Our holidays were very nice this year! We had early Christmas Dec. 19 at Lynne and Marv’s house. Steve and Jenny were there along with Jenny’s parents, Paul and Kathy. Of course Sandi and Farrell were there also. The house was decorated so beautifully, every room with a little bit of Christmas detail. We had delicious appetizers laid out on the kitchen bar, along with the traditional Christmas cookies baked by Lynne and also some from Jenny. Kathy brought chocolate covered peanuts- MMMm!…were they good! We got lots of great presents including a muffin tin, cookie sheet, toaster oven, bread knife, candles, and a really soft sheet set! Lynne made pot roast for dinner, it was fantastic! Other menu items included mashed potatoes, pear and avocado salad, corn, and rolls.
We left for Minnesota on the afternoon of Dec 21. We arrived in Plymouth around 10:30 that night where Oran and Vicki awoke from their couch snoozing to greet us at the door. We visited for a brief time and then said our goodnights. The next day Matt and I did a little bit of shopping, then picked up Oran and Vicki for lunch at Davannis – one of the restaurants that I really miss from Minn. After that we went back to their place, lounged a bit. I took a nice long bath in the Jacuzzi tub, while Matt napped. Oran worked really hard in the kitchen to prepare us a phenomenal turkey dinner. Other menu items included yams, mashed potatoes, green beans, and zucchini bread. For those of you who don’t already know this…my dad is the mashed potatoes and gravy KING! People try, but no one has mastered this dish like he has. Yummmy!! We talked for a long time, watched a little TV in the family room and once again said our goodnights. The next morning we had breakfast at Maggie’s in Wayzata – my very favorite breakfast place in the whole world! The French toast is TDF. After that we went to the Science Museum of MN. They moved to a brand new location on the river…all new exhibits…LOTS of fun! Stopped back at Oran and Vicki’s briefly and then Matt and I left to go visit my friend Angie in Savage. Angie and her husband Matt have 3 gorgeous children that my Matt and I had lots of fun playing with, and taking pictures of (see gallery). It was so nice to spend time with them! Christmas Eve morning we celebrated with Oran and Vicki (and of course Nick the cat) opening presents by the fire. Some of our presents included a cookie sheet, muffin tin, Aveda products and a temperature reading fork for grilling.
We left there around 12 and headed to Minnetonka to see my mom, stepdad and brothers. That night we were invited to a friend of the family’s party. They served champagne and caviar along with other classy hors devours. It was very nice to visit with the Mooney family. I used to baby-sit their boys years ago. They’ve grown up a lot. I remember having lots of fun with them. Christmas morning was breakfast and presents. Some of our gifts included a muffin tin, cookie sheet, movies, gift certificates and a gym bag. Breakfast was good…Mom made new things this year. We attempted to do the traditional thing and see a movie Christmas day, but the internet times were wrong, and we arrived way before the theater opened for shows. So we went home and watched movies there instead. Dinner was wonderful… steaks, green beans, potatoes – very, very yummy. Dave and Karen came over for dessert – always nice to see them. Next morning was shopping day! It’s the yearly tradition that I and my mother (now Matt included) hit the mall for the clearance sales. We didn’t go too crazy this year, but ended up with a few nice finds, and a lot of gifts for next year. Matt and I headed for home around 1:00, said goodbye to everyone at the house, and then stopped down at the ice rink to say goodbye to Zak who just recently started working there as an attendant. We got home around 5:30 that night. It’s always a treat to see the kitties when we come home. It was a Monday night, so Matt had the radio show, I went with that night, since we both had Tuesday off. Wednesday night we had the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert and wound up with tickets in the FRONT ROW CENTER…WOW…doesn’t get better than that!…and a great show as always!
Thursday was Christmas with Pat, and Lisa. We went over around 6, Sandi and Farrell met us there. We were anxious for presents so we opened them right away, some of our presents were calendars, butter dish, and gift certificates. Lisa cooked a delicious turkey for dinner, with mashed potatoes, yams, broccoli and rolls. For dessert she served a yummy apple pie. We had fun visiting, touring the new house, the artwork was all hung…its looking really great.
New Years Eve was spent with Sandi and Farrell, we cooked up a bunch of fattening hors devours, and grazed all night long. We stopped briefly when we went to the UW Badger hockey game. Badgers won! (and scored 5 goals which entitled us to free ice cream from Culvers) After the game - back to S&F’s. Ate more food, played some games, watched Dick Clark countdown to the New Year.
And wow, as I read through all of that, I notice that so much of it is about food – no wonder we all gained weight!
So here we are…2006. Happy New Year to all of you! Hope your holidays were as lovely as ours. And definitely let me know if you need any muffins or cookies baked for you 
