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 was Ryan’s first Christmas and first birthday. Not all the pics in this album are from Christmas day but are related to that time.
We were living in the house we purchased in Ewa Beach at the time.
For Christmas in 2002 we flew home to Wisconsin to spend time with our families. It was nice to see them but we all ended up with the stomach flu!
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