Random bits of Christmas - a recap

I feel like I barely talked about anything Christmas-related on my blog this year.  (except for random rants about being under the time gun)  So I went back into my phone to find all the many, many pics I had taken of Christmas and Bubbie's birthday and New Year...and guess what?  I had pitifully few pics of any of it.  Note to self;  do better documenting next holiday season!  So, here's a tidy recap of Christmas and New Year:

 

The Girl was my helper on decorating the trees this year - blue, gold, and naturals for the family tree; red for the kids' tree.  I tried not to put too much stuff up this year - I knew I wanted a simpler look.  The house was so cozy and pretty this year.

We just literally put all of the Christmas stuff up on Jan. 9th.  I kept wanting to get it done, everyone else wanted it up longer.

 We ate "slapatizers" on Christmas Eve during the day.  (don't know why The Girl calls them that, but it has stuck)  We had smoked trout with sliced Asian pear, Thai chili lime spiced cashews, and some mini freezer pizzas and such from Trader Joe's.  All of the food this holiday season was delicious - brisket, coleslaw, and cornbread casserole the Saturday before, homemade tamales from a friend at work with queso and crockpot pintos for Christmas Eve night, spiral sliced ham for Christmas Day with a creamy broccoli and cauiflower casserole, Buche Noel for dessert ...all soooo good.

 Along with our Christmas sangria of (very) cheap cabernet, sprite, and brandy.

It went down a little too easily...

 People were super thrilled to be eating and socializing.

 As you can tell.

Hubby enjoyed sitting around the firepit with his peeps, enjoying a pipe or two with some brandy.  {Note:  I have not one single pic of Bubbie at either Christmas or New Years...super weird.  He was there, in fact. I know someone video'd him blowing out his birthday candles, I just have to get that person to send that to me}

 Poor Dutch is learning how obnoxious we can all be after a full day of snacking and drinking.  But I think she had a good Christmas with us.

Puzzles were put together!  I have zero pics of Bubbie's girlfriend and Dutch helping us build these, but they so did.  As I mentioned before, I spent $1 each on the puzzles and they are quite pretty so I mod-podged them and now need to figure out what to do with them...also cards were played half to death. 

Teddy is still here - The Girl left him at our house until March 1.  We will either decide we love having a dog and get one of our own, OR we will decide a dog is not for us.  Either way, he will be well-cared for while she works many many hours during their busy season.

 Santa brought me anti-snake boots.  Come at me, snakes.

 

 We stayed in on New Year's eve and played cards and drank wine, while eating slapatizers of BBQ mini sausages, eggrolls, and baked cheese sticks, and enjoying smooth jazz and the fireplace.  The Girl and Bubbie both went out, so Firstborn had us all to himself.  Lucky him as we were having a wild time at the kitchen table...

On New Year's Day, we had our usual feast, along with this walnut raisin pie which was THE BEST PIE EVER.  I know it sounds like all we did was eat, play cards, make puzzles, enjoy the firepit and each other's company, and have a great Christmas, but that's only because we did!

{and now if I could just kick this rotten cold I have!}