Happy 22nd Birthday, Lizzie!

~Sister pics~

~Random pictures snapped throughout the evening~

Emily made sure to get a picture with Aunt Lizzie before the day was over! ;)

Happy Birthday, to not just a sister, but a wonderful friend!

~Love you, Lizzie~

Annual Fall Campout at Arnolds

We missed having Jack and Matthew there, but it was still a lot of fun!

Games in the tree house

 Nikki, Dree and Emmy

(Thanks to Luke for taking all the pictures)

Picture From Fiddle Festival 

~ Random friend picture from the last Savos practice ~



Lizzie's Birthday  

Happy 19th Birthday, Lizzie
-

(birthday celebration tonight --- more pictures soon!)

-

Lizzie's Birthday

-

Elizabeth turned 18 on July 22nd. It was fun to be home for one of the family birthday celebrations. Love you, sis!

-

Molly gave Liz these cute flip flops!

-

The delicious Carmel Heath Cake... mmmmm.

-

Laughing at one of the pictures that was snapped.

-

I know this picture of Nate is just begging for an interesting caption, but since my creativity has left me for the moment, I'll just leave you to enjoy the picture. :-)

-

Elizabeth's School Tour

v

A few day ago, I had the opportunity to accompany Elizabeth on her annual (and last) school concert tour.

v

Of course I grabbed a few pics for the blog :o)

Lizzy recently was advanced to the position of Concertmaster. Go Sis!

Lunch with Briddicks

-

Emily and Esther

Mrs. Briddick and Mom

Clara and I :)

Christmas Eve Dinner

v

Elizabeth and I decided that we would try to start a new tradition to spice up our Christmas celebration. We consulted recipes and grocery ads in order to get the fanciest (yet still affordable) Christmas Eve dinner for our family. We thought it would be nice for everyone to have a relaxing evening after all the busyness of the season.

v

Ingredients for Lizzy's all-vegetable soup.

Right before stirring it up...

Lizzy and I spent most of the day at the counter...

Fresh baked dinner rolls...

The younger children were wondering why we used Soooooooo much silverware! :o)

"Touch the rolls before dinner, and you die!"

The menu...

Partners in cuisine...

Appetizer: Tropical Crystal

Salad...

Mushroom/cheese tortelloni with broccoli florets and four cheese pasta sauce...

Drizzled fruit cheesecake...

Connor, after being served the first four courses, watched as we started to serve the cheesecake. Then, in a very full and weary voice, he said, "Cheesecake? I'll have mine tomorrow." Now you know a young boy is REALLY full when he refuses such a desert! :o)

The Entree: Bacon wrapped angus filet supreme...

I am sure that many of you who prepare meals for your family wonder at times if they really enjoyed the meal or if they are just being nice. Well, when I came out to make sure everyone was satisfied at the end of the meal, I got a pretty good indication that it was well received.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!