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As I type this post Amanda is on her way back to her base in Seattle. We were sad to say goodbye to her but we had a great time with her while she was here. Jacob was on cloud nine with so much 1 on 1 time with his big sister.

I'm hoping to get my house back in order over the New Years weekend & hopefully have some scrapbook pages to share soon. For now though I wanted to show you a few more photos from our week. Happy new year to all of you !!!

Cooking dinner from a recipe found on the web. I rarely drink except over the holidays when I do enjoy the occasional mudslide to sip on. mmmmm....
A few from a hike on the lower mountain trails with Tanner. I hate the cold...but the snow is so pretty...

Mountain Laurel...

Tanner's favorite water to play in during the summer. I was glad he didn't venture out onto that unsafe looking ice on this day though.

Snow people...

This is the first snowman ever to be built in my yard. Love it !!!

Love this shot...

I'm thinking Tanner had no idea he was going to be put to work as a sled dog when he was invited outside with Amanda & Jake. He doesn't seem to be minding too much though...

I think they tired him out a bit...lol

sledding on the town common in front of the library...

The classic "Amanda pose" she does this everywhere. We have photos from all over the world with this pose. Love this one though with the flag flying behind her.

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Jake !!!

sweet...

doggy kisses...

being silly...

Freezing cold waiting for the commuter train into Boston.

Amanda's old boyfriend John from 10 years ago. He is such a great guy...so glad they are still friends.

One of my favorite photos.

Happy New Year...thanks for stopping by.

Life is good !!!

Truly, truly good !!! My daughter is home safe from Iraq & Italy and we are loving our time with her while she is home visiting for the holidays.

We picked her up at the airport in Providence RI last Saturday and then headed down to the beautiful seaport town of Newport for a fun family day together. We had a nice lunch together ...

Poked around in some of the waterfront shops and took lots of pictures. (and no I didn't have drinks with lunch...even though it looks that way from this photo...lol)

Then we headed to Bellevue Ave where the mansions of Newport are located and toured this mansion.

From the back of the property you can see the cliff walk that runs along behind the mansions along the coastline. A beautiful place to take a stroll in the warmer months.....in December its very cold back there near the water....brrrr.

This is the Tea House that sits behind the Marble House.

And then there is the mansion itself....which when it was built in the 1800's was built as a summer "cottage" and was given as a 39th birthday gift to Alva Vanderbilt by her husband.

And what a sight it is to see. Not what most of us think of when we think of summer cottages. You can read more about this mansion & the others in Newport here

I snuck this photo of one of the bedrooms

All in all it was a really fun day spent with my 2 favorite people.

Back home there has been lots of just hanging out enjoying our time with Mand. Tanner adores her.

Then we had our family holiday party on Sunday where all the cousins, siblings etc got a chance to visit with each other. Everyone was there from the youngest...

To the oldest (sorry Mom...you know I love you more than anything)

There was lots of silliness...

And lots of love...

On Monday Amanda & I spent the day in Boston at Fanuel Hall & Quincey Market shopping.

the city is not my favorite place to be but it is fun for a day trip every now & then

The rest of the week was spent shopping, wrapping, going to a Bruins hockey game together. Lots of fun family time spent together waiting for the big day...

And before we knew it was here...

Tanner was very happy to find a candy cane shaped cookie in his stocking (excuse the messy house please)

Mand & Jake opened stockings together...

And hammed it up for the camera in their new video camera sunglasses...

Jake was thrilled with the ticket to the NE Patriots game given to him by his sister (they head to that game together tomorrow)

Christmas with these two was good....very very good. Now life can get back to a normal less hectic routine and in a week we will need to say goodbye to Amanda as she heads back to Seattle : (

But for now...we are all content & happy & life is GOOD !!!

Poor Man's Turtles & Buttery Chocolate Bark

These are 2 recipes I use often for gift giving over the holidays....they are both quick, easy & very delicious.


Poor Man's Turtles

Line a cookie sheet with foil & then place small pretzels on it. Place 1 Rolo chocolate caramel candy on top of each pretzel and bake in a 350 degree oven for 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven & immediately press a pecan half down on top of each one. Cool completely before eating. Enjoy.

Buttery Chocolate Bark

Line a large cookie sheet with foil then place a layer of saltine crackers to cover whole bottom of pan.

In small pan heat 1/2 cup butter & 1/2 cup sugar together till bubbly. Pour evenly over crackers. Bake in 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle a 12 oz package of chocolate chips (semi sweet or milk chocolate depending on your preference) evenly over crackers. Return to oven for 3 minutes. Remove & spread chocolate chips with spatula then press chopped walnuts into top (optional) cool for 20 minute in frig then break apart into pieces.

This is so delicious...and so simple to make.

Counting down the days...

One week from today.....

My girl will be home. Woo hoo !!!!

Isn't she gorgeous? We have not seen her since last April and we are counting down the days till her arrival. She is home safe from Iraq and Italy and loving being back in Seattle again...but we want her here...even if its only for a couple of weeks.

Christmas is going to be so much fiun this year. Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the 2008 ice storm so exactly 1 year ago I was sitting here reading by flashlight...not knowing I be reading by flashlight for many many more days to come. That storm put such a damper on my Christmas spirit....this year I am making up for it. Soooooo looking forward to the holidays this year.