Hymas Family Favorites Vol. 1

The Hymas Family Favorites Vol. 1 cookbook has officially been published.  This was a lot of work to put together, but now that it's done, I'm really glad I did it. It's chuck full of some of our favorite recipes, including the chocolate strawberry cake and Barb's Best chocolate chip cookies. Yummy!  Click on the picture below to download a pdf copy of it (I've reduced the file size from before, so now it's easy to download, and I corrected a couple of typos and a recipe):

Santa

The other day, I stopped at the mall while we were out and about for some sorely needed stuff.  It was suppose to be a quick in and out stop.  However, Santa was right next to the store we went to, AND there was no line, AND we had missed all of our opportunities to see the man himself.

Sadly, however, I did NOT have my camera with me.  But, I'm so glad we stopped.

In years past, Mackenzie has usually burst into tears when she sat on Santa's lap.  Not this year.  It was so fun to see her light up with the magic of Christmas.  I wish I had my video camera with me so you all could see.  Aiden was unusually shy and apprehensive about seeing the big man himself.  I think he was now a little intimidated and nervous about meeting him.   Good times!

Aiden

A few weeks ago, one of the other mom's of Aiden's kindergarten class stopped me when I was picking Aiden up from school.  She said she had a story for me from one of the days she had volunteered in class.  She was passing out the snacks to the class.  That particular day everyone got two cookies.  Aiden came up to her with one of his two cookies and held it out to her.  She wondered if he had dropped it on the floor or something and asked him what he needed.  He said, "no, it's for you."  She said she had a hard time not crying because of his thoughtfulness.

Lately he has become Mr. Helper around the house.  He's started making his bed, sometimes, without being asked.  He clears off the dishes from the table, and he tries to help me tidy up the house.  Tonight, he absolutely cracked me up.  He helped me out by putting toothpaste on my toothbrush, turning town the covers of my bed, and laying out my pajamas.

I guess that's what they mean when they talk about the "successes" of motherhood.  I sure do love my little guy.  He's growing up way too fast.

Sushi

Rich's brother and SIL, Clark and Katie, flew in for a visit on Friday, and we got to eat dinner with them Friday and Saturday.  Friday we went to Zupas (yummy).  We splurged on the chocolate fondue dessert.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE fondue?

Saturday, we went to Mikado for sushi with Clark and Katie, and Dustin and Madalyne (Rich's other brother and his brother's wife).  It was Dustin's birthday, and he picked sushi.  I think I was the only non-sushi person there.  Clark went to Japan on his mission.  I'm pretty convinced that not even two years in Japan would be long enough to get me to like sushi.  :)  I have a rather limited palate.  I had a beef noodle dish.

Anyway, it was a nice dinner and it was great to spend time with family.

Turkey, Tires, Gingerbread, and Werewolves

We spent Thanksgiving in Idaho with Rich's family this year.  We left on Tuesday to try to beat the storm (we failed) and so we could make it to a funeral on Wednesday (more about that in a minute).  The normal 4 hr drive there took us 6 1/2 hrs of white knuckle driving time.  Not fun!  But, we made it safe and sound.

The funeral was for my niece's dad, my SIL's ex.  He was killed in an auto accident the week before and his funeral was on Wednesday.  My niece is really doing well.  She has an AWESOME step-dad, and has tons of support.

We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner and fare with Rich's family.  Everyone but Clark and Katie was able to make it.  Yummy!  And, I learned to actually like pumpkin pie.  Thank you, Costco.  The best $6 I ever spent.

That night, I finally got to play Werewolves of Miller's Hallow.  My friend, Britt, blogs about the fun her family has playing it, and I finally got my chance.  I was not disappointed.

The day after Thanksgiving, Grandma Hymas had a gingerbread house ready for each family to decorate.  The kids had a great time decorating their house.  Pictures to follow.

We ended up staying a day longer than planned due to the weather.  AND we bought a set of studded snow tires for the drive home. I gotta say that I LOVE them.  We did not want to repeat our driving experience on the way there.  I am happy to report that our drive home was very uneventful.