Christmas Tree Ornaments

My sister-in-law Heather and my niece Tabitha came over this weekend to help me make some Christmas Tree ornaments. I had seen a picture on facebook of some that were made out of old Scrabble tiles and thought they were really cool – so gathered up all the supplies and had a party!

I provided the ribbons, tiles, flowers, and buttons – Heather provided the glue gun, the beads, and the company - Viktor and Naldo provided the entertainment. We had such a good time (once we got a few kinks worked out on how exactly to put them together) we all ended up making 7-8 a piece!

Tabitha had so much fun, she didn’t want the night to end. She came up with the great good idea of going out for Ice Cream afterwards, so we celebrated our fun Craft Day with yummy homemade ice cream from The Big Dipper, conveniently located just down the street from my house.

Nelchina

Our weekend get-away in November took us to Nelchina, about 95 miles north of Palmer. The weather had turned very cold by then, so the drive was just gorgeous. We had some difficulty finding the place, but once we actually got there, we discovered that we really liked it. We will be going back again come summertime, no doubt about it!

The apartment was built right beside our host’s garage and had the BEST view of the nearby lake. It was comfortable, warm, and well stocked with the basics. We had plenty of room for our usual activities – although, I do admit that I felt a bit guilty about not going outside to go for a walk around the lake. But hey, it was COLD!

The only way it could have been better was if they had allowed me to bring my kittens.

Sweet Potato Lasagna

I have been attempting to try a new recipe each week, if only to jazz up our dinners (we tend to cook the same things each night) so last week, we made THIS for dinner! Oh my gosh, was it ever good! We will definitely be making this again.

It’s tricky, however: you have to slice the sweet potatoes so thin. Bryan has really good knives, thankfully, but a professional slicer really would be better.

The pan we used was just barely big enough – I’m afraid we made a tiny mess in the oven. But, like I said – it was REALLY good!

Delta Junction

We are continuing with our tradition of going on a Weekend Get-Away once a month. October took us all the way out to Delta Junction to a Bed & Breakfast that was tucked back in a residential area.

The place was very nice, with lots of trees surrounding the property so you felt like you were without neighbors. We had a very comfortable bed, a nice big bathroom, a very well stocked kitchen, and plenty of room for me to work on my cards while Bryan worked on his computer stuff. We watched the entire first season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Our hosts lived right beside us and delivered the most scrumptious breakfasts each day: scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, home-made blueberry compote, and fresh milk to drink on the first day, and biscuits & gravy and waffles, home-made raspberry compote, and mimosas to drink on the second day.

If you ever find yourself out in the Delta area, I can highly recommend this place! The owners were military (of course) and had spent the past 4 years living in Italy so had decorated their place with some really nice art pieces.

Siblings

My brother Reed and his family came over a few weeks ago, just to hang out together. I had my crafting table set up to make cards and the girls brought their painting.

I admit I was a bit apprehensive about them painting in our living room. But their mother assured me that she had a drop cloth and that the girls had never made a mess before, and they paint all the time in their house. Of course, they arrived without the drop cloth and an accident with the paint water did occur – but it was cleaned up quickly and thoroughly, so no harm was done.

About halfway thought our afternoon together my sister Noel showed up with her crocheting, so Reed made room for her on the couch and we all had a good time chatting with each other.