Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree............

I love Christmas it is one of my favorite times of year. Even here in Oregon with the constant down pour of rain. I love it. I love all the twinkling lights. The smell of fresh Christmas Trees. All the home baked goodies, everything about Christmas just means family to me.

This is even more special being that it is baby girl's very first. Although we think she is too young for us to be buying extravagant gifts we are so excited to start new traditions with her.

We decided that instead of gifts we would get things that would become tradition in our family for baby girl and future children when that happens (to clarify not pregnant). So we got her some books for reading on Christmas Eve, we cut a our own tree as a family, and we have a advent calendar of bible verses.

We also have a tradition of getting a new ornament to add to the tree each year, still need to find this years ;).

These are just some of my favorite ornaments we have on our tree <3.

{Oh yah Elementary school picture ornament project} 

{I only have three of these left, they were my moms. They plug directly in to the light strand.}

{Ornament my mom gifted me as a teenager}

{Glass breast cancer ribbon}

{Got this as a gift the Christmas after mom passed away. Taken during our last Thanksgiving together.}

{The angel we bought our first Christmas as husband and wife.}

{Love this snowman couple.}

{Our last Christmas in Hawaii ornament.}

{Coast Guard for the hubby.}

{My most favorite baby girls very first ornament.}

Love our tree and all that it represents,
Adrien

-What are your favorite ornaments?

9 months.......

Baby girl turned 9 months yesterday! I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about the fact that she is only a few months away from turning 1.

I love watching her grow and learn new abilities. Her personality develops more and more each day and it is such a joy to watch. At the same time I miss that squishy little babe that was born only 9 short months ago.

(day of birth skin on skin with daddy) 

(the perfect little face)

(where did time go.....)

The struggles of being a parent, you can not wait for them to grow and become their own little person but at the same time you don't want it to happen too fast.


Confessions of this mom heart,
~Adrien

Cranberry Sauce....Easy as 1-2-3-4!

Perfect for Thanksgiving, this 4 ingredient, easy to make cranberry sauce is amazing. We have used this sauce for a few years now and its a favorite in our home.

All you needs is:
1/4 cup pure cranberry juice (no fruit cocktail juice)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup honey
1 lb cranberries

Directions:

First rinse cranberries and discard any that are soft or wrinkled.

In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat combine orange juice, honey, and cranberry juice. Bring up to a boil and reduce to medium-low heat, then simmer for 5 minutes. 

Add cranberries and cook for 15 minutes {exactly}, stirring occasionally. The cranberries will burst and the mixture will begin to thicken (will not be "thick" at this point). DO NOT cook beyond 15 minutes it will break down the pectin and the sauce will not set. So keep an eye on that clock!

{I wish I could bottle up the smell of this sauce cooking.}

Remove from the heat and allow the cranberry mixture to cool for 5 minutes.

{Love th e color of cranberries, so festive, beautiful, and rich.}

If you an extra fancy presentation carefully spoon in to 3 cup mold of your choice and refrigerate for 6 hours and up to overnight. Once set for minimum 6 hours in refrigerator overturn your mold to a plate, slice it up and serve. We prefer to put our in a container and just spoon it out. 

{We made a double batch, so 2-pounds worth of cranberry sauce. That is why there is so much pictured.}

We like to make this the night before to reduce the amount of items being cooked Thanksgiving Day. Cranberry sauce is good on just about anything in my opinion. My favorite way to enjoy cranberry sauce, not on fresh baked turkey, is on a bagel with cream cheese. Yummy!

Hope you enjoy this recipe and have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Gobble till you Wobble friends 

~ Adrien

FOOTBALL!!!!

We are a Seahawk's family. I have always loved watching football, my brother being a big Eagles fan (and seven years older) trained me young in the art of appreciating the game.

 To be honest as long as the Eagles are not playing against the Seahawk's I still root for the Eagles, they are my roots after all ;). I may not know all the technical terms but dang it I love a good game. I prefer games close in points, with a lot of back forth. I am not a big fan of shut outs. I am a very competitive person so I love the games to be competitive as well. There is just no fun in shut outs, even if my team is winning, but that is just me.

My husband does not care as long as the Seahawk's win :). He has been a Seahawk's fan since he was in high school, I've been a fan since we got married, no bandwagon fans here.

Now we are making sure to pass on the love of the game to our daughter. We do not care who she ends up rooting for when she gets older, we just want her to appreciate the game.

Plus, she is the cutest little football fan ever!

Here is to a great season,
Adrien

What team do you and your family root for?