Christmas Baking!

It's one of my favorite things of the year, especially the Christmas season. This year, Mom and I spread it out over 2 days and didn't have much help from the other 2, but that's okay. We had fun!

Coming to a Christmas plate near you (maybe!):
-Peanut Butter Delights (my favorite!)
-Rice Krispy Treats
-Haystacks
-Rolo Pretzels
-Peanut Butter Kisses
-Fudgemallow Squares
-Peppermint Brownies

These were the results of Day 1, but I don't have any pics of those being made.

When I got to Mom's, she had already done all of these. We know for sure we did 140+ of peanut butter cookies, most of them with kisses in them.

And a couple of batches of RKT. We ran out of some crucial elements, but Laura did graciously make a grocery store run for us.

Rolo pretzels in the making. This is the first year I remember helping with these. Super easy!

Getting everything ready to go to different homes!

All done!

I know that none of those things are super-complicated, but it's just a fun thing to do with my Mom every year. And I also LOVE delivering these treats to friends and family. Not everyone appreciates the calories, but I think most people appreciate the time that went into them. :)

Thanksgiving

I got to go to Atlanta for Thanksgiving this year and see part of my dad's side of the family. Matt had to work, so he stayed in Charleston. It was a little bit sad to not be together, but I was really glad I was able to see some of the Tyndall clan who I don't get to see often enough.

When I was driving up to Atlanta on Wednesday, it took me 3 hours to get to Columbia, which is twice as long as it usually takes. But, that actually ended up being a good thing because I got to see my friend Karl (a teammate from Central Asia) at a random gas station. He was driving from Orlando to Tennessee and ended up being in Columbia around the same time I was, so we met up. Yay for randomly seeing good friends! I picked up Valerie in Columbia, and we had a great drive to Atlanta, full of singing lots of good songs and also having good talks. Got to Atlanta pretty late but stayed up talking with Aunt Karen and helping her bake a little.

We slept in on Thanksgiving but still had lots of good time catching up with Jeannene and Grandma while helping Aunt Karen prepare for the Thanksgiving feast. Uncle Rob was watching football in the other room. :) Mom and Laura arrived a couple hours before we ate, so we all contributed to the meal a little, which is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. I love it when everyone is in the kitchen together!


We had a great meal but then Valerie and I had to leave. More singing and talking on the long drive. I'm very thankful for a family that I enjoy hanging out with! Dropped off Valerie in Columbia then drove back to Charleston. All in all, it was a 34 hour trip but very worth it.

Just would have been better if we could have ALL been there... missed you, Uncle Kenny, Aunt Kim, Brittany, James, Bailey, Charlotte, Julianne and both Matts!

Random Photo, Take 18

Pic 17 was in August 2008 during our week in Charleston between Texas and Thailand. This was Laura, Mark, Steven and Matt out on the Petersons' boat, SIRreel. :) A fabulous day!

Here's number eighteen.

Random Photo, Take 17

Photo 16 was in Thailand, at Chatacuk market in March 2009. With my friends Amanda and Kristen and some yummy fruit shakes. (When I saw this pic, I wanted to go down memory lane, so I re-read this post from that day.)

Here's #17!

Random Photo, Take 19

Random Pic 18 was in April 2007 on a trip to Central Asia. This picture is with Emily, one of my closest friends and her firstborn (at that time, only-born) Luke. We didn't match on purpose.

Here's 19.