:

Everyone playing with Hannah's new tablet:

Shawn playing with the tablet (er, I mean helping Hannah with the tablet):

Shane & John playing with one of the helicopters:

Helicopter down!

Resting their eyes...

I decided to try making some homemade bread for Christmas dinner.  Here it is before the dough has risen:

...and after...

Here it is fresh out of the oven.  I think it tastes as good as it looks (even if I do say so myself)!

Some other good news this holiday season-Bo had to have a glucose test at the vet & it turns out that we get to take him off the insulin.  Yay-no more shots twice a day! He'll go back in a few weeks for another test, but hopefully he is in remission.  They sent him home wearing this silly little Christmas bandana. A cat in a bandana-that just makes me giggle!

Minnie had a trip to the vet over the holidays, as well.  He gave her rave reviews, considering her age.  That was wonderful to hear.  Then we took her to "The Dirty Dawg" and gave her a much needed bath.  She must feel better because she's been very well behaved lately.  The dog wash always sends her home wearing a bandana, as well.  Normally, it goes around her neck, but isn't she super cute like this?

 My sweet little-old-lady-Minnie! Such a good sport!

Thanksgiving & Holiday Decorations

Happy Thanksgiving! Apparently, it's been awhile since I posted anything!

Here's the fall wreath I made at a friend's house at a "wreath making party." It's hanging on our brand new crack-free door.

Here's our table-all set for Thanksgiving, which many of you got to see.

These little guys performed very well telling us where we should sit at the table.  I made them from leftover wine corks (thanks, friends) & some leftover yarn.

Apparently, I was too busy to take many pictures in November, so we'll move on to December. 
Here's our Christmas wreath. You can't see the glitter here, but there was a ton of it & most of it ended up on the ktchen floor! Good thing I like glitter (& Shane can tolerate it).

Welcome...

Look out for the mistletoe!

These little trees are sitting right by the front door.  The OU items are a tribute to our OU tree, which will be reassembled next year in the game room...but for now, they are just guarding this little forest.  Well, actually, they aren't very good at guarding their posts; every day we come home and somehow the bear has managed to relocate himself to Shane's chair.  I wonder how that happens?

Here's our real tree, and our lovely poinsetta~

...and our stockings are all hung by the chimney with care.

Here are some other fun decorations that sit by the fireplace-we brought this little tree home from Alaska a few years ago.  It was carved with a chainsaw.

Minnie has been sharing the holiday books with her buddies (even though one is about a Hanukkah cat)!

Here are some other pics from around the house:

 

Above the fridge is the perfect place for our super cute reindeer plates (thanks, Mom)!

Here is a great view of the beautiful tree made from bay leaves~the edge of each leaf has been hand painted with sparkley gold paint.  It's a much prettier color in person, but the camera flash makes it look alot lighter than it really is. I love it (thanks, Nanette)!

...and this is how I spent Sunday afternoon~making a huge mess on the island.  I decided to try my hand at homemade cinnamon rolls.  That's right, all the way from flour, sugar & yeast.  I learned that our oven has a "bread proofing" function that keeps the oven around 85-100 degrees-just warm enough to make the yeast happy.

Here's the finished product.  I think they turned out fabulously & the friends I shared them with gave them rave reviews, as well.
I wish I could share them with you!