Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

Christmas was wonderful and oh so busy. I’ve been working a ton with the holidays being a busy season, so trying to get the time to decorate, shop, wrap, bake & cook was so challenging. I’m so blessed to have such a helpful husband because I’m not sure if we could have accomplished everything we did without the planning & teamwork we put in together this season.

We had all kinds of fun the week of Christmas including going to an ugly sweater Christmas party at ZigZag. We spent Christmas at home and were blessed to have my sister Maya and her awesome boyfriend Casey over for the day. Both of them just left this last Sunday for 4 months studying abroad in the Dominican Republic, so getting the chance to spend some quality time with them was priceless for us.

The kids of course had an amazing Christmas day and spent the day playing with the new toys they received. It was hysterical watching Madison rip into her presents this year. She got so crazy that at one point she even fell over! LOL! It was priceless and the best part was that we caught it on video. I’ll never forget when Jakob was this age and did the same thing.

Josh and I brined a 14 pound turkey overnight & served it with garlic mashed red potatoes, gravy, candied yams, herbed pancetta and gruyère stuffing and an amazing vegetable salad my sister made. We topped off a perfect meal with some pumpkin pie, chocolate tarts and a some really great games of bocce ball.

John’s Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

Christmas Day

Birthday at Montage

My birthday is the 30th of December. Although there is a downside to being born so shortly after the biggest holiday of the year, the perk is that after Christmas is over you know that your day is coming next. I turned 36 this year although I like to tell everyone that I’m 29 & holding, lol. I worked the morning/afternoon of my birthday and then we headed out to Le Bistro Montage in Portland for dinner with friends and family. We had an amazing meal starting off with some Gator bites, Frog legs and Full Sail’s Sessions beer. Maya and I couldn’t resist having some oyster shooters which I highly recommend if you ever visit Montage for dinner. The cocktail sauce they make is UNBELIEVABLE! For dinner Josh, the kids & myself shared some Alligator Jambalaya & Chicken & Andouilli Gumbo. The food at the Montage is absolutely amazing and if you ever get a chance, it is one of Portland’s great restaurants to try! I know we’ll be back!

Happy New Year

There is something wonderful, refreshing and hopeful about the dawning of a new year. We rang in this New Year at home with the kids. Josh ripped out some of the fireworks we set aside from 4th of July and we all had fun setting them off outside at midnight after counting down and watching the ball drop on TV.