Dragging Towards the New Year

I was a busy baking bee in the days leading up to Christmas.  I wanted to make goodie plates for my friends as well as try a couple new recipes.  The result was:

Peanut butter fudge and Italian knot cookies.....

Banana breads and cranberry breads...

Gingerbread cookies...

Rice krispie treats....

And for Christmas Day, snickerdoodle blondies.

Took a few closeup pics of the ornaments too.  They look so pretty with the lights.

These next 2 ornaments were made by me when I was about 9 or 10.  I have 6 of them.

Part of the Putz village.  A few years ago I dyed those trees pink and added the glittery snow.

I am so glad I got this multicoloured tinsel tree.  I'm not sure where I picked it up but I'm gonna guess Fred Meyer, out in WA.  It's sooo pretty and sparkly.  I want to keep it out year round.

I lined up the reflection of the deck rail lights on the driftwood thing.

Christmas Eve was rainy which was awesome.  I got all my errands done early and had time to do some food prep for the next day and update the family photo album.  We got Chinese takeout for lunch/dinner but unfortunately it didn't set well with either of us.  Needless to say it'll be awhile before we will get Chinese again!!  

Christmas Day was cold and clear.  We visited my mom in the morning then headed home to finish all the food prep for the kids' visit that afternoon.  Russell got us all scratch tickets but only 2 of those were $10 winners unfortunately.

Some of the food stuffs.  I forgot to take a pic of the deli platter I made with the meats and cheeses. A few years ago we ordered them from Stop & Shop and were shocked at how little stuff was provided for the prices.  It's cheaper to do these myself.  It's more time consuming, but it's fun. 

Happy with his shrimp and the horseradish/ketchup sauce he makes.

My amazing and awesome stepkids and girlfriend.  

Sagieboo

The day went by really fast.  The kids left around 3 or so and we just hung out and grazed on the leftovers.  Now it's time to take everything down and put it away till next year.  Everything looks so pretty, colourful and glittery but it's time to get the house back to normal.  Hoping to have everything cleaned up by the end of the week.

Looking forward to seeing 2016 end. It was mentally and emotionally exhausting.  George Michael dying on Christmas Day was a terrible surprise.  This year took a lot of great people.  Some expected due to age, but the others weren't.  We are hoping for a quiet New Years Eve.  We're just gonna hunker down at home and order a pizza, and go to bed early.  Our days of staying up to midnight are long over!  

I'm hoping 2017 will be a better year.  Happy New Year everyone.  See ya on the flipside.