"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"...

Well, when the temperature on Wednesday, December 23 reached 70 degrees, we accepted the fact that it was going to be an unseasonably warm Christmas.
All Day Christmas Eve, we got some cold rain and in late afternoon, it turned into snow and it continued to snow well into the night. Check out the photos of the scene we woke up to on Christmas morning! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

A fabulous departure from my 20's

Since I am turning 30, I had to come up with a clever theme for my party, as any regular idea just wouldn't do. So, we had a "Roaring 20's" themed event. The idea was that I am leaving my 20's behind and therefore should go out with a bang. Which we did. We had a fabulous turnout, and as you will see, many of our friends played along and dressed the part. We had a "casino" room for poker and such. The party was a great success and it was a total blast to see what costumes everyone would come up with. Check out the photos!

Puppy love

It didn't take Daisy very long to get comfortable in her "new digs" - no pun intended if you saw the yard. Max has taken quite a liking to her as well. Although he is an old man and a bit impatient, there is no doubt that he enjoys her company. The other day, she decided to take a nap on him - he clearly didn't mind - or didn't notice.

Girls' Night Out

We celebrated nothing in particular at the end of November. We got about 20 girls together and rented a limo and painted the town red! You should have seen the bartender's face when we asked for 19 lemon drop shots!

New Fall cookie recipe

Out of boredom a few nights ago, we decided to try this cookie recipe. It is so perfect for fall. They turned out really light and we liked them so much that I thought I would share.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Glaze (recipe follows)

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease baking sheets.

COMBINE flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle Glaze over cookies.

FOR GLAZE:
COMBINE 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth.

Sneaky little pup

Bad girl stole my bookmark while I was reading. I guess she can't be good all the time.

Lazy Daisy

She's quite a lounging pup!

She followed me home. Can we keep her??!!

Last week a friend of ours was taking her son to school and found these really young puppies playing near one of the bus stops. She then discovered that the dogs were strays and took them home because she didn't know what else to do. When Allan found out that she had done this he asked me to find out what kind of puppies they were, and if they needed homes. So, we did and we went to take a look, and it was love at first sight! We think she is a hound mix of some kind, still trying to figure that out. Her paws are a good size so we think she will grow up to be pretty good sized girl, but we are used to big dogs, so either way it's fine with us.
She came home with us on Tuesday, and she has already learned how to jump on the couch and bed (not good)!! Her first few days in her new home have gone extremely well, and even Max has been patient with her (always a good thing).
Now we just have to finalize a name for her. There are about a million good dog names for male dogs, but for some reason, it's harder with her. We'll post her name as soon as she has one!

Book project update!

I just finished book #25, marking the halfway point of my goal of reading 50 books in 2009. Water for Elephants is a great tale of life as part of the circus in the 1930's. I was fascinated by all the characters (and their mysterious development) and the premise for this story. I am off to the library again in search of the next favorite!

Bon Appetit!

I was bored and hungry the other night, and at a complete loss for ideas for dinner. So, I started thumbing through our cookbooks in search of inspiration. I found a very simple roasted chicken recipe and we decided to try it. Not only was it easy, but it was probably some of the best chicken I have ever tasted. And...for dessert - fresh cherries! I LOVE summer fruit! I will be sad when we are limited to apples and pears in the fall!

Happy Birthday Allan!

Shelly and her sister were great hostesses and were gracious enough to host Allan's birthday party this year, complete with great food on the grill, swimming and sangria!
We had a great turnout, and although we got a little rain, everyone had a blast! I love any excuse to get together with friends, and since the long days of summer are getting fewer, it was wonderful to take a dip in the pool while we still have the opportunity! Happy Birthday!!

Toro Family Reunion 2009

In July, we attended the "2nd annual" Toro family reunion. There are always lots of family members present, and it is always great to catch up with our many cousins, who range from age from 10-35 years old. We always manage to get together at least once a year, with different family members present at each event. We broke out the horseshoe game, which papaw helped us with! He filled us in on all the "rules" of the game. We had wonderful weather, and a great view of the lake. I think my aunts are already in the process of planning next year's event!

Clara Owen 1934-2009

I just wanted to take a quick moment to remember my grandmother, Clara Owen. She passed away on June 30, 2009. My grandparents have always been a huge part of our lives and were a big part of raising us along with our cousins. My grandmother was by far one of the most patient, loving, and sweet people that I have had the pleasure of knowing. Although we will miss her greatly, I am happy to have such fond memories to look back on. From home cooked meals, to making toys out of household items to keep the grandkids from being bored, it seemed that she was always doing her best to ensure everyone's happiness. I think we all appreciate the generosity that she showed to all of us. We plan on making many visits to Tyler over the next couple of months to check on "papaw" so that he has some company. We will continue to keep our family in our thoughts and prayers as we each try to recover from this great loss.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

We were fortunate enough to join in celebrating the first birthday of our beautiful niece. The year flew by and it really does feel like yesterday that she was born. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Our Rainy Day!!

We had a great rainy day last Saturday. Destiny came in town to see us from Shreveport, and we experienced some torrential downpours. But, it was a great time anyway, and we spent the day eating pizza and playing board games.

My book fever

I am on a mission to read lots of books this year. On my list is the Harry Potter series. Yes, I know, I am the last person in the country to be reading these for the first time! I have discovered how easy it is to get "sucked in" by the stories. I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Book 4. Hopefully, I will be caught up in time for the next film!

Savor Dallas

We were fortunate enough to stumble upon tickets to Savor Dallas this year. It is a huge annual food and wine show held in downtown Dallas. Basically, it was like Disney World for us! It is literally impossible to visit every booth, but it was certainly a great time trying. We also got the opportunity to meet Tre Wilcox for Top Chef Miami. He is formerly the chef from Abacus here in Dallas, and currently owns a business as a personal chef. He was great to talk to, and he was sharing his fantastic dish with us. We also got to meet some amazing winemakers and restauranteurs!

Mardi Gras Weekend

Well, we didn't get to go to New Orleans this year for Mardi Gras, but I did manage to get out of town for a couple of days to go see Jenn, Andrew and Lucy. We had a fabulous time, and the gir1 ls got to watch the Academy Awards. And, of course, we managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Johnny's pizza!

Allan's visit to Canada

Allan got the opportunity to visit his brother Joe in Canada for a couple of days of ice fishing. Unfortunately, he was not able to snap too many photos, but I wanted to include a couple of photos of our nieces.

2009 Book Challenge

I am participating in nest.com book challenge of reading 50 books in 2009. So far, I am only on book 2, but I have a large list going already so I hope I am able to read them all. I am attempting to broaden my horizons a bit this year, so I am going to read some classics, and (finally) the Harry Potter series. I might be the last person in America to read them!

Merry Christmas!

We had a great holiday season but it went by entirely too quickly. We had a great visit with our neice, sweet Lucy. We went to a Candlelight Christmas Eve church service, and had leisurely breakfast Christmas morning.