Raclette

For Christmas eve we like to have a big family dinner, as most families do. This year instead of a big crab feed my sister Emily and her family brought their Raclette grill. This was a new process for me. Here's how it goes.

You boil little potatoes so they are soft and reading for topping. Next you plug in the raclette oven/grill thing in the middle of the table and start melting cheese in the burners under the grill top. Next you put every delicious thing you can think of on the grill and cook it to perfection. Our toppings included sliced italian meats, cocktail onions, mushrooms, little smokey sausages, sliced peppers, and pepperoni.  So it's potatoes, toppings, and melted cheese. yummo! It was more than dinner, it was an experience! we all shared and talked and laughed way more than when we just sit around passing the gravy.

Christmas shooting adventure

Christmas was wonderful this year. We spent a week at my parents house in Oregon. Our drive was snowy but once we got there the wonderful Willamette Valley greeted us with lovely rain and green hills.
We went shooting with my dad and brother in law. This was the first time Joe had been shooting since he was a kid, and i haven't been since i graduated from college but we had so much fun!

Beary Merry Christmas

All my life one of the highlights of Christmas was to move the bear around on our Beary Merry Christmas calendar. It's a cute fabric panel with a little bear who is looking for Christmas and every day he looks in a new place trying to find it. I never thought i'd have one of my own, they've been out of print for years. Well my cousins were able to take a picture and copy it onto fabric and we all were able to make our own! I love this tradition, it's so fun for kids, and for me too! I didn't take a picture of mine when it was finished but here it is in progress.

Christmas Lights

So it may be March but i wanted to share the great things we've been up to.

We tried to take the train on free ride day and try it out, plus we wanted to go to Salt Lake to see the lights on temple square. There was a two hour wait for the train so we just drove. We went with our friends the Cox's.  We got there before it was dark so we went to see the new City Creek Center. Our friend Annicka said the candy window are something you can't miss, and she was right! they were so cool! Christmas scenes and giant ornaments made entirely of candy! I wish i'd taken a picture. But anyways, we had a great time. Here's us, having a great time.

p.s. The water shows at City Creek are pretty cool. It's not just dancing water set to music, they spout fire! we loved it.