deck the halls

we began and ended our time in louisiana with johnny's pizza. for those who don't know, this is literally the best pizza around. however, pizza is only a very minor detail of our christmas in louisiana. lots of nerf gun wars, wrestling, baseball, football, good food, laughs, presents, and more food were shared by all.

i must add a note that these pictures (and the ones from alabama in the previous post) would not be nearly as great as they are without the awesome new camera i received from lee for christmas. also, there are A LOT of pictures coming!

every time we get together, it is so special to watch all the cousins play together and pick up right where they left off from the time before. they even enjoyed singing happy birthday to Jesus and blowing out the candles on His cake.christmas eve was a special night filled with a candlelight service at the church where the morrows and allens attend, a delicious spread of heavy hors d'oeuvres & a hot chocolate bar at erin & zach's, a dance party, and a giant coloring book.christmas day, the kids opened their books from us and mr. joe opened his presents from everyone, as well as passing out his own gifts.we ended the stay in louisiana with eva's 1st birthday party. she was too cute in her brown tutu and birthday shirt. she was a little unsure about all the attention while opening presents but soon embraced it when she realized she could put on a show for us while eating her cake. emily did an awesome job decorating for the party!

simply having a wonderful Christmas time

we finished up the first semester of the 2010-2011 school year last friday and began our trek to alabama. we stopped off first in louisiana to a wonderful dinner of steak, baked potatoes, and salad by mr joe with emily, emma, and eva.

saturday, we finished the second half of the drive to prattville for christmas with my side of the family. we had a yummy traditional christmas dinner and exchanged presents with all of the family. we were showered far too well with gifts from my family. as always, we shared lots of laughs all night long. my grandmother even had a sleepover at the house and stayed to go to church with us the next morning.my mom also wanted a picture with her children while we were altogether. taking a quick picture with us is never quick though. i think this was about the 6th shot. hope it's the one everyone likes!my great-grandmother could not make it to the get-together, but we did make a special trip to see her before we left. can you believe she will be 99 in february?! (p.s.- she's not jamming out while taking a picture with us. those earbuds are connected to a sort of amplifier that helps her hear the conversation better)

it's the most wonderful time for baking

christmas is such a good excuse for me to do lots of baking. i generally bake regardless of the season, but christmas time is the perfect reason to bake almost everyday!

my first christmas creation was for my advisory (homeroom) students on our last pizza party day the week before finals. i was very proud of my efforts but so sad when i opened them at school the next day to discover the mints had melted a little onto the icing. the kids said they still looked cool, but that's just because they didn't get to see them looking like this:
what you can't see in this next shot are the christmas cookies i iced and decorated for my cheerleaders to hand out at our christmas party. the bags are cute though, right?!i decided last year that baking/do-it-yourself gifts would be perfect for our co-workers since both of our teaching teams are made up of quite a few people. this year i found a yummy, easy hot cocoa mix recipe to make for everyone and complimented it with chocolate-dipped spoons for stirring. i wanted to add a little more to the cocoa so i attempted (for only the 3rd time ever) to make oreo balls again. this time i thought i would try white bark for the dipping and give myself time to let the oreo/cream cheese mix to harden in the refrigerator before forming into balls. turns out, the third time really is the charm. these were the best yet and i even went so far as to "drizzle" chocolate on top (although my drizzling skills leave something to be desired).with christmas not even here yet, i'm hoping there is still more baking in my future!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

perhaps for no one but lee and myself, i set out our christmas decorations this weekend. so, i'll share them with you!

the tree finally received its ornaments.our awesome nativity set (christmas gift from my aunt for our first christmas...it's made from real olive wood!) is displayed and our stockings are hung.the presents are under the tree.i may knock those who listen to christmas music before thanksgiving, but let me tell you it is all i listen to these days.

this week brings christmas baking and my first (well, perhaps only) christmas party of the year...and perhaps a christmas baking post!