Every Christmas Eve, Jon & I celebrate the holiday with his family for a scrumptious meal at his parents’ house.  This year, Grandma Morningstar & Grandpa Gingerich joined us for a very tasty dinner of prime rib, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad and bread.  I always make dessert, since I’m better at preparing it than I am at healthier courses.

This year, I chose to make a Tiramisu Cake, posted by Deb of Smitten Kitchen. Of course, my finished product was not nearly as delectable looking as hers, but I tried!

 My frosting wasn’t nearly thick enough, but it worked out fine.  and the special sauce which makes tiramisu so tasty did not saturate the cake layers as well as it could.  However, the cake was definitely smooth and light, and after eating such a large meal, a non-heavy dessert was perfect!

My other food contribution was a Breakfast Bread Pudding for Christmas breakfast.  For several years now, Jon & I spend the night at his parents’ house so that we can wake up there and have a special morning brunch.  This year we planned a bigger get-together since my cousin Danette and her family were intending on joining us (however her son had a bad cold and like good parents, they didn’t want him to get sicker from being out and about).  So for breakfast we had the same family members around the table, but this time with less heavy food.

Our meal included my bread pudding in two options (with mushrooms or with ham), homemade waffles, fresh fruit and customized smoothies courtesy of Jon & his Vitamix.

As always, we ate very well for Christmas Eve and Christmas breakfast. For us, Christmas isn’t about gifts and receiving things from people, we take this time to reflect upon the year and see where God has brought us and where He is leading us.  It’s a chance to spend some quality time with family.  and it’s a time to stop and appreciate all that God has done for us as a family, as a business and as His servants.

We hope you all had a joyous holiday with your loved ones!

Wow, it’s been 4 months since I’ve posted anything! Surely we’ve been up to something.  Anything worth talking about here anyway. I guess I’ve been too busy to write and post pictures too.  A lot has transpired, like a new blog design.  I’m still working out the kinks, but I think I’m getting used to it. What do you think?

July – ooh, I went to Hawaii with my parents while Jon stayed home to work.  poor guy! I seem to have all the fun. I will post some pics from Hawaii one of these days… I must show off pics of my adorable, but large kawaii cousin Ezra (and some pics of other cutey cousins).  See Hawaii pics here.

August – I went canoeing with friends from church.  For those of you who know me, you know outdoorsy activities and I generally do not get along.  But I played well with others, and I didn’t fall in. though Jon did! I will get pics posted on this too… Oooh, business news, Blue Star was named Small Business of the Month for the Goshen Chamber.  That’s quite an accomplishment for us.

September – We went to Cedar Point with some friends.  I LOVE Cedar Point.  I do have pics from this event.  Click to see the gallery.  My new favorite ride is definitely the Maverick.  It was the last ride we got on at 10 pm and riding it in the dark made it so much more fun!  So sad Jon couldn’t enjoy it with me, as he doesn’t do twisty upside turns…  Family news: At the end of the month, Berkeley got 2 of his front teeth removed. It’s pretty sad when your old dog needs dental work.

As October has just ended, I will post about it separately.  For now, I will close this out.