A Look at Our Week

The last few weeks with all of the Holiday hustle and bustle have flown by. I believe we crammed just about all of the activity that we could into a very short time. It was all so much fun but getting back to our normal life and routine is very nice as well. This week has been all about returning to our normal. The decorations are being carefully and neatly packed away, the house has been cleaned top to bottom, the leftovers are being used to create new dishes, and we have been enjoying the quietness and calmness of our days.

Traveling Times

I traveled to my mom's house the Tuesday before Christmas. We had a Christmas gathering that night with my girls and played games and exchanged presents. The next day Mom and I headed back to the holler. She had agreed to stay with me through Christmas. I was looking forward to our time together before the excitement of the holiday.

Busy Hands & Busy Mind

I finished my stockings just in time for Santa to come! Mom's is the Christmas Cats and The Wizard of Oz is for me. We finally found my guy's SpongeBob stocking so he did not need a new one after all. And the Rudolph stocking has been Cutler's since his very first Christmas. I also made several gifts this year. I made Cutler a set of UT placemats, a UT heating pack and a UT tree skirt for his new Christmas tree. I made my sister a pocket shawl and bowl cozies for my nieces. I love being able to make things for my people!

I loved my Christmas decorations this year. My goal was to keep it simple and use as many homemade items as I could. Bro shared a picture of what he sees when he walks through the front door every morning with his family. It made my heart smile to know he appreciated my work. And the view is quite beautiful.

What's For Dinner?

The dinners during Mom's stay were pretty simple in preparation for all of the holiday meals. We ordered pizza one night and had sloppy joes the next night. Christmas Eve we had spaghetti, tossed salad and French bread for dinner.

I did all of the cooking for both of our holiday meals. Christmas Day was my first holiday meal for my brother, brother-in-law, bro, my guy, Cutler and Mom. This was my first time cooking an entire turkey. Normally I only do a turkey breast but this year since I had Mom on hand to help out I decided it was a great time to try it out. Everything went great andI had everything ready to go just a few minutes after 3:00. We had turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, rolls, pumpkin pie and punch bowl cake. It was all so good!

Sunday we were basically having leftovers from Christmas Day, but I did prepare a ham, deviled eggs and more mashed potatoes to go with what was leftover. Everything turned out great yet again! I did not get any pictures of my food this time. I was too focused on getting everything ready on time both days!

I was able to use our China again on Christmas Day. This set was gifted to us by my guy's sister. It used to belong to their grandmother who purchased it at a grocery store many years ago. I love being able to use these pieces and actually use them as well as display them in our china cabinet. The set only has six dinner plates. I am currently the highest bidder on a set of four more of the plates to add to the collection. I can't wait for the next special occasion to use them yet again. One day I may actually get brave enough to use the real silver as well.

Holiday Visitors

Cutler was set to arrive at our house late Christmas Eve night. He had to work for part of the day and arrived around 8:30 that evening. He was exhausted after working all night long the previous night and getting very little sleep before his arrival. He managed to stay awake through the end of our Christmas movie and to open his present from Nana. Then he was out and ready for Santa to come visit.

Christmas Day my brother and brother-in-law arrived around 2:00. Unfortunately work schedules did not make it possible for my entire family to all come on the same day this year, but we made it work! I had dinner set to be ready by 3:00 and Bro was invited for all the festivities. There was a little time for chatting and catching up before dinner. After dinner we did a lot of reminiscing and sharing of memories then we exchanged presents before our guests headed back home. Mom was undecided on when she would leave. The original plan was that she would leave with my sister after her visit on Sunday. She had a couple of rough nights though since she arrived and we wondered if the change in altitude was not causing her breathing issues to worsen. She felt good Saturday though and finally decided she would wait and go home Sunday.

Our Sunday visitors started arriving around 11:15 that morning. My niece and her boyfriend were the first to arrive followed by my sister and the rest of her family a little later. Lunch was set for 12:30. Bro joined us for lunch and enjoyed learning about my niece's boyfriend's hunting skills. After lunch we exchanged presents and played our gift exchange game and the Saran Wrap ball game. We love this one and always has us all laughing!

We decided we needed to take a walk around the property before enjoying dessert. My guy led us on the trail stopping along the way to tell stories about areas he had cleared, plans he had to clear and other interesting facts. The group enjoyed the views and the exercise. We ended the evening with a fire in our fire pit and everyone took turns riding the 4 wheeler to the top of the property to view and photograph the sunset. Notice my guy's shirt in the picture from our walk. This was my gift to him this year. I had my niece make him a shirt with the saying that he always says whenever he looks out of our windows, "I Like It Here." The front says Higgins Holler Est. 2021. I think we are going to have to have some more made and start giving them out to our visitors!

Mom was all packed and ready to get back home. I believe she enjoyed her visit despite feeling bad for parts of it but I know how it is when you are away and getting back home certainly does feel good.

It was amazing having everyone visit our house for the holidays. I loved every minute of the preparation and planning. I fall more in love with my kitchen everyday with every meal prepared.

Sappy Selfies

Before our guests started arriving we took an evening and headed to Johnson City for dinner. While we were there we walked through the lights display and enjoyed seeing all of the decorated trees.

Have a great week! XOXO


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