Saturday, December 31, 2011
Roush Christmas - Dec 31st
Delaney was baptized on December 31st in Lansing so we ended up having our family Christmas on that day as well. I got to see some friends at church, then afterward the family met at my dad's and we had a really yummy lunch (potatoes, meatballs, veggies, salad, rolls) along with some pies and cookies for dessert. By then the kiddies were ready to open gifts so we went downstairs and let them have at it. It was a really nice day and a great way to end 2011.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas Morning 2011
In true kid form, Chloe was up early on Christmas morning -- by 7am we were downstairs getting ready to open presents. Here are a few photos of our tree and Chloe with her loot:
Later that morning Nathan's parents came over for breakfast. Nathan and I made waffles, blueberry and strawberry toppings, fresh whipped cream, hashbrown casserole, monkey bread, and (fake) breakfast meat. Chloe also tried eggnog for the first time and - surprise! - she liked it.
Later that morning Nathan's parents came over for breakfast. Nathan and I made waffles, blueberry and strawberry toppings, fresh whipped cream, hashbrown casserole, monkey bread, and (fake) breakfast meat. Chloe also tried eggnog for the first time and - surprise! - she liked it.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Christmas Eve 2011
I found the cutest dress for Chloe last year during a January clearance at Babies R Us -- a red Santa dress. Soooo adorable! I couldn't wait for her to wear it. When she came down with a stomach bug the week before Christmas I was afraid we'd miss our chance, but several days before the weekend she recovered and was in usual cheery form when we got ready for church that Saturday morning. Here are a few shots of her...first with the hat and the others outside in the dusting of snow we got overnight.
That night Nathan read "The Night Before Christmas" to Chloe. Surprisingly, she sat still through the whole thing. Annual tradition? :-)
Monday, December 19, 2011
Cookie Baking
There are so, so many cookies that I love to bake and it seems that during the rest of the year I'm not very creative. I usually just make chocolate chip cookies so this is a time to try some seasonal cookies and some old favorites.
This year I made four different kinds of cookies.
First up...Surprise Package Cookies! This recipe was given to me by Vicki, a lady I worked with during my counseling internship in Grand Ledge. She holds a dessert party each year and this is one of her staples. It's basically a sugar cookie wrapped around an Andes mint. You can also use other candies like candy bars if you want, but for those who love mint it's a pretty good cookie just like this. A few Andes mints drizzled on top doesn't hurt!
The second cookie was an Orange Cherry White Chocolate Pecan (how's that for a mouthful?) I found this recipe online years ago and have pretty much made it each year since. I had to tweek it a little (like using dried cherries instead of cranberries) but it's bursting with flavor.
Third cookie is another surprising favorite -- Linzer with Raspberry jam. I had never eaten a linzer cookie before I took a Christmas cookie class at Zingerman's a few years ago. They didn't look good to me because, well, I didn't know what was in them. But, this cookie converted me. It has finely chopped hazelnuts in the dough and super yummy raspberry jam in the middle. It is really addicting!
Fourth and final cookie was, of course, a butter cookie. The world is divided into sugar cookie people and butter cookie people. I'm a butter cookie. My mom made these with us as kids and to me you cannot beat the flavor of a cookie packed with butter that's browned slightly in the oven. Pure awesome. This year I made my own frosting and it was soooo gooooood. It was just cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. So good Nathan wouldn't let me throw out the leftover frosting! A few sprinkles and these cookies are good to go. No matter what I make, I make these because they remind me of my mom and my family.
As you can see I had a lot of cookies at the end of all this baking. I kept out some for Nathan and I but mostly I wrapped them up to take to coworkers. I'm sure they have a love-hate relationship with me this time of year :-) This is the tray - well, trays - I made up for my office. Thanks to my coworkers for eating them for me...
This year I made four different kinds of cookies.
First up...Surprise Package Cookies! This recipe was given to me by Vicki, a lady I worked with during my counseling internship in Grand Ledge. She holds a dessert party each year and this is one of her staples. It's basically a sugar cookie wrapped around an Andes mint. You can also use other candies like candy bars if you want, but for those who love mint it's a pretty good cookie just like this. A few Andes mints drizzled on top doesn't hurt!
The second cookie was an Orange Cherry White Chocolate Pecan (how's that for a mouthful?) I found this recipe online years ago and have pretty much made it each year since. I had to tweek it a little (like using dried cherries instead of cranberries) but it's bursting with flavor.
Third cookie is another surprising favorite -- Linzer with Raspberry jam. I had never eaten a linzer cookie before I took a Christmas cookie class at Zingerman's a few years ago. They didn't look good to me because, well, I didn't know what was in them. But, this cookie converted me. It has finely chopped hazelnuts in the dough and super yummy raspberry jam in the middle. It is really addicting!
Fourth and final cookie was, of course, a butter cookie. The world is divided into sugar cookie people and butter cookie people. I'm a butter cookie. My mom made these with us as kids and to me you cannot beat the flavor of a cookie packed with butter that's browned slightly in the oven. Pure awesome. This year I made my own frosting and it was soooo gooooood. It was just cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. So good Nathan wouldn't let me throw out the leftover frosting! A few sprinkles and these cookies are good to go. No matter what I make, I make these because they remind me of my mom and my family.
As you can see I had a lot of cookies at the end of all this baking. I kept out some for Nathan and I but mostly I wrapped them up to take to coworkers. I'm sure they have a love-hate relationship with me this time of year :-) This is the tray - well, trays - I made up for my office. Thanks to my coworkers for eating them for me...
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Christmas Letter 2011
Hello Family and Friends!
We hope this year has been good to you. This was our first full year of parenting and it was overflowing with fun and adventures. Chloe started 2011 as a four month old baby who was just starting to eat solid food and sit up. Now she's a fifteen month old who loves to walk, talk, read books, and use her new teeth to eat real food. She is a bright ball of sunshine. We're excited to be adding another girl to the family this winter sometime around March 9th. Can't wait to see what a good big sister Chloe will be!
We were brave and took a few trips this year. The end of February we spent a week in Florida with my family. This meant Chloe took her first plane trip, made her first pilgrimage to Epcot, and did a lot of other fun firsts. We took our anniversary trip up north to Harbor Springs the end of May with Chloe in tow (luckily she is a great traveler). We had another week-long trip in July at the family cottage in the Upper Peninsula (first trip across The Bridge!). Because the new baby is set to arrive about the usual time of our annual trip to Florida, we moved up our trip and spent a week in Florida the first of December. It was fun to see our old haunts decked out for Christmas. (Check out our Florida blog posts for details!)
Nathan and I both continue working at our same old jobs - Nathan as an engineer for Uncle Sam and me as an advisor at U of M. I'm grateful to work part time so that I get to be a stay at home mom most days.
We also did a few much-needed big projects around the house. In June we prepped the basement to be finished (sealed it and added a back-up sump pump), we repaired the roof in September, and in October re-sodded our front lawn. Other than that, our world pretty much revolved around trying to keep up with Chloe.
We wish all of you a wonderful 2012 ~ please keep in touch!
Much Love,
Nathan, Julie, Chloe, and peanut #2
We hope this year has been good to you. This was our first full year of parenting and it was overflowing with fun and adventures. Chloe started 2011 as a four month old baby who was just starting to eat solid food and sit up. Now she's a fifteen month old who loves to walk, talk, read books, and use her new teeth to eat real food. She is a bright ball of sunshine. We're excited to be adding another girl to the family this winter sometime around March 9th. Can't wait to see what a good big sister Chloe will be!
We were brave and took a few trips this year. The end of February we spent a week in Florida with my family. This meant Chloe took her first plane trip, made her first pilgrimage to Epcot, and did a lot of other fun firsts. We took our anniversary trip up north to Harbor Springs the end of May with Chloe in tow (luckily she is a great traveler). We had another week-long trip in July at the family cottage in the Upper Peninsula (first trip across The Bridge!). Because the new baby is set to arrive about the usual time of our annual trip to Florida, we moved up our trip and spent a week in Florida the first of December. It was fun to see our old haunts decked out for Christmas. (Check out our Florida blog posts for details!)
Nathan and I both continue working at our same old jobs - Nathan as an engineer for Uncle Sam and me as an advisor at U of M. I'm grateful to work part time so that I get to be a stay at home mom most days.
We also did a few much-needed big projects around the house. In June we prepped the basement to be finished (sealed it and added a back-up sump pump), we repaired the roof in September, and in October re-sodded our front lawn. Other than that, our world pretty much revolved around trying to keep up with Chloe.
We wish all of you a wonderful 2012 ~ please keep in touch!
Much Love,
Nathan, Julie, Chloe, and peanut #2
Visit to Santa
Today we went to Somerset Collection to see Santa and do some shopping. Chloe did great with Santa and then she got three coins that she got to spend at the stores. With her coins she got a wand, a bouncy ball that lights up, and some chocolate coins. It was nice to go on a weekday -- last year we went on a Sunday morning and it was nuts at the mall. Today was much more relaxing.
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