Christmas Cookies

Peppermint Stick Cookies
This link is similar to the recipe I used:
http://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R030664

Gingerbread Cookies
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/gingerbread-cookies-for-the-holidays-recipe/index.html?nl=FN_Cookie10_2009_12

Triple Chocolate Cookies
(without nuts-I also love mixing in Andes mint chips or peppermint chocolate chips into these)
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=32399

So far we have made three kids of cookies (and there are more to come!).

O Christmas Tree

Benjamin and Evan posing with the Christmas tree. We have a great window for it this year in our new place and the kids really had a fun time. I just have to keep Matthew from the ornaments...shiny things are like magnets but they are all kid friendly:)

First Snow!

We got the first snow of the year on December 5th which happened to be Ben's birthday and the day we got our Christmas tree. It made for a nice festive day!

Benjamin loved throwing snowballs!

Evan tried to help shovel:)

Evan, Benjamin and Jacob ready for some fun!

I had a full set of snow clothes for Matthew this year too. He didn't stay out long but he looked so cute!

Matthew sings a Christmas song...

Matthew sings "Jingle Bells"

On the First Day of Christmas...

Here is the crocheted advent calendar that I created for the kids this year. We will pull off a tag each day and replace it with an ornament. The tags have a scripture reading, song and activity for the day on each one. I think it will be fun!

Thanksgiving at the Orchards

Here's our Thankful tree...Evan's turkey

and Benjamin's turkey.

Now for the dinner...here is the sweet potatoe casserole

stuffing

cranberry relish (wonderful recipe from Heather Merrill!)-Matthew loved this stuff!

braided bread called Challah

glazed carrots

mashed potatoes with garlic, cheese and bacon (YUM!)

and the turkey! It was delicious as always since Alton Brown's recipe is a sure thing!

And the fancy sparkling grape juice to drink. The kids love doing this for the holidays:)

The Orchards Thanksgiving!

1st Annual Thanksgiving Pie for Breakfast

Ever since we lived in SC and had friends that did a pie for breakfast, we have been wanting to start the tradition ourselves. So this was the year since we finally had a place that was big enough to host. We had the following pies for the occasion:
We made 4 pumpkin
2 chocolate pecan
1 pecan
1 strawberry rhubarb
1 apple caramel crumb
and 1 apple cranberry
There were also 2 breakfast pies from the Bayless family
1 peach pie from the Franklins
1 pumpkin from the Condrons
1 apple crumb from the Pagottos
1 pumpkin from the Stuckerts
1 French Silk from the Scotts
and 1 lemon from the Davenports
A good time was had by all and I think that most people are done with pie for a while. But not us! We will have more at Christmas. Pie is a BIG tradition with the Orchard family:)

These are the 10 pies we made!

Pie table one

Pie table two

The kitchen is always the favorite place to congregate!
We had cider and cocoa in there:)

Good crowd, good times!

Cute Pictures

Jacob snuggles with his favorite blanket.

So cute when they are sleeping: )

These crazy boys in the tub with bubbles! They were having so much fun!

Matthew's Halloween Discovery!

Just listen to the video to find out what it is!

Halloween and Evan's Birthday!

All ready for Trick or Treating

Making a stop for candy! It ended up raining but they still went and got lots of loot!

Our house in it's Halloween decoration glory! Evan told me I had put up his birthday decorations:)

Evan gets his birthday slippers!

He insisted on wearing his birthday crown from school while he opened presents.

He was SOOOO excited as he always is!

Carving Pumpkins

Our finished pumpkins on the porch! These are a bunch of photos of us carving our Halloween pumpkins. Amazingly, Evan took most of these!