Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

and lots of love

from our house to yours...

let's pray for peace on earth!

O Christmas Tree!

Hannah bid farewell to autumn

and welcome to winter!

as we set off to the snow to find the perfect Christmas tree

Poor Hannah expected the snow to be warm and was very disappointed!

but she warmed up to cold snow

We heart Pollock Pines!

Matt goes to work

having found the perfect tree!

 Hannah wholeheartedly agreed.

 We found it rather difficult to get both kids and the dog to look at the stinkin camera at the same time!
 but we got a couple decent shots.

DISCLAIMER: If this post lacks its usual flair in anyway, it is because it is not the beautiful and industrious Joy writing, but tis I, Matt Robbins, making my first post.  I have found the internets!

the practice of being thankful

After a flurry of fun houseguests and sleepless nights this past week, I found myself struck down with a cold. And when I have a cold I am grumpy. Matt and I are both encouraging eachother to be thankful in all circumstances. So in a quiet moment when both kids were napping, I sat down to write a list of things I was thankful for, even though I was sick. I thought I'd share it!


I am thankful that…
1. even though I am sick it is nothing serious and I will feel better again soon
2. my kids are fairly happy to play by themselves while mommy sits on the couch
3. my husband can come home in the middle of the day to help me when I am exhausted, plagued by a bad headache and need to get the kids down for naps
4. being sick is the exception and not the rule for my body
5. there are meals in the freezer that are easy to make
6. I got a good night’s sleep last night



And now I am thankful that I am well and can enjoy my family and this Christmas season!

a homemade thanksgiving

This year Matt had the brilliant idea that we make the Thanksgiving meal for my family at my grandparents' house!
We like cooking but having never attempted a turkey or some of the other traditional Thanksgiving dishes, we were a bit nervous. We got my sister on board, compiled recipes, wrote a detailed shopping list and crossed our fingers that all would go as planned. (And we decided that whatever didn't quite work out - well, at least we could laugh about it later.)

Matt tackled the 17lb. turkey (literally - it went flying at a couple of points in the cooking process, once in the sink and once onto the counter) and thanks to an oven bag and a savory rub,  it turned out deliciously!

I made a beautiful apple pie (which I sadly did not get a picture of, but that only motivates me to make it again) and then raced between assisting with other dishes, trying to keep the kitchen clean and tending at times to both kids.

My sister found an amazing sweet potato casserole recipe by Emeril and worked on that, as well as making her signature mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and gravy.  (Ah yes, when I say "homemade" not even the cranberry sauce was out of a can.)

By the time we sat down to eat my mom counted 14 dishes total and the only thing that remained untouched on the table at the end of the meal were the  rolls (okay, these ones were store bought).

Both kids graciously took naps during the Thanksgiving meal and when Hannah woke up she was anxious to try some pumpkin pie!   (She didn't seem to mind that we left out the evaporated milk and that it tasted, well, a bit dense.)

All went well until we tried to start the dishwasher and discovered it was broken!
 We spent a better part of black Friday washing dishes - but it was worth it!
We now feel very prepared for future Thanksgiving meals (not that I'm committing us to anything at this point).