Another Christmas has come and gone. For us this means that Ashten and Ryan are also another year older.
We went to Chula Vista in Wisconsin Dells this year and were joined by my father, my sister Vanessa, and her boyfriend Jeff. Then Brad’s father’s family, had their annual Christmas there as well, so we had all kinds of extended family and it was awesome!
For Christmas this year we are heading out of town to Chula Vista in Wisconsin Dells, so we had our gift exchange with Brad’s brother’s family early. The kids got a lot of cool stuff, you can tell we’re turning into a family of gamers (shock!).
Ashten and Ryan also received their birthday presents since they both have birthdays this week.
This year the two elementary schools in town did their Christmas program together. Because it was so large it was held in the high school gym, which coincidentally use Orion Energy Systems’ lighting fixtures. For those that don’t know, I work for Orion as their web developer.
The program was really cute and the boys did well. Unfortunately as soon as we got there, Brad was called into the plant for an emergency ERO test…what timing!
Ryan really enjoys helping out in the kitchen, so this weekend he and I made Christmas cookies. Definitely lots of fun.
View the rest of our Christmas cookie photos
We used the following recipe to make the cookies Mary’s Sugar Cookies
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Mary’s Sugar Cookies
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Submitted By: Pat
Photo By: What a Dish!
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1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
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2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup granulated sugar for decoration
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| 1. | In a large bowl, cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the creamed mixture. Cover and chill for at least two hours. |
| 2. | Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the dough into two parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of the dough out to 3/16 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle cookies with plain or colored granulated sugar. |
| 3. | Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. |
This year was a ton of fun. Ashten was a “Scary Jester”, Ryan was “Yoda”, and Tanner was a “S.W.A.T” team member. Elke used Selene from “Underworld” as inspiration and was a gothic vampire, winning the contest at work for the best group costume.
For the 4th of July this year we decided to head to Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at the Wilderness on the Lake Resort which is on Lake Delton (it has water again!). Was a ton of fun, we spent the weekend with my mother, sister Vanessa, and her boyfriend Jeff.
So Halloween this year has come and gone. I happen to LOVE Halloween, which gets shared with my boys.
This year we went trick-or-treating with some of our good friends and their children. Tanner wasn’t feeling so hot so we didn’t go for very long, but the kids had an awesome time regardless.
Tanner was a ninja and Ryan was Iron Man, I dressed up as my blood elf Clover. Ashten spent the evening with some of his friends and was not out with us.
We went off to the pumpkin patch today in search of the best pumpkin. Check out Wilfert’s Farms Ashten was off with a friend so it was just the two younger boys, Brad, and I.
Lots of fun!
Had a great time with my friend Angela and her family at Bay Beach Park in Green Bay over Labor Day weekend.
For Memorial Day weekend, Brad and I were invited to go to Egg Harbor with our friends Chris and Jenny Stanke. For some reason Ashten was not with us, I’m thinking he was at Grandma’s house.
The weekend was fun with some great times visiting with our friends.
One mishap occurred though when Tanner was playing on the wooden playset at the resort. He ran under a wooden ladder that was not fastened to the ground. He lifted it up, and the ladder, being solid wood, was quite heavy, swung back and bashed him in the head so hard he needed stitches.
WoW Achievements
