The Long Lost Sister

This past week my wonderful twin Jamie came to AZ with her adorable little girls. Sadly, she is the only one of us 5 girls that doesn't live within the 5 mile radius. We were so so glad to have her for a week! She is the best twin anyone could ask for and I miss her so much! Can you believe she left without us even getting one picture together? What is wrong with us? These are very precious moments that we have together and not one of us, all my other sisters included, managed to get a picture of us all together. We should know better when this happens only but twice a year.

But, we did have a lot of fun and spent some wonderful time together. Shopping is always involved, but we went to the Tempe Art Festival, out to eat a few times, took a tamale cooking class and had a very fun night with the family doing a progressive dinner. Here's how the fun night went, and will hopefully become a tradition!!!

My mom thought it would be fun to have a progressive dinner with Jamie here to visit all our houses and see them decorated and just to enjoy each other's company. Even with 4 of the 5 girls and my parents living so close, it's not too often that we get together as an entire family, so this was a great way to start off the Holiday season. We started at my house where I served up the appetizers. I made yummy meatballs, a dip, and a new recipe I tried called chicken taco cups. I'm always nervous to serve something new, even if it is just for my family, but everyone enjoyed everything and wanted all the recipes so I count that as a success! I had so much fun getting my house ready and playing hostess. I kinda love being a "party planner" so it is always fun for me to let my creative juices flow. We also decided to give little gifts at each house as a thank you for coming. I sent everyone home with a new cookie sheet and some sugar cookies to make.

Next we were off to my sister Shanen's house. She has a great new house that looked so nice decorated and she served the good ol' yummy green salad. If you know any of us girls in my family, a green salad with ranch dressing is always a staple. No matter what time of day or year, a green salad is always super appreciated! For her gift she gave all of us a magnet recipe holder with a recipe for chocolate dipped double stuffed Oreos! Now if that doesn't make your mouth water I don't know what does!! And the best part...she made them for us too! I have to tell you, these are the yummiest little things ever. Austin loves Oreo's and I knew he would think these were the greatest thing since sliced bread, but being the pregnant heifer that I am, I hid them in the back of the fridge so he wouldn't discover them so I could enjoy them quietly by myself when he is gone at school. Hee Hee!! And by the time he reads this, they will be all gone! :)

After Shanen's house we stopped for the main course at my parents. They served us excellent enchiladas complete with rice and guacamole. I always love being at my parents at the holidays. The house is so much fun. My dad has a train set that he has had since he was a kid and he just found out that it is close to 60 years old. The kids LOVED it and my dad was so calm letting all of them stand over the track to be a tunnel. With 6 of the 11 grand kids being under 3, this was a mini heart attack waiting to happen but my dad was a great conductor as everyone took their turn! We had a great time and my mom sent the girls home with a wonderful jar full of ornaments, books, Christmas stories and goodies.

After my parents we went to Nicole's where she and Jamie had a fun craft for all the kids. I wish I had a picture because they turned out sooo cute. They painted the kids thumbs with a red paint and then pressed them onto white mugs and made little reindeer's out of them. The mugs came with a cute story and food to sprinkle on our lawns so that the reindeer can find our house on Christmas Eve. They were so cute! Nicole and Jamie sent us off with a cute plate for us to put cookies on for Santa.

Lastly, we headed to Jennifer's house. She had great desserts and her house looked so festive. Each of her three children have their own small Christmas tree that they get to decorate with any of their ornaments and I loved seeing them clustered together. I thought it was such a cute tradition for the kids and may need to steal it from her for my own one day. She had great treats with brownies and a peppermint ice cream/Oreo dessert. They were all so good! She gave us all a fun Christmas picture frame.

All in all the night couldn't have been more fun! I was so glad to have a hearty appetite (what else is new?) and loved being at every one's house. I love that we have such a great family and relationship with each other and can do such nice things together. I think we should have a progressive dinner with each major holiday because it was a great way to spend some time as a family. At the beginning of the night we took the best pictures we could of the grnadkids! I can't believe that it will be out dated in just a few weeks when our little guy arrives!! From left to right: Taylor L., Cole L., Kylee H., Ally L., Kobi H., Gabriella C., Dylan B., Kruz H., Dax M., Gwyneth C., & Isaac B.