Christmas at Home

What a wonderful time we had while home for Christmas. The ride home was uneventful, after the fog lifted. Robin had the bed all set up, and the dogs were so happy to see us. Jax slept with us for a bit, then went to stay with George and his Mom. Every morning they came in to give us our morning kisses. I suppose they are missing us now.
Connor came to sleep over on the week-end before Christmas. We have this recipe for old fashioned cut-out cookies that my grandmother handed down. As a child we made them every year, and decorated them. That was a tradition I kept up. Since we've been on the road I haven't made them. This year we had such a good time. Connor counted the cookie cutters and found out we have 70, yes 70 of them. I was surprised at the final count. We had so much fun doing them. Wait till you see the picture. We shared them with Tom's sister, Beckie, and our son's family, and our Moms. There are only 2 left for Tom here. I guess we'll have to cut the recipe down and make them for ourselves while traveling. My grandmother used to have them in her cookie jar all the time. She would cut them out in these great big circle, and sprinkle them with sugar. I remember as a child going to the cupboard for them.
What fun I had baking. I made lots of cinnamon buns and sticky buns. I had taken my bread maker home so I could do it for every one. I also make this good pecan chocolate chip bread. Of course That is one of Robin's favorites. Robin and I also made ravioli. Years ago my mom gave me a pasta maker. I haven't made them foe years, but Robin wanted them for Christmas Eve. I told her she had to help. We made both cheese and meat. She has plenty left in the freezer for later on. She couldn't believe it was so easy to do. Kind of time consuming and tedious, but well worth the effort. We had lots of cheese filling left so we made stuffed shells. Boxed shells. We used some of our sauce from Trader Joe's. It was so good.
Christmas day was really just like it always was. Going next door to Tom's mom's, and having dinner. I had baked the ham and stuffing and made the gravy the day before. I added the sweet potatoes. Mom made creamed potatoes and cheesy spinach. Beckie made some deviled eggs, and her son brought some cookies. Tom and Jenn just have to bring Connor. That's enough for us. Connor shops at school every year. This year he gave me a cute pink bracelet. I told him I would wear it every day. So if you see me with it on and it doesn't match what I have on, too bad.
The day after Christmas we went on over to Tom and Jenn's. Connor showed us his new drum set. He played (?) for us for a bit. Then we got to play Uno Flash. We got it for him for Christmas. Everyone had such fun. Tom says he won't be winning that game anytime soon. You have to think fast and make your move before the buzzer goes off. And you never know when your turn is coming. The game decides. I suggest it for everyone.
Now we are back with Emily after a beautiful day of traveling. The only thing yesterday was a four car accident that was mostly a fender bender that involved a U-Haul trailer. There weren't many trucks on the road, so it was a nice day to travel with cloudless skies and we had fun seeing the different license plates. I'm thinking the other travelers were thinking South Dakota was far away from home. Little do they know, we are home where ever we are. We just didn't have Emily with us. Tomorrow we are on our way South. Hopefully, we will find some warmer weather.