Merry Post-Christmas Everyone!

So it's the day after Christmas today. Did you have a great day? Eat lots of food? Get what you wanted from Santa?

Our hosting went very well if I do say so myself! We had a total of 9 people and enough food to feed 20!! It was the first time I did my own honey glazed ham and it wasn't as intimidating as I had feared.



Cooking!


PHEW! This is hard work. ;)




Appetizers:

- Fruit Salsa w/ Cinnamon Chips
- Assorted Hummus & Pita Chips
- Hot Artichoke Dip w/ Bread
- Candied Pecans
- DRINKS! (J was the bartender for the evening.)

(Click to enlarge)




Dinner:

- Glazed (by me!) Honey Ham
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Sweet Potatoes topped with Marshmallows
- Winter Fruit Salad
- Smashed Potatoes
- Sauteed Broccoli
- Deviled Eggs
- Rolls
- Corn



















Dessert:
- Almond Cheesecake

Misc Photos:



FIL & BIL


Me, Mom, & Bro


SMIL


J, SIL, & BIL


Thor just had to snuggle!

Christmas Morning

J and I got up together around 8:30 to have our own Christmas morning together. We sipped on our coffee, snuggled, and exchanged gifts. Due to the fact that I had literally just stumbled out of bed, I do not have many photos documenting this event. *lol*



Monkey enjoyed helping us unwrap!


Jase gave me a Tony Romo throwback jersey (yay!), Spyro video game, Sharks beanie, and some misc candy goodies.

I got Jase a black peacoat, Timberland boots, 2 new jeans, black slacks, socks (could my gifts get any more "wifey"??), gift card for the comic shop, & peanut m&m's.

Here's Jase in his new coat, jeans & boots:






We also had a stocking for our kitties. It contained a toy that hangs on a door (and has exciting feathers! haha.) and catnip bubbles. They weren't really sold on the catnip bubbles, but went nuts over the toy! Of course Thor figured out how to rip it off and walk away with it. Smart little punker.



After we were done with our Christmas, we got ready and headed over to my family's home to have Christmas with them.

We got all sorts of generous gifts, so I'll just post the highlights. My fav?!? The Canon S5-IS I've been drooling over for a REALLY long time!!!

My Dad was super-creative this year and made us find our hidden gifts with clues on a "scroll" he made for each of us! It was a great idea, really fun, and J and I are probably going to steal the idea when we have kids.

Here's my "treasure chest" after I found it. My clues are shown behind it.



Ironically, I got up to get my camera to take a picture of my new camera all wrapped up. ;)



Jason got Assassin's Creed and Call Of Duty 4 for the XBOX 360 and some gift cards, too. :)

It was definitely a really fun morning!

Christmas Baking with Friends

Why bake alone when you can do it with friends??

Last night, Joann and I baked with Sarah in her kitchen while J and Sarah's hubby, Zak, played the Xbox 360 (of course!).

Toffee Bars & Hershey Kiss Cookies



Citrus Sugar Cookies



Chocolate Covered Pretzels



And here is my Snickerdoodle Disaster!!! We think the baking soda was old and didn't activate. :( SAD!



And here we are!

I'm hosting Christmas Dinner!

This year will be our first year ever hosting a holiday. I'm very excited, but also a little intimidated. We're having my mom, my dad, my bro, J's dad, J's stepmom, J's bro, & J's sis over for a total of 9 people.

To keep the holiday stress-free, I've planned out just about every aspect of the season: from grocery shopping to decorating deadlines. :) Right now, everything is decorated, my Christmas gift shopping is almost completely done, and I've already started baking! I'm definitely in the spirit this year and really enjoying December!