Welcome 2008!

The more the merrier!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas vacation! I don't know about you but ours was not a white Christmas. Although, I must say that I didn't mind not worrying about traveling through the snow. Our truck is not quite a one horse open sleigh! ;o)

Aaron and I went to Christmas at Ryan and Briana's house. The whole Pearsall clan made the trip to OH. We had a lot of fun talking, eating, playing the Wii, listening to the music and hanging out together.

Here are a few pictures from the visit:

We had a lot of fun with Delaney on her first Christmas.

Delaney and Uncle Aaron.

Here is the crew on Christmas Eve (Matt, Allison, Myles, Briana, Delaney, Ryan and Aaron). Steph, Clint and Trevor drove to Ohio Christmas morning.

Pretty candles on the table.

Grandpa and Delaney hanging out.

Delaney sleeping in Grandma's arms.

Me and my babe!

The day after Christmas Aaron and I headed to my sister's house to hang out with my side of the family in PA.

Here is Syd and I. She got a ton of presents from Santa and with the amount of art supplies she got from family she could be the next Picasso.

Here Syd is explaining to Aaron how her Nintendo DS works. The games she got for that thing were cool!
Here are Chris, Nickie, Billy and Audrina hanging out at my Aunt Pat's house. We had a great ham bbq dinner. Yum!

Dad and Barb after dinner.

Here is my Aunt Pat with her new puppy, Max.

Isn't he so cute!?!

And last but not least, here is my sister's dog, Gravey. She is the quickest Bassett Hound I have ever met. Not to mention she likes to cuddle.

Thanks to all the family for letting Aaron and I come and visit. We really did have a great time! I can't believe it is almost 2008. I hope everyone has a blessed new year.

Merry Christmas!

We head out in the morning to make our rounds to the family! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Maine we go!

As most of you know by now, Aaron was given his next assignment. It looks like we are headed to Topsham, ME. Well, at least as of now. The Army can change their minds at any time about anything.

He will be in charge of recruiting for a few offices. Recruiting while not ideal, does guarantee that he won't deploy. YEAH! Heck, I will try to recruit people off the street if that means he gets to stay home.

We won't be leaving until March. Also, he will have to attend about a month of training to learn how recruiting works. But after that we will be settling into the cold winter up North.

We are looking forward to exploring a new area. And of course Aaron is loving the idea of water everywhere. You know how much he loves fly fishing! Not to mention we both love seafood. And the only 'real' seafood we have had lately has come from Red Lobster. I dare say that doesn't count!

Road trip anyone?

Here comes Santa Claus...

I don't think Boone likes playing dress up!

An easy cookie recipe!

I thought I might share an easy cookie recipe with you this holiday season. Last year, Frannie and I got together to make Christmas cookies to send to our husbands and friends in Afghanistan. She shared her Peanut Butter Blossom recipe that I have made many times since then. I actually made it a few weeks ago for Aaron to take to class. Men do like cookies!

I know the recipe probably sounds familiar. And I had made these cookies before Fran but she had a very quick and easy recipe that included Bisquick. I know right!? Bisquick? I don't know maybe that is how all of you have been making them but I had never heard of it. Trust me they are good!

So here is a recipe for Peanut Butter Blossoms:

Mix:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

Add:

2 cups Bisquick

Make into small balls of dough. Then roll them in a little bowl of sugar, just enough to coat them. Once all the little cookie balls are on the cookie sheet, bake them for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Once baked, top the warm cookies with Hershey Kisses. I am going to try mini Reese's Cups this year so hopefully Sydney (my crazy 6 year old niece who doesn't like most chocolate) will eat them.

I hope this recipe helps give you at least one short cut for baking Christmas cookies this season. Enjoy!

Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree...

Sunday after church Aaron and I traveled about two miles up the road to the local Christmas tree farm, Creekside Christmas Trees. We knew from the beginning it would be an interesting day, considering it was 65 degrees and Aaron had on a short sleeve shirt. Now, I like the south but picking out a Christmas tree in such warm weather was bizarre!

This is the second Christmas that Aaron and I have gone out picked, out our own tree and cut it down. It seems to make it a little more special for us and more of a Christmas experience. When we pulled up the nice folks gave us a saw and a cart to wheel the tree back. Aaron was grateful especially because there was no snow on the ground to help the tree slide back to the truck.

After walking around for only about 15 minutes, (The rain started coming down!) we found the tree we wanted. Aaron worked hard cutting it down while I gave words of encouragement! Once he wheeled it back, they put the tree on a shaker to help get all the junk out and then wrapped it for us.

It was a fun, wet, warm and sappy (literally) day! Today we decorated the tree and it looks great!

The little building where the people take your money and hand out cider.

Aaron working the saw.

The fun little cart! Aaron wanted to give me a ride but my luck I would have broke something.

The finished product!

I didn't get a tree last year because it just didn't feel like Christmas. I am so glad Aaron (and the guys!) are home safe and sound. What a great reason to celebrate. This Christmas is going to be fantastic!

Are you ever too old for Santa?

Lauren and I were at the mall yesterday doing some last minute shopping, when we saw the sign for Santa. We thought what the heck and went to find the plump, jolly man. We found him all alone with no Christmas wishes being whispered into his ear, so we decided to get a picture!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking 'Aren't you too old to be sitting on Santa's lap?'. But are you ever too old for Santa? I hope not.

A $3.00 Fix

As some of you know my dog is crazy! One of the weird things he does is steal blankets. I know this sounds bizarre but trust me, it's true. When I sit on the couch I love to being covered up (no matter what time of year). And Boone always ends up sitting on the floor beside me slowly pulling the blanket down. By the time I realize what is going on I have about 2 inches of blanket left.

So Aaron suggested we get him a blanket. Yes, my husband the tough guy thought we should buy the DOG his very own blanket. ;o) So off I went to Wally World where I found a $3.00 fleece blanket. And Boone loves it! He pulls it around himself and sometimes when Aaron and I walk by we cover him up. He will sit there for a long time all snuggled in the thing.

Also, when going through the Christmas stuff I found this stuffed snowman and gave it to Boone. He snuggled it for about 30 seconds before he started ripping it apart. But at least I got a cute picture!