2017 Year in Review

(Let's all pretend I posted this last night, m'kay?)

My word for 2017 is "GO." After spending most of 2016 in/near home with two babies, I think we had cabin fever by the time last January 1 rolled around. Here's a summary of all our goings.

• States visited by all 4 of us: 14 (in chronological order TN, AR, MO, IA, SD, ND, MN, NY, OR, MS, TX, NM, AZ, CA)
• Additional states visited by DF for hurricane relief work: 3 (GA, AL, LA)
• Family airplane trips: 3
• Family road trips: 2
• Cross-country moves: 1
• Grandparents and great-grandparents visited: 100%
• Oceans splashed in: 2 (Atlantic, Pacific)
• Pack-n-Play set up/take down achievement level reached: Expert
• Days that Gus and Gibson survived with Salmonista as their sole in-home parent: 46

We were watching little videos last night of the boys at our old house in Memphis. They seemed to remember it, but they were confused about why we aren't there anymore. We didn't know when last year began that we'd be moving from Tennessee to California before the sun set on 2017. The move went fairly smoothly overall (no belongings or family members were lost in transit!), and we're settling in well to our new SoCal lifestyle. 

Who knows what new adventures 2018 will bring? Stay tuned to find out!

Our Southern Christmas

We decided we weren't up for traveling this Christmas with two little ones (sorry, Grandparents!). Some friends in town here were kind enough to invite us to join their family gathering. I was excited to experience my first authentically Southern Christmas!

I had so many questions leading up to the event. First, the hostess asked me if I could bring carrots. My initial thought was to bring cut up carrot and celery sticks because that's what my Oregonian grandmother always serves on holidays - in a fancy crystal dish. But then I was like, hmm, wait, Grandma is from Canada...maybe not all families eat raw veggies... So I double checked with the hostess who confirmed that I should bring cooked carrots. Glad I asked! I googled "Southern cooked carrots" and found out that as long as they were swimming in butter and brown sugar, the dish would probably pass muster.

Then on Christmas Eve as I was going to bed, I suddenly realized I didn't know what Southerners wear on Christmas. Would the kids be shunned if they showed up in their matching penguin/winter onesies instead of something smocked? Should DF wear a coat and tie? I texted the hostess who kindly informed me that any attire would be just fine; it was not a formal affair. Whew!

We made our short 20 minute drive to dinner on Sunday afternoon (sooooo much easier than flying all day!) and were greeted by our friends, their kids, and about 15 more of their relatives who had gathered for the day. The people were half from Memphis and half from Indiana, so I guess maybe it wasn't a 100% Southern Christmas but I'll take it.

Everyone was so friendly and welcoming! The boys were the youngest kids there. Once they warmed up to the big crowd, they had a great time. In this house, they don't barricade their Christmas tree behind a playpen, so the boys were very excited to touch all the ornaments and lights. I only caught Gus eating one decorative berry... They got to sit in booster chairs at the kids table to eat dinner, and they were totally entertained by all the bigger kids. After dinner, they bounced on a trampoline, played with a musical dancing dog, and even received some toys as gifts. Wow, what a treat!

As for the parents, we also had a lovely time visiting with everyone and enjoying the delicious spread. Oh, Southern food, you are the best :)





All in all, it was a very Merry Christmas indeed.

Christmas Traditions (Now with Chocolate!)

For me, there are a few traditions that signal Christmas is coming.

1) Watching A Muppet Family Christmas. This late-80s TV special where all the Muppets descend on Fozzy's mom's house for Christmas is a total holiday classic. If you've never seen it, you're missing out on endlessly quotable lines like, "It's cold enough to freeze your Winnebago!" and "Mind the icy patch!" Plus there's an epic singalong at the end where Count sings "I saw three ships come sailing in." Seriously, mark out 45 minutes on your calendar to watch it sometime soon!

2) Decorating the inside of the house to some extent. Vague tradition, eh? I haven't always had a tree, but I've at least hung up lights or something to make it look festive. I've got a nice collection or ornaments that are sitting safely in a storage box this year, out of reach of inquisitive little toddler fingers/mouths.

3) Making sugary treats. This one has taken several forms through the years, from childhood cookie decorating parties with relatives to teenage gingerbread house construction as an activity with friends before our school's winter dance. In my adult years, my attention has shifted to chocolate.

It all started in the early 2000s when my cousin invited me over to make Christmas goodies. Now, as background, let me explain she grew up in a family of 7 kids and, as a result, doesn't really know how to make small batches of anything. That first year, we spent two solid days filling every surface of her apartment with cookies, breads, and chocolate creations. We made 10 batches of truffles. Ten. If you have ever made truffles before, you know that is a lot of rolling little balls of chocolate! It was exhausting, but by the end I had simply glorious little gift boxes of goodies for all my friends, family, and coworkers. And I was hooked! I mean, what says "Merry Christmas" better than chocolate?

That same cousin and I were both living in DC a few years later, and she came over for another great baking extravaganza. My roommates were duly impressed with the deliciousness known as peanut butter balls. Since then, I haven't undertaken quite an ambitious baking schedule again, but I do like to make at least a few tasty treats during December. 

As I was rolling some truffles the other day to send with DF for his office's party, I reflected on all the times I've stood over my double boiler, dipping candies. Back when I worked with exchange students, it seemed someone was always having a problem around mid-December. As I stirred the melting chocolate, I would ponder their issues and try to come up with a good solution. Although I did like that job, I'm glad not to be dealing with a lot of international drama right now. This year, I hummed Christmas carols to myself and just enjoyed the moments of quiet with the kids in bed :)

Thanksgiving Dinner

It's my first year to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner! How maternal of me to do it now, ha ha. We're having a cozy family celebration with just the four of us today. I tried to plan a meal the kids could eat. And I'm not making anything too fancy because, well, we aren't that fancy :)

I was hoping the kids would just take one long nap today because that would work best with the original eating and Skyping schedule. But they haven't been interested in doing that for the last couple days, plus my timeline just got pushed back due to turkey troubles. So we shall see what the day holds!

Complications so far:

• 1 finger tip burned when removing pie from oven, even when wearing an oven mitt
• 1 turkey not defrosted on time. I followed the Butterball recommendation of 2.5 days of thawing for a 10lb turkey. Actually, it was in the fridge for almost 3 days, but it was still half-frozen this morning! This turkey is Kroger-brand, not Butterball. Does Kroger freeze their turkeys extra solid or something??

You can check out my meal prep spreadsheet here. I wanted to be sure I remembered everything! As you can see, we like our carbs :) Everything will be dairy-free except for the Stovetop stuffing, made with butter because ewww margarine.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! May your turkeys be tasty and your celebrating be festive.

Thanksgiving

(Be sure to pronounce it THANKSgiving if you're in the South!)

I'm once again just squeaking in under the wire with today's post.

I'm too tired to write anything witty or profound. Today, I'm giving thanks for my family - extended and immediate. I'm also thankful for good friends in Memphis who invited us to share in their feast today and then held the boys so we could actually eat our food. It was marvelous!

File under: NaBloPoMo Day 26