They Say It's Your Birthday...

Well, hey, it's MY birthday too! What do you know?! And what a nice, pleasant birthday it was. I got one lovely surprise after another from this sweet little family of mine. Alani made me these healthy, wheat-y, oat-y, blueberry filled pancakes that I LOVE, God bless her!

But I couldn't eat them all so I shared them. So yummy! (Yes, that is peanut butter and yes, I eat it with my pancakes. It's a quirky thing my dad's always done and it rubbed off. Don't knock it till you try it.)

My sweeties also did a little decorating.

Luke got me some of my favorite lip glosses!

Alani got this great set of bracelets!

She also got me a cute grey cardigan sweater that I didn't get a photo of. I think it's called a fly-away cardigan. It's the kind that stays open, no closures. It's kind of like this.

Then my sweet husband got me some workout gear, which I'm super happy about because I use mine so much, they get kind of raggedy after awhile.

Super comfortable and they fit great!

I also got a CAKE!! (Yes, that's right, I'm talking about workout wear and cake straight after. I'm kinda crazy like that.) The reason this whole cake thing is so exciting is because I haven't had cake since the summer. That's a long time! Oh just look at the lusciousness.

And it has coconut on it! *squeeck

Of course it had to have the proper number of candles.

So if you want to know how old I am, you're going to have to count. Mwahahaha!

As I get older, I think we're going to have to get a bigger cake...to hold all those candles...not because I want more cake. Nope, not that.

Even though there was so many, I got them all out in one breath.

And just when I thought I may not get a balloon this year...

Alani's friend, Nick surprised me with one! And also a Starbucks card. (Thanks Nick!)

Which is really funny because it says "Thank you". They gave it to him through the drive-thru and he didn't look at it until he pulled away. But I think it's better than a birthday one!

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, and everyone I got to see and hear from! I feel so blessed and am thankful for each of you!! My oldest is sick so didn't get to come, but I will see you soon, Q!

If you had a birthday yesterday too, or today, or this month, I hope your day has been beautiful and full of love! Until next time, Taniya

Oh What Fun It Is To...Take Family Christmas Photos!

For the first time ever, in the history of our little family, we were unable to take our Christmas photo with every family member. Our oldest is in another county going to college and this year we just couldn't manage to get everyone in the same place long enough. So instead we took everyone's photo separately and just put them all on the same card. What a genius idea! Apparently people do this all the time. Ha ha!
Of course, we had to take many, many photos so everyone would be happy. Some were cute.

Some were funny.

Some were downright goofy!

And my husband and I couldn't be left out of the fun.

Our oldest? The one away at college? Well, hers turned out just fine! So it went directly on the card.

She may not have been able to come home for the Christmas card, but she IS coming home for Christmas! And Christmas Eve! I am so thankful that all my sweet babies will be under the same roof on these very special days. And I hope yours are as well! Hugs, Taniya

Baking For Christmas!

Hi Everyone! This week, and actually most of this month, has been spent baking. Which I love! I look so forward to this time of year because I love baking, love shopping for that special gift for those I love, and decorating the house and Christmas tree with my family is an amazing time as well! But today I'm going to write about all this yummy-ness going on around here. First I made
PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
These are just such a simple recipe and everyone loves them so I like to include them on the plates I give away.

Next I made a batch of fruit bars. This time I made APRICOT FRUIT BARS. Usually I have to make many more batches of these lovely things because everyone eats them before I can plate enough of them to give them away! Ha ha!

And who doesn't love SNICKERDOODLES?

We also made two pans of fudge, one regular and one PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE FUDGE.

But the regular got eaten so fast I only got a photo of the peppermint! Lastly, we made PEPPERMINT BARK.

I still have more baking to do and will continue until Christmas Day with the grand finale being Christmas dinner with ham and all the lovely side dishes that go so well together. If anyone is interested, I'll be posting recipes of these fun Christmas cookies and desserts soon! Until then may your days be merry and bright...and full of good food! And may your stove look like this.

Kisses, Taniya

An East Coast Style Throwback!

A few years ago we went to New York and it was such a great place to visit, we ended up staying longer! So this is one of our throwback pictures of the week.

After New York we drove through the Holland Tunnel over to New Jersey and found the street named after my Grandpa's family.

Pretty cool, huh? Look how small the kidlets are. Time is flying by! Here's to family trips and family names! Happy Thursday to all! Taniya

A Visit From Grandma!

My Gramsy is 96 years old and she just decided she had gone long enough without seeing some of her great grand babies! She lives in Oregon and we live in Southern California and it's been two years since we saw her. So she jumped on a plane (or pushed her walker on one!) and came down. What a fun surprise! We had a bit of a family gathering at my Mom's place (which is where Grams is staying, God bless her!) and took loads of photos.

My son, Luke, with his Great Grandma!

My sister and I with Grams. (My sister's the blonde!)

With my sissy's daughter, Ciara, on the left and my daughter, Alani, on the right. My older daughter and my sister's younger son couldn't make it but she'll be staying for awhile so they have time to see her. Here's to a nice visit with your Grams and big Grama hugs! Taniya