New York

Thanksgiving week, we were given some sad news. Jamie's Godfather, Big Joe, passed away. He was suffering from cancer so I know he's much better off in Heaven. It's just sad for all of us left in this world missing him. 

Jamie, Lynn, Caden and I took off after eating our Thanksgiving meal with my family and drove to Palmyra, NY. We got  there just in time to head straight to the funeral home for the calling hours Friday night. We spent Saturday at the service then at a nice luncheon for family and friends of the Suhr family. We made it back to the house to watch the Iron Bowl...I don't really want to talk about that game. (War Eagle!) 

Sunday we spent the day at Jamie's Aunt Dorann's house with the family. It was really nice to see everyone, but I wish it were under different circumstances.

My inlaws live in Nebraska now. They also made the drive to NY. My father-in-law actually preformed part of the service. We miss them so much and hadn't seen them since Caden's birthday in May. It was great to be together. Jamie's grandmother lives with them, and she has been diagnosed with cancer. It's pretty advanced so I was really glad we got a chance to see her while she was still feeling somewhat like herself. We left at 4:30 am Monday morning and drove straight home. It took us about 23 hours total!! It was quite a whirlwind trip. Here's a few photos of us with Grandma. I hope we get to see her again in this life, but she's too sick to travel now. Maybe we'll make it to Nebraska soon, but only God knows when He's going to take her home.

Thanksgiving

When I was growing up, we ALWAYS celebrated Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family. She is one of five children. There are thirteen grandchildren. Seven of us are married, and there are five great-grands. As the years pass it gets increasingly more difficult to get everyone together. It's been several years since we were ALL together. We were missing a few this year, but it was really nice to see everybody that could make it. The tradition in our family is to do family photos at Thanksgiving. My cousin, Carmen, is a very talented photographer. She took the pictures this year. Check her out here.

Everyone

My mom, brothers, and our families

My little family :)

 Memaw, Mom, and Me

 Silly boys...Caden and his Uncle Andrew

 Hannah and Caden....best buddies

 We may have a few nuts, but I love my family! :)

Tattoo Party

My Uncle David is a tattoo artist. He came down from South Carolina and we had a "tattoo party" at my house on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. It was a lot of work for him, but a lot of fun! I think he did eight tattoos that night! He turned around and did two more on Friday. He's a tattooing machine :) Here's a few photos from the party...

This is Jamie's. He's going to get some shading done too. We ran out of time and energy to finish it...

Slacker

I was informed by a dear friend of mine that I had been slacking on the blog lately. Does the excuse that life has been crazy lately make it better?
I have been busy making things for a local holiday craft sale in the spare time I would usually use to blog. I made some christmas ball wreaths, yarn covered wreaths, and these washer necklaces in all different colors.

When I wasn't working on that I was working on Christmas presents. I can't show you those because it may ruin someones surprise. :)

Did I mention that I adore all things Christmas. I wish I were one of those amazing decorators that can turn their house into a Christmas wonderland. Unfortunately, God did not bless me with that talent. I just put out my decorations and hope for the best. I want to keep my table set with my snowman dishes, but having only one table and a three year old make that difficult. They are still in the box, but I am getting them out tonight. The most important decoration, the tree, is up and I'm not stressing about the rest. I love to sit in the dark with just my Christmas tree lit, drink hot spiced tea, and watch a Christmas movie. Ahhh...I feel more relaxed just thinking about it. 

Before I get all carried away about Christmas, I should cover November. I'll start writing about a few of the November happenings now....more posts to come :)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is one of Jamie's favorite dips. It's his first request when it comes to party foods.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients:

1 large can of chicken

1 8oz cream cheese (softened)

1/2 cup wing sauce

1/2 cup ranch dressing

1/2-1 cup cheddar cheese

1/4-1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Break up the chicken pieces with a fork. 

Mix chicken, cream cheese, ranch, and wing sauce together. Spread into the bottom of a dish. I've used an 8x8, a pie plate, and several bowls and dishes I have on hand. (9x13 is too big) 

Mix shredded cheese and bread crumbs together. I really just eyeball this part and change up the amount depending on the dish I'm using. It needs to cover the top of your chicken mixture. 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

Serve with tortilla chips or corn chips. 

Nutella Crescent Rolls

This is a yummy easy breakfast or snack. I couldn't get Jamie to try nutella until I made these. He loved them! I think I've finally convinced him that nutella is amazing! :)

Nutella Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

1 can of crescent rolls

nutella

powdered sugar

Unroll your crescent rolls and separate. Spread Nutella over them. I did mine pretty thick so it would ooze out a little bit when you bite into it.

Roll the crescent rolls up from the wide part to the smaller part like you would normally do. Spread out on a cookie sheet.

Bake according to the directions on the crescent rolls.

Sprinkle with powered sugar immediately after removing from the oven. 

Pumpkin Dip

This is a great fall dip. It's sweet, but not too sweet. I just served it in my Pampered Chef cool and serve tray, but I saw it here served in a little pumpkin. Too cute!! I actually had a pumpkin to put mine in, but I didn't get around to carving it with everything else I had going on. I think I'll make the time next time because nobody knew what it was in the tray. 

I served it with graham crackers, nilla wafers, ginger snaps, and teddy grahams.

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients:

1 large cool whip

1 can of pumpkin 

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix

3 Tbsp powdered sugar

1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

cinnamon

Mix everything together except cinnamon in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Put your dip into your pumpkin or serving dish and sprinkle cinnamon over the top.