let it snow (or at least get a little colder...)

it's always sort of a surreal experience spending christmas in florida. we decided not to travel north for this holiday since we just made the trip a few weeks ago for thanksgiving, and i always find myself being really sad this time of year when i'm not able to be with my own family. i know that's purely selfish, since rick's family deserves some holiday time too...but if you have siblings you understand what i mean i'm sure. add to that the fact that my sister has a new baby and it makes it even more agonizing...

rick and i thought we had done a pretty good job of not buying too much for the kids this year. i think we got them each 3 presents, plus new pjs and slippers, which will go in their stockings. then the other night i had some friends over for knitting night (which is more like "desperately needed girl night with a little knitting on the side" night), and several of them commented on how full our tree looks underneath. how does this happen? i guess i could say that we DO have a very skinny tree...but i won't even post a picture because it's somewhat embarrassing that we are committed to not buying very much at Christmas and making it about Jesus (which our kids know intellectually but it's very hard to fight against what they are hearing at school)--and then to see how overflowing the underside of our tree is...

back to knitting night, though: i undid my first attempt at knitting--i had posted it on here a while back, but the more i worked on it, the worse it looked. so i started over and look at it now!

Related to a previous posting, my orchid is in full bloom now (does anyone know if it's normal for orchids to bloom like this this time of year?).

In other Christmas-related news, we went to Rick's parents' house yesterday for a preholiday breakfast celebration because they had decorated their house and wanted us to see it. Here's the sour cream pound cake from the December issue of Cooking Light that I brought to share:

We had a great time, and here are some photos to prove it (I took these to put in a 2008 calendar for his parents that you can create on Shutterfly--I got one for my parents for Christmas and they absolutely loved it--and it's affordable too!).

In case you are wondering, things are looking hopeful for Rick's employment opportunities for 2008. I won't post anything until we are sure, but it seems like the upcoming year might be a whole lot better for the Bennett family. I'll keep you updated as things progress.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and have a blessed New Year!