The most wonderful time of the year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine was jam packed with excitement and festivities! We got things kicked off this year by having our first annual 'cousins' dinner on Wednesday evening, on the Eve of Christmas Eve, if you will. When I found out Eva was coming to town, I thought is would be fun to get as many of the Shifferli cousins together for dinner at my house. The response was great, and it turned out better than I envisioned. Nedra, Eva, Angela, Katie, Theresa, and Tim were the cousins who were able to make it.

Eva and I prepared the meal for the evening; the menu included lasagna, garlic knots, salad (prepared by Eva), and cheesecake with a berry compote for dessert (prepared by Angela). Eva and I made the lasagna noodles from scratch, as well as the ricotta cheese. We also used some homemade marinara from my tomatoes that I saved. The meal was wonderful and the company even better. We even watched Mary Ann's choir on television, so it was almost like she was with us. I wish I had pictures, but I was kind of exhausted by all the cooking and I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the evening.

The following day was Christmas Eve and we had a get-together at my mom's house in the evening. Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve were in town and we were lucky enough to celebrate Aunt Sue's birthday with her. Theresa arrived in a pink Santa hat with gifts for the kids. Ari loves his little wooden car, by the way.


Laughter was in the air.


Memories were made.

A perfect lead in for the Christmas festivities to follow.