A Very Merry Christmas

My favorite holiday has come and gone, so I thought I'd share some of the events from this Christmas. My parents came from Moses Lake to stay with us for 5 days. It was so much fun to have them here. They are the first house guests we've had for more than a night, and we had a fun time hosting them for a few days. The first night we went to see National Treasure. My mom said she hadn't been to a movie in ages, and for once we got to treat them. We went to Molbacks Nursery the next day- when I was a kid my parents use to take us there around Christmas for pictures with all the Christmas decorations, so I love going there because it always brings back fond memories. We went out to dinner at Purple- which is my FAVORITE restaurant over here. Their baked brie is to die for! My favorite Christmas tradition is going to a candle-lit christmas eve service at church, so ofcourse we went this year. I LOVE all of the Christmas hymns- I wish we sung them all year long. In the Erickson house, we've always opened presents on Christmas Eve. Santa always came while we were at church, and my brother and I would have our faces pressed against the car windows looking for Rudolf on the drive home from church. So this year, keeping with tradition, we did presents with my parents on Christmas Eve. Christmas day we had my Grandma Ursula over for Christmas dinner. I finally got to use our china, and I have never had so much fun setting a table. My mom and I did a turkey dinner together and I think we made a pretty good team. It was fun having her in the kitchen with me. We had so many leftovers- Nick and I have been eating them all week for breakfast lunch and dinner. It was so cool- it actually snowed in Seattle on Christmas Day! My mom and I were cooking in the kitchen and it started to hail and then turned to these huge flakes. It was such a treat to have an "almost white" Christmas over here.

Our white Christmas!

Here's the giant lighter we got my dad... he love's these kinds of things!  :)

At Molbacks Nursery... My Dad, Nick, and Me!

Below is Cohen after dinner... This is how the rest of us felt too.

This Week....

Last Saturday we had our holiday potluck party. Everyone was in holiday sweaters- I'm talking felt cut-outs, puffy paint, bells, sequins, etc. Such a riot! There were some realllly good ones. Nick reminded me of Dumb and Dumber when they have the sweaters on at the ski lodge- we are still regretting not getting him a turtleneck to go with. I just realized that I didn't have a picture in mine, so you can see the picture of it below- it is actually an iron on transfer of Cohen, decorated like a reindeer. People kept staring at it all night, and then when they realized it was Cohen they would burst out laughing. haha, so fun. We had a little over 20 people there so I made a 21 pound turkey. I was so nervous, but it was also SO MUCH FUN! I asked so many people for input on how they make their turkey and ended up using a combination of one of my cookbook recipes and a coworker's (THANKS Christina!). It turned out so well- such a relief. I will be using this method for years. Nick even brought me home flowers the next day... coincidence? I don't think so. :) I can't wait because we are doing another turkey for Christmas since we are hosting this year, and I'm going to make sure it is extra big so we have lots of leftovers.

Also Nick and I have been tackling the job of updating our 80's fireplace and Nick finished tiling it the night before the party- I LOVE IT! Nick did such a good job with the tile-seriously, I can't find any crooked lines or "defects", and I'm such a perfectionist. :) He's a rock star. I primed it and helped put the coats on but Nick did all the rest. (Well, he let me put one tile on so I could say I helped... always thinking of me) It totally changed the room. Since we first moved in and painted the walls, I have been so disappointed with the wall color in the family room. I didn't understand- I loved the pretty blue on the paint chip, but it just looked worse and worse to me on the wall.... until we painted the mantle. I am completely in love with the wall color again. I think it was just the color cast from that awful wood stain. (trust me, I like a lot of wood stains, but this one just screamed bell bottoms and plastic slip covers) My big splurge this year was buying monogrammed stockings with a matching tree skirt. For some reason I am so into monograms lately. I have a big "H" on our wall that I love too. Anyway, I am loving this room now- we have been having so many fires in the fireplace and with the glow of the tree lights and all the decorations..... aaah, so nice. The other day Nick and I just sat talking for a couple hours in there, drinking coffee with Christmas music playing in front of the fire. I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME. (you can see that we still don't have any trim up yet, but it is all in the garage being painted, so it will be coming soon)

The Before (below)

The After Pics
The Tree Skirt/Stockings
I love this ornament. We got it last year as a gift and I think it is too cute. This will be our FIFTH Christmas together! I cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly. Can't wait for 80+ more!

Wednesday, Nick's mom took all of the Honeycutt gals to the Nutcracker. It was so much fun- I haven't been in years. It was such torture watching them dance up there. I miss dance SOOOO much, but it would be so scary to get back into classes. (Myca and I have had this conversation so many times- as much as we miss it, the thought of being the bad kid in the back is just too far out of our comfort zone.) Anyways, it was an absolutely beautiful performance. The night was such a treat- we also tried the new Tom Douglas restaurant in Seattle, Serious Pie. It was so so so good. All gourmet pizzas and yummy desserts. I had such a good time catching up with everyone. How lucky am I to go from having no sisters to having lots. Lucky me. THANKS SHERI!

Last night (Thursday) we had a date night- dinner and a movie. Dinner was fantastic, but the movie was awful. We saw "No Country for Old Men". Horrible. We didn't know anything about it, but all the critic reviews were "A's". I sat through two hours of gory violence, and the ending totally sucked- we have no clue what happened. Haha, and I'm such a baby- one of the creepy characters will probably give me nightmares for weeks. Lame. Next time I'm dragging Nick to "Enchanted". :) haha. Tonight my parents are coming to visit- We're so excited. We haven't seen them for a couple months, so it is long overdue. Can't wait!
Alright, that's enough for now. I HAVE to get our Christmas cards mailed out! :)

Happy Birthday Baby

Yes, our little man is three years old as of the 1st. Oh how the time flies! I still remember the day I brought him home- he fit right inside of my hand (below). Now this chunky monkey weighs a whoppin' 9 pounds. He had an extra "spoilish" day filled with lots of treats and around 1pm it started to snow. It was such a treat for Cohen- he loves the snow! We took him outside and he just started going crazy- leaping and rolling in the snow. He kicks it up and tries to catch it in the air. It is so funny! (I know he's just a dog, but when you don't have kids and you're working a ton, what else do you have to do but celebrate your dog's birthday) Haha, here are a few pics of our first born.