Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday that’s full of family, friends and some relaxation. Yesterday, I hosted pre-Christmas dinner for my parents, brother and sister in-law and Chris’s brother and sister in-law. It was a full house and we had a lot of fun. My brother works shift work at a refinery so we made the most of our 3 hour window for family time. The photo below is classic Christmas; half of us have our eyes closed, Jamisen is ducking down on his chair and we barely got posed before the timer went off. Believe or not, that was our best photo option out of all of them.
For dinner I made salmon, seared portabella mushroom steaks and chickpea and squash tagine. If you love salmon as much as I do, you have to try out this Lemon Butter Salmon recipe. It’s incredibly simple and my favorite way to prepare salmon. So delicious! It’s my go-to recipe. The hot sauce really gives it an extra flavor kick.
Santa visited the house this year. Santa is Uncle Weston (pictured in the dinner photo above). We painted his beard white with spray-on hairspray (which I’m pretty sure is just spray paint). As soon as Jamisen saw Santa, he said, “I knew you would come!”
This year, Chris and I decided to give Lily and Jamisen one big toy each, along with a smaller toy. Between our gifts and presents from family, these kids have plenty of toys already. For the big presents, Lily got new kitchenette (she loves pretending to cook!) and Jamisen got a new truck.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours; may your holiday be bright, happy, and joy filled.
Such a beautiful family! Glad to know you had the company if your loved ones. Thank you so much for being so generous and sharing your recipes and your photos. You are precious! xoxoxo
We were so lucky to have our family with us; I love family chaos and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day fit the bill that way! =) I also really love cooking with my Dad and he and I planned and prepared a couple epic meals so that felt really good too.
I hope that your day was awesome as well =) Thank you for being a Soap Queen reader.
Merry Merry Christmas from me and Josh to you and yours. MAy the New Year Bring you and your family much JOY!
We would love a year of joy and stability! Last year was the year of the big house move so this year, we’re hoping to stay put and focus on planting a garden this spring. #goals =)
Happy New Year to you and Josh as well. Here is to much love, much laughter and so much joy in 2016 and beyond.
Always so fun to see how you spent your holiday. Salmon sounds wonderful. We always do homemade Chinese food for our New Years eve. I don’t know why or how that one started. But you didn’t tell us what you got for Christmas. I just tell my husband my soap products are all I need. Happy Holidays!
Oh yum! Homemade Chinese food sounds amazing. I’ve never attempted to make Chinese food at home. It’s good to know what’s possible! =)
We don’t do adult gift exchanges for our family anymore – I know, it’s a bit grinch-like but we found out after the kiddos came that it was way more fun to focus the attention (and budgets) on them! =)
My brother in law did get me an antique book on soapmaking that was super thoughtful of him =)
Merry Christmas to You and Your family. Have to check this salmon recipe 🙂
The hot sauce gives it just the teensiest of kicks; I love it! And, I bet it would be delicious on veggies too =)
Merry Christmas to you, your family and your fabulous staff!! May 2016 bring bigger and better times as well as great health for all!!
I love that wish! Maybe 2016 bring you bigger and better times as well =) Chris and I are working on family goals this week and I can’t wait to see what we plan out for the year =)
Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family. Wishing all of you a happy, healthy, and successful 2016.
Thank you Suzanne. =) I hope you have a very laughter-filled, joyful and successful 2016 as well.
merry Christmas to you and the whole family , your pictures look lovely. all the best to you all for 2016 and onwards.
Thank you, Natalie. We had a lot of fun for Christmas and absolutely enjoyed eachother. There was a lot of laughing =) I hope you have a successful and joyful 2016. Thank you for being a Soap Queen reader.