Quiet New Year's Eve

No big plans for any of us this New Year's Eve. Dinner was leftovers and crescent-wrapped little smokies.

E bought some yeast and made cinnamon rolls for our breakfast tomorrow. See the purple highlights in her hair? She just had that done. Very subtle. I like it.

Too much puzzle?

E and I found a puzzle the other day we thought would be good for a family activity over break. B loves to put together puzzles and usually does 1,000-piece puzzles so we amped it up by buying a 2,000-piece puzzle.

We didn't pay much attention to the dimensions. It's huge. It takes up a large portion of the dining room table.

This was our progress after working an entire day on it. We might have to tear it apart and switch to a 1,000-piece puzzle we have.

And this guy isn't helping.

Licensed driver

Andy took L to get her driver's license today. She's a legal driver!

It's L from Ohio

B's friend, L, who lives in Ohio, was back in town visiting today! He was in town with his family to take his older brother to see "Hamilton." (L is not a big fan of musical theater.) The boys played video games, ate pizza, walked to a friend's house and caught up on each other's lives. The last time he was in town was before they graduated high school. They've been friends since fourth grade. This was taken at a hockey game when they were in fifth grade. They've grown up.

Ice cream cone cake pops

L auctioned off a cake for the youth group's recent fund-raiser and our youth pastor won the bid. She requested birthday cake pops to celebrate one of the kid's birthdays at a youth group bowling outing this afternoon. L had a little help from her friends, T and N, to make these cake pops that look like ice cream cones.

Christmas family party

Pictures from Christmas Day:

The table is set ...

... in red and gray with a cardinal theme.

Appetizers are ready.

Time for our traditional pre-family party margarita.

A nice pic of me and Andy, taken by B.

Pre-dinner conversation.

Had to get a picture of me with Julie - we were wearing almost the same outfit, just different colors!

Cousin Daniel was full of Christmas spirit!

Kids get their food before going downstairs. We had beef tenderloin, ham, hashbrown casserole, carrots, macaroni and cheese, green beans, Hawaiian salad and rolls, and mostaccioli.

Dinner time!

L and her cousins.

Dropping in on the older cousins' conversation to snap a quick picture.

More conversation after dinner.

Christmas morning

Andy and I were up way too early this morning. The tree looks pretty though. Notice that it's dark outside. It was about 4:30 a.m.

We had to fill the stockings.

Andy got some coasters in his stockings - one for ISU and one for U of I.

Good thing I put a few things in my stocking - no one else did (sadness). Muffles liked knocking things off the table.

E got a Grey's Anatomy hospital shirt. That should come in handy when she's in Seattle next summer.

Andy got this battery-operated wine opener, a Yeti cup (for Jamaica!!) and new sunglasses.

This was B's gift from L - a Zelda pint glass and a Zelda sticker. He also got some ties and Illini pajama pants. All the kids got cash to spend as they want since they had a hard time coming up with lists.

L's list consisted of two stuffed animals, including this Gudetama.

An overview shot.

After opening presents, the kids searched the tree for the pickle ornament ...

... and B found it.

His prize was a fidget toy from GameStop and a squishy Gudetama. L helped me pick those out.

And Andy made breakfast!

Christmas Eve

Time to get ready for tomorrow's family party. E tried to show L how to fold napkins. It didn't work so well and E ended up folding all of them.

B wrapped some presents while Andy took the girls out shopping. If they're not going to help set up or clean, they need to leave.

We were at church for a 4 pm. candlelight service. Here's Andy and L at the children's blessing.

E read Luke 2:15-20 and did an excellent job. B wouldn't sing the carols because he was tired of singing them at the college's Dial-a-Carol. At every song, I'd ask if he sang this one a lot at school and for every song, he said yes.

Best part of the service - the candlelighting!

Annual kids' picture in front of the Christmas tree. L found Muffles but August wasn't anywhere around.

We made pizza for dinner before Andy and I went over to a church friend's Christmas Eve open house party. I tried some candied walnuts made with sour cream and brown sugar. I think I need to find that recipe and make them next year. They're a bit addictive.

This is the cookie box L got as part of her Christmas present from the bakery. So far, she's loved the Rice Krispie treat and the chocolate crinkle cookie.

The day after

We enjoyed the free breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express before getting the kids up, showered and on the road. This was the view of I-55 from our room. Interesting that there were several large, round haybales there.

E was sleeping in.

We made it to Normal to stop at Avanti's for lunch just before noon. I was telling L you can see the business building out the window, in case she ends up at ISU in a year or so.

Mmmm. Italian beef with meat sauce and mozarella cheese.

L was loving her chicken tenders and pepperoni garlic bread - requested with no pizza sauce. Wierd kid.

My driver. E and I left Normal ahead of Andy and the kids, but they beat us home. We never saw them pass us.