Holiday Traditions

One thing I love about our holidays is how we blend our traditions.  We both have taken pieces from our pasts and fit them together for our present and future.  I guess it's not just inclusive to holidays.  But while we decorate for Christmas it is very apparent. 

Our Christmas tree is always special.  It is such a blend of our lives.

Since I was a very little girl, about 5 or so, my dad has bought me a special ornament for the tree.  It is a very treasured collection.  The earliest dated one I found was from 1987 but I know there were earlier ones.  I don't think this is the complete collection.  This is a tradition that was always so special, and I look forward to this special thing between grandpa and grandchild.

Tim has his own special ornaments too. 

This is an ornament that his mom painted for him.

These little stained glass ornaments were made by Tim and his mom.

Some of his personal favorites include this little John Deere collection.

Another of his favs:

Of course our tree wouldn't be complete without "our" ornaments.

The top row of snowmen are ornaments that Tim picked out himself.  He printed out some pictures and wrapped them up for a gift for me.  The middle row shows a heart that signifies our first Christmas together in 2006.  The middle one was a wedding gift as is the last one that shows our first Christmas together as a married couple in 2008.  The last row is the tools that I bought for Tim's grooms cake.

Other special pieces of our holidays include porcelain figurines.

These bears were a gift to Tim from his parents.  They had gone to a craft show at the school when he was little and he saw those bears and just had to have them.  His mom had her own collection of porcelain figures and he wanted to have his own little set.

These angels and elves were a part of his mom's collection.

I also have a special porcelain figurine.  This little dog was a gift from my dad.  It is one of my most valued possessions.  I took it for show-and-tell one year because I just loved it.  On the bus ride home I took it out of my backpack to admire it once more.  We hit a big bump and it flew out of my hand and shattered all over the bus floor.  Through tears and tears I gathered all the pieces I could find.  I came home sobbing with a handful of shards.  It was able to be salvaged, though if you look at the back, evidence still exists of the wreckage. 

These are my M&M lights that I got when I was little.  They always make me smile.

This is the centerpiece that was at our head table for our wedding.  This was made by my mom.

This nativity set was a wedding gift.  Tim made the stable that houses this special collection.  It is made of 100 year old barnwood that was salvaged from my family's homestead north of Stanford.

 Hope you enjoyed this little tour of our eclectic pieces!  Each one is a special memory.  We reminisce fondly about the past and greatly look forward to the future. 

We wish everyone a very blessed Christmas and a joyous New Year.  Peace be with you, Glory to God.

Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and was to reach their destinations safely!  After days of wind and snow and frigid temperatures, we all were wondering if Thanksgiving was going to happen.  But it turned out to be a beautiful day down here Mauwsville. 

We had about 15 people join us for dinner from Lewistown, Great Falls and Stanford.  We were very fortunate to have the Compton family join us this year.

This year we decided to fry a turkey.  We also cooked a few hams as well.  We had quite a feast!  No one ever goes hungry on Thanksgiving!  After dinner the rest of the afternoon was spent poring through Black Friday ads and catching up on family time.  --AND eating lots of yummy pies!!  Shawn made two beautiful homemade pumpkin pies.  He used a pumpkin that he had grown in his garden! 

Thanks to everyone was able to join us this year.  We are very blessed.

Then of course the next day, Joni, Aunt Dauna, Mom and I rose early for some Black Friday shopping in Great Falls!  Roads were good, crowds were manageable, and the deals were right!  Thanks for the adventure ladies!!

Thanksgiving Recipes

It's Thanksgiving week!  So much to do to prepare for the holiday.  Since I really haven't had much to post about, I thought I would share some Thanksgiving recipes.

Pumpkin Pie Dip
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin pie filling
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
apple slices
ginger snaps

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.  Add pie filling, cinnamon and ginger.  Mix well.  Cover and chill. (The longer the better)  Serve with apple slices and ginger snaps.

Cranberry Punch
2 cans (16 oz each) jellied cranberry sauce
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 bottles (1 liter each) ginger ale

In large pitcher, whisk cranberry sauce til smooth.  Whisk in orange and lemon juice.  Before serving, slowly add in ginger ale.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
 38 ginger snaps, finely crushed
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin pie filling
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
Thawed Cool Whip
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 325*.  Mix crumbs, nuts and butter together; press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a 9 inch springform pan.  Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended.  Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla; mix well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each just until blended.  Pour onto crust.  Bake 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hours or until center is almost set.  Looken cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim.  Refrigerate 4 hours.  serve with a dollop of Cool Whip and dust with nutmeg.

Griz Game

We were finally able to make it over to Missoula for our first Griz game.  We have been so extremely busy so it was nice to have a fun weekend.  We got to Missoula Friday afternoon and met Jimmy and Sarah at the mall.  Had dinner at the Montana Club, then of course we had to go to Big Dipper for some dessert!

Saturday morning we geared up and headed to the Press Box for the traditional breakfast buffet.  Wasn't the same without mom and dad!  As expected we saw Cousin Tom and crew there!  And of course we had to have a Bloody Mary (virgin for me!) before heading off to the tailgates!

While wandering around we ran into alot of Stanford people.  For some, this is the only time I get to see them!  Our seats were at the very top of the North End Zone.  Despite the huge trek up there, they were really good seats!  Quite the view!  We could look over the back into the tailgate area and watch people coming in. 

I spotted Sarah and family from my bird's-eye view!

Sunday morning we met Jimmy and Sarah at Finnegans for breakfast.  Then we had to run out to Lolo to Tom and Sue's, because somehow Tom talked Tim into building their countertops! ;)  As we were making our way back home, we saw the bighorn sheep outside of Bonner.  Hadn't seen them in quite awhile.  The herd numbers have gone down quite a bit since their pneumonia epidemic, but there were still some there!  We're hoping to make it back for one more game, but we will see!

Beautiful Fall Day

Last week I helped Tim and Terry work on some old barns and sheds.  We were clear out east in the mountains and it was such a perfect fall day.  The leaves have all turned and there was still some warmth to the air.  It's such a beautiful place I had to take some pictures.

Gotta enjoy the weather while you can!  Saw some snowflakes this morning!!

Hunting

On opening day, Uncle Dale came up to join Tim on an antelope hunt.  About 15 minutes after we started, Uncle Dale was fortunate enough to fill his tag.



We then took to touring the countryside, looking for our next "victim".  

About 3:00 Tim accomplished his mission!



Last Trip

We made it up to Dry Wolf for one last camping trip with my parents last weekend.  I do not ever remember camping in October!  I wish summer would have been as nice as it was last weekend!  Since it was our last hurrah, we decided to fancy up our cuisine a little bit.  Friday night mom made barbecued ribs, slow cooked over the fire, with fried potatoes and biscuits.  Saturday we had breakfast burritos for breakfast, which seems to be our camping staple.  That afternoon, we all listened to the Griz game, so of course lots of snacking! 

Saturday night, Tim smoked a prime rib and we had baked potatoes, cooked over hot coals.  One thing is for sure, you never go hungry when you're camping! 

Sunday was Grandma Jo's 75th birthday, so the family came up and we had a picnic.  A very nice day to gather together and celebrate!  The way it's been feeling lately, I guess it's time winterize the camper and start polishing up the ol' skis and snowshoes!  Won't be too long!