Christmas 2014

Holy cow, how is Christmas already over?!  It went by so fast that I feel like I have whiplash.  Nonetheless, we had a really awesome time filled with family & lots of food!

We always have appetizers vs. a meal on Christmas Eve & since I had to work that day, I made sure to pick recipes that could be made the day before.  The Pioneer Woman inspired me to do shrimp cocktail with various dipping sauces.  I took a shortcut with the cocktail sauce & just used store bought with extra horseradish stirred in since we like it hot! 

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 I made a remoulade sauce from The Chew which was super tasty, but the cocktail sauce was the hit, so I'd stick to basics next time & skip the special sauce.

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I also whipped up Pioneer Woman's holiday tortilla roll-ups which were a cinch to make the night before.  I wrapped them in plastic wrap, stuck them in the fridge & cut them just before serving & they were a huge hit.

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 If you haven't guessed, I rely very heavily on the Pioneer Woman... absolutely adore the lady & her delish recipes.  They're always easy to make & mega crowd pleasers.  In keeping with the theme, I also made Pioneer Woman's bacon wrapped dates which were so exceptionally yummy!

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I made them ahead, put them on a baking sheet with a wire rack so the grease could drip off as they cooked & popped them in the oven when we were ready for them.  They were the perfect combo of sweet, salty & crunchy.  I will definitely be making these again!

Okay, enough about the food, lets move on to the family!  The kids had a ball playing around the back yard before it was time for presents.

This little girl can always be found swinging in the backyard, even if it's in a dress & cowboy boots!

It's hard to believe how quickly the kids are growing & changing as the years go by!  

I cherish the holidays that bring us all together!

Cameron has been wanting the Wii U since before last Christmas & he finally got it this year.  He was off the wall excited when he opened it & got a bunch of games from everyone to supplement it. Unfortunately, when Mike went to hook it up, it was a completely dead unit.  The poor kid was so crushed & each game he opened only rubbed salt in his little wound.  Mike had to go back to Walmart at 6am the day after Christmas & luckily exchanged it for a working unit, yay!

It was an absolute Christmas miracle when I opened my new KitchenAid mixer... could not believe my eyes when I saw this turquoise beauty!  Mike blew me away with this one & I cannot wait to try it out!!!  Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too!