Happy Holidays

On Christmas eve we made the trek to Belle Plaine and spent the evening with Shane's family. Nothing really organized, we don't exchange gifts. But it is always a nice evening. Since we don't see this side of the family very often it is always amazing to see how all the nieces and nephews have grown.

That evening, once Shane and I got home, we decided to exchange gifts. I had him open a bottle of lighter fluid instead of the entire grill. He figured it out pretty quickly. But he  was extra excited we he realized it was already assembled all he had to do was start cooking. I made out like a bandit! Shane bought me a nice warm fuzzy robe and slippers and a new watch. Then there is the other thing. . .  All I know is that he had to order it and it hasn't arrived yet. He is expecting it by Monday. I am hoping the mail is on time, because I am leaving for Ohio early Tuesday morning.

Christmas day - Still waiting for my gift, obviously since the mail doesn't deliver on Dec 25th. But anyway, we had a nice day doing absolutely nothing. I think I read a couple of books, watched a couple of movies, nothing spectacular. We did invite Shane's mom and John up for dinner that evening, which proved to be a problem. I was too tired to stop at the grocery store on the way home from his mom's and didn't think about it being Christmas day and the stores being closed. Dilemma. So after I wracked my brain a little, decided Shane would grill a pork loin and I found a rice dish I could throw together if I only had a few more ingredients and that was about it. So the next best thing to a grocery store is the Taber pantry. Jodi came through for me. She had everything I needed to finish the rice and gave me a couple cans of green beans. I was set. Shane starts the grill and I the rice dish. I have to admit, I am a fairly decent cook, but today, being that I don't have a back up plan and Shane's mom and John are coming over, if it can go wrong it will. Pork loin turned out perfectly, I however, managed to burn the rice. So not only was I down to one side dish with no other options, my house now stank and I couldn't get rid of the smell. Oh well, what do you do but smile and go on, which is exactly what we did. All in all it turned out to be an enjoyable evening.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable couple of days, Happy holidays