CHRISTMAS SNOWMEN

Snowmen Cookies

• 1 c. powdered sugar
  
• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 c. oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 c. & 2 T. flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. cream of tartar
• 1/2 t. salt

~Refrigerate for 1 hour. Cook at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. No cookie cutters needed for these snowmen, just roll dough in a ball and then decorate as shown.

Frosting

• 1/3 c. butter
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 3-4 T. milk

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS THINGS

Temple Square

The brilliant lights at temple square have people traveling from far away to bask in the beauty. It's definitely worth bundling up for.

Christmas Music

There's nothing better to put you in the spirit of Christmas than some good old holiday tunes.

"An Airus Christmas" by Kurt Bestor has always been my very favorite.

It's a tradition in my family to sing along with Mitch Miller every Christmas Eve.

No one can deny the beauty of Josh Groban's voice.

You can't go wrong with Bing Crosby. You can count on him for all of the classics. He also sings one of my favorite Christmas songs, "The Littlest Angel."

 Christmas Movies

Another tradition in my family is watching, "It's a wonderful life." It will bring a tear to your eye and help you come to realize the TRUE meaning of Christmas. (They have it in color now!)

"A Christmas Story" is another one of my favorites, it's great for a good laugh!

Christmas Goodies

Penoche is a candy that's so DIVINE it will surely make you swoon. We have been making this candy since I can remember. It's very tricky to make and don't be surprised if you ruin the first batch every year. It truly is an old fashioned treat, you have to beat it for like two hours (by hand!), but let me tell you.... it's well worth the sweat and muscle ache. You have to taste it to believe it.

I am what you could consider a "choco-holic." :) Nothing's better than some good old homemade fudge. Need a good fudge recipe? I've got one that will make your knees weak! Not kidding!

Nativity Scenes

I love nativity scenes, they're so, so precious. Mary admiring her sweet little Jesus, Joseph looking on with care. Wise men traveling from afar to bring the little baby glorious presents. This truly was a special night. What a wonderful reminder of why we celebrate Christmas.

Decorations

I take after my mom when it comes to going all out in decorating my house for Christmas. There's just something about Christmas decorations, I love em.

Hot Chocolate

Nothing better to warm you up on a cold winter's night than some "Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa." They have all sorts of flavors, my favorite being the mint truffle. They have a new flavor called candy cane that actually has bits of candy canes in it.

Snowflakes

You can't have Christmas without snow. There is something so serene about snow falling, don't you agree? Especially at night when it's completely quiet outside and the snow flakes are gently falling to the ground covering the earth.

Cheese Ball

I think my sister in-law, Krista can appreciate this delightful creation. All I can say is, "Yum!"

FAMILY PICTURES

My sister took our pictures on Lehi main street over Thanksgiving weekend and here are some of our favorites. Check out Tiff's photography blog here.

THE TIME HAS COME

We are turning our blog private. I have been thinking about it for awhile, but after a lecture from my grandmother, I have decided to go ahead and do it. Generally I don't really listen when she lectures me and I hate to admit it, but she may have had a little sway in the decision. So if you want access to look at our blog, just leave a comment with your e-mail address. Thank you!

PHANTOM

My friend Trisha let me borrow this book and I just finished it. It was AWESOME! If you like The Phantom of the Opera, then you will love this book. It tells of how The Phantom came to be, from birth on. If you are a reader or not a reader (like me) you will love this book! Now I have another book to ad to the list of books I've read besides Twilight, how pathetic am I?!

TWILIGHT MOVIE

I went to the Twilight movie on Friday with a bunch of friends. It was SO much fun! I'll just say that the book was much better than the movie, obviously, but I still enjoyed the movie. Hopefully they will have more money on the next movie to make the special effects better.

Me in front of Edward's Volvo!

Waiting for the movie to start!

At Red Robin afterwards.

PANTRY SECRETS BREAD CLASS

Last night I went to the most amazing class! It was a bread making class at a ladies house in Pleasant Grove. This lady and her daughter teach the class three times a week. You would me amazed at what they can do. Generally I am the type of person that would just rather buy it to save time, but I think I have changed my mind. They made it look so EASY! The only thing is, now I want a Bosch mixer. The bread recipe makes four loaves of bread, the same one recipe can be used for pizza crusts, rolls, breadsticks, braids (my personal favorite), tortillas, scones, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. Their bread recipe only takes a total of one hour to make from start to finish, this includes the raising time and cooking time!! You can save SO much money by doing this. They also teach some great tips on food storage. The class is $20 and they demonstrate how to make several different things, then you get to pick something to make yourself and take home. I would recommend this class to anyone! I also bought their DVD that shows you how to make everything. Their website is www.pantrysecrets.net and I wouldn't mind going to the class again if anyone wants to go. I went with my friend Shari (middle), Shari's mom (not pictured) and her friend Becky (front).