Holiday Cheer and Cuisine

Well, we have lived in Indy for over 6 months now!!! The time has just flown by! Our first Hoosier Christmas was TERRIFIC and we are so thankful for embracing the opportunity to try something new.
We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!! We are enjoying our time off together and are looking forward to visiting Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee on Monday and Tuesday of next week! We are also planning a New Year's "Get-Together" that we will be hosting at our home on New Year's Eve. Here is some of our Christmas Cheer...

At our going away party in June, my Aunt Karen made me a cookbook filled with recipes from close friends and family. Ryan and I tried out her mac and cheese recipe over Thanksgiving and it was so yummy, we decided to make more recipes over our Christmas vacation.

Here is a photo of Aunt Karen, me and my Grandma Helen at Ryan's graduation party in June:

This going away gift was so thoughtful! I LOVE gifts that are from the heart!!! The cover of the cookbook has a picture of my mom's side of the family eating Thanksgiving dinner together a couple of years ago... I LOVE it. Can you spot Ryan and I??? (Hint: I was a blond back then...)Anyways, Ryan and I woke up early on Christmas Eve morning, and prepped Aunt Karen's homemade chili. Here's Ryan slicing and dicing...

Brace yourselves...this is a sight you will rarely see...it's Brooke cooking!!! Holy Cow!!!
I hope your computer screen doesn't crack ... Yep, Ryan wakes up to this FACE every morning- YIKES!

Our friend Steve came over and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with us :)


Merry Christmas Eve!!!!Here is Ryan talking to his parents on the WebCam on Christmas Eve. We use our WebCam all the time...I talk to my mom every Wednesday and also frequently talk to friends and other family members. It is an awesome invention...if you have friends/family far from you, I would highly recommend purchasing a WebCam. They are relatively inexpensive and the call is free. Plus you get to see your loved ones...

We LOVE being off for two weeks!!! It is so awesome to share the same work and play schedule. I am so glad Ryan decided to go into the teaching profession- the time off together ROCKS!!!We got into an intense game of Monopoly....The boys thought they were hot stuff buying up all kinds of property...But guess who owned Park Place and Boardwalk with hotels???? Yes- it was me...Girls RULE, Boys DROOL!!!! I dominated the game!!!"Three Cheers to Christmas and Good Friends!" We slept in on Christmas morning and when we awoke, Ryan made Aunt Karen's "California Eggs" (she got that recipe from her mother-in-law)....modified of course- NOTHING is a meal to Ryan unless there is meat in it. He had to add in sausage. He gets that from his parents- they are HARD CORE carnivores!!!
The finished product...

G-R-U-B-B-I-N!!! Yep, the Cali boys are rockin' the Tapatio bottle...

Our first Christmas in Indy was not a "white" one...ironically, it was sunny and clear. Look at this cute baby boy. Yes, our dogs love having their mom and dad home- they have free reign of the house with supervision of course...Frodo and Sammy are so sweet- but soooo spoiled!!!. We love our 4-legged children sooooo much!!!Time to open presents...

I am such a DORK!!!

Good thing my husband is one too...

My favorite gift hands down, was the heating blanket...Ryan's favorite was his bathrobe. I know, we are easy to please :)Here is the AFTERMATH....our gifts included board games, movies, books, socks, underwear, candles, kitchen appliances, camping gear and winter wear (scarves, beanies, gloves, etc.).After cleaning up, we all lounged around...including the pups. For dinner, Ryan made lasagna from the cookbook (the recipe was from my Uncle Kevin's college roommate, Chuck). I didn't help cook this one- I was in charge of clean-up! I LOVE to clean- No, really- I do!!! :)Ryan, you are one good lookin' chef!!! You can cook for me anytime! ;)Happy Birthday to our friend and neighbor, Eric...he celebrated his 27th birthday on Christmas Eve!I would also like to wish my little brother, Garrett a happy 27th birthday on January 2nd!!! Where does the time go??? I love and miss you, GG!!!

Until next time... xo