Pre Christmas Post---Post Christmas

It's been a whirlwind Christmas this year. Sandy and family arrived on Tuesday afternoon. The whole family was here for happy hour and Jordan's birthday dinner. I used a fun and delicious recipe that I got from Connie. I told everybody that they would have to be adventuresome. You'll see why. I started passing around the ingredients in order.

Fiesta Stack Ups
Layer in each bowl---being careful not to take too much of each thing as it can get pretty big..
Crushed Fritos (I just used the regular small ones and didn't crush them)
Rice
Chili (just make a pot of your favorite)
Shredded cheddar
Sliced green onions
Sliced black olives
Chopped pecans (yes, pecans)
Shredded coconut (yes, coconut---that's where the adventuresome part comes in)
Salsa

Really delicious. I made way too much rice and chili. I had the chili done in advance and in the freezer. It was an easy dish to pull together. Everyone loved it---although some did not do the coconut. It's just that little sweet with the savory.

For dessert, I made another of Connie's recipes---a Chocolate Cherry Cake. Jordan loves chocolate cakes, so I always do some sort of chocolate dessert for her birthday. Connie complains that she's not a good cook---but I swear---all of my best recipes have come from her.

Wednesday was a lunch at the club, manicure, stitch and watch a movie kind of day.

We watched Mindy's favorite Christmas movie---Love Actually. I hadn't seen it in quite awhile, so that was fun.

There were a couple of "iffy" spots for Elizabeth, but she was in and out a lot. There was really only one time that she was in the room during a mature scene, but so intent on her stitching, that she didn't even look up. I quickly fast forwarded it and she didn't even notice!

 Victoria and Morgan did not stitch and watch the movie with us. They were upstairs with "the boys."

Later, we went to Stephanie and Nicky's for dinner and a game. They jambalaya---always so delicious and great for a crowd. Steph said it took her three days to clean up. Well, that could have been more from the game where Butch made it rain with styrofoam!

While at Steph's I saw this pillow that I made her a few years ago. I love it and remember how much fun I had making it. I'm so happy to see that my girls appreciate my handwork!

Christmas Eve starts with a big breakfast: bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits, gravy, potatoes, orange juice and fruit salad. After clean-up, we start food prep for our Christmas Eve "pick up" food dinner. Everyone has a few hours in the afternoon to rest, play games, or as I was happy to find out---do this:

 Yep, that would be all of the "little" girls stitching together.

Jordan and Elizabeth have already completed their first projects. Only Victoria and Morgan are new to stitching. I may have unleashed an expensive monster here!! Just one more way to keep us all together. I already have ideas for an Eads girls stitching retreat weekend---somewhere in the Smoky Mountains.

Okay, next up: It's All about the food!