Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving 2011 was a big hit. We had 18 people and a ton of fun! Everyone came over around 2pm. We ate good food, relaxed, and played games. We were able to host college students from Berklee and Harvard. The last people left after midnight. Check out the pictures to get a taste of our day.

Turkey napkins!

Carlos, Lukas, and Kathryn

Betsy and Tim did the dishes after the meal. Thank you!

Caitlin in the kitchen

Paula Dean's Baked Brie has become a yearly tradition. I made two this year.

The Table

Tim carved the turkey for us. Don't know what we would have done without him because Seth was not interested in carving the turkey at all.

Antolin and Jacqueline - This is the second Thanksgiving that we've been able to spend with Antolin and Jacqueline. The first one was at the Phillips' house several years ago. Thankful for their friendship!

Rachel and Ashley

Missy checking out the Black Friday deals

Betsy, Kathryn, Rachel, and Ashley

Jacqueline brought these beautiful flowers!

Getting ready to sit down for the meal

Lily got to break in Lydia's high chair and Dr. Seuss bib.

The whole gang

Who will the winner of the turkey wishbone breaking be?

Ashley got to make a wish!

Thankful for my sweet friend, June!

Antolin and Missy playing guitar - Playing music has become a part of our annual Thanksgiving celebration.

Jacqueline holding Lydia while she napped.

Lily loving Lydia. It was so sweet! Wish I had more pictures of it.

The Settlers Game - June was the winner!

June and Lily

Amy, Missy, and Lydia - Missy held Lydia for awhile so that Seth and I could play games. Thanks, Missy!

Settlers Board

We played Phase 10 for several hours. Antolin was the winner!

We had a great Thanksgiving. Thank you for joining us Amy, June, Dave, Lily, Caitlin, Jacqueline, Antolin, Tim, Rachel, Ashley, Betsy, Kathryn, Carlos, Lukas, and Missy!

Baby Shower

I love hosting! In our church community, there are many opportunities to host. A couple of weeks ago I hosted a baby shower (along with Kendra and Amy) for my friend June who is expecting a baby boy in December.

Love evites!

We just had desserts. The menu was:

-Fruit Kabobs

-Coffee Cake (Barefoot Contessa Sour Cream Coffee Cake)

-Pumpkin Bread

-Apples and Caramel Dip

-Cinnamon Chip Scones (Pioneer Woman)

-Cranberry Orange Scones (Barefoot Contessa)

-Devonshire Cream (joyofbaking.com)

-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Nestle Tollhouse)

-Candy Cookies (Pioneer Woman)

I had never made scones before, and I loved the Pioneer Woman's recipe for the Cinnamon Chip Scones. The Cranberry Orange Scones ended up being Cranberry/Blueberry Orange Scones because I didn't have enough dried cranberries for the recipe. Maybe they would have been better with all cranberries. I really liked the icing that was on them - powered sugar and fresh squeezed orange juice. I will definitely be making more scones. It was very fun. The candy cookies from Pioneer Woman didn't turn out too good for me. I thought that they would be quick and easy, and they were. But I lost more than half of them trying to get them out of the muffin tin. Maybe I'll try again another time, and they'll turn out better. Let me know if you try them, and it works.

Sandra, Caitlin, and Lydia

Diane, Erin, and Ashley

June, Lauren, and Courtney

Hannah and Beccah

Me, Sandra, and Lydia

Sarah, Lia, Amy, and Lydia

It was a great time celebrating June and her little boy on the way. I spent a good bit of the time in Lydia's room because she was refusing to take a bottle. (Yes, she is refusing the bottle. :/ She took it from 3 weeks until 3 months, and now she has decided that she doesn't want to take it anymore. A friend said that means she has above-average intelligence.) So, I wasn't able to be a part of it, but they had an encouraging time praying for June.

Love you, June!

I also had the privilege of hosting a shower for June two years ago when she was expecting Lily. Thought I would post a picture of the hosts with June:

Kristen, Emily Salsky, Amy, June, Jenny, and Me

College Progressive Dinner

We hosted some college students for a progressive dinner. We had five students for dinner and four for dessert. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the first group :(, but the students that came were: Kayla (Northeastern), Mike (Wentworth), Rachel (Berklee), Jessica (Berklee), and Max (Boston College). For dessert, we had Robin (Northeastern), Hannah (Boston College graduate), Jeremy (Berklee), and Gemma (Wheelock).

Gemma, Robin, and Jeremy playing Settlers

Caitlin was with us too! She helped with Lydia before everyone came so that I could finish dinner and during dinner so that I could eat with everyone. Thanks for loving our Lydia and holding her, even when she's fussy!

Seth explaining how to play Settlers

Me and Hannah

Lydia mostly slept while everyone was here. She was wearing one of my favorite sleepers with a matching hat. Aunt Amy bought it for Lydia when she came to visit in September. Thank you, Aunt Amy!

We had a fun night hanging out with college students. Thought I would include the menu for the evening as well:

Dinner:
Spinach salad with goat cheese, craisins, and apples
Chicken Pot Pie
Bread

Dessert:
Apple crisp
Pumpkin pie
Apple cider (dessert beverage)

Pumpkin Carving Party 10/25/11

We decided at the last minute to have a pumpkin carving party last Tuesday night. It was a spur of the moment fall party. We had soup, apple cider, pumpkin dip, and pumpkin muffins. We also had some delicious leaf-shaped, cream-filled cookies from Trader Joe's. Unfortunately, there were only about six cookies left when the party started. The TJ cookies come highly recommended by those in our household (myself, Seth, and Caitlin). :)

We're still working on the whole looking at the camera when someone is taking your picture.

Christy and Priscilla carving their pumpkins.

Sammy Richmond carving his pumpkin

The final product

Matt is a dear friend from college ministry. He LOVES Lydia. Every Friday night at the Lighthouse he is always eager to hold her. He happens to live right around the corner from us.

Tim Reynolds - Does he remind you of anyone?

We were honored to have members of the Berklee FaithGroup come to our party.

1st Annual Fall Pumpkin Carving Party!!!