Christmas with the fam

Mom, Jase and Mel returned safely to chilly Pennsylvania. While sad to see them leave, we are happy for the good times and memories. Owen met Uncle Jason and Melinda Auntie for the first time and initiated them by spitting up on them several times. (sorry about that guys!) They, of course, spoiled him with gifts, including a Penn State hoodie. Now Owen is officially a fan as well...go Nittany Lions!

On Christmas day, we made mulled cider while waiting for the airline to drop off their lost baggage containing gifts. After unwrapping our plunder, we plunged into cooking our first turkey (well, Jason and Roby grilled a turkey at Marilyn and Paul's in California a few years ago for Steinar's birthday, but Roby and I have never cooked one in the oven). It was a "sage turkey with sage gravy" recipe taken from our newest Cooking Light magazine. I must say it made for some tasty eating, probably the most delish gravy I have ever eaten! yay! small victories! I felt the need to include a picture of our accomplishment! Can you tell I am proud?Over the course of the past few days we cooked several new recipes. In CA we enjoyed cooking for our friends and haven't cooked for anyone since we've moved to the south a year ago, so this afforded the perfect opportunity! Let's see, we made chicken stir-fry with Bok Choy and coconut rice, an asian beef recipe, turkey tetrazinni with the leftover turkey & spicy shrimp and rice soup...oh! can't forget the chocolate fondue! Mom made several apple pies, and a plethora of food to freeze so I don't have to worry about cooking during the days and while Roby is working in the Great White North. What a huge help! Thanks Mom!

During their stay we played Texas Hold 'Em (I figured I should finally learn how to play since we are hosting a poker party in a few weeks!), took Owen for a walk--which he slept through...he has a habit of sleeping through holidays--ate yummy pizza downtown at the Mellow Mushroom, watched King Kong (our first extended time out without Owen!), took many family pics, & got competitive with our Family Feud dvd game (Jason and Roby cheated :) We basically just majorly chilled and reveled in each other's company!

Thank you Mom, Jason and Mel for visiting! We were thrilled that you were able to spend quality time with your grandson/nephew, and look forward to future get-togethers! Hopefully we can make it to Philly for Jason's graduation in May. Love you all.