Happy Birthday Logan!

Logan turned the big 8 today!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

I'll blog about his birthday shenanigans tomorrow after I collect some pictures and after his birthday party.

Speaking of Logan, the other night Kristy and I were putting him to bed and I mentioned that we should have Family Home Evening on Wednesday since we missed it on Monday. Logan agreed and was excited that we would still have it and as he was lying down on his bed, he suggested that we should invite some people over for it. Normally this means he wants to invite Grandma Platis over which Kristy and I have no problem with.

But he surprised us both when he said he would like to invite the the girls that babysat him a few weeks ago. Kristy and I looked at each other in surprise and thought that may not be a bad idea. Unfortunately the girls couldn't make it last week so we invited them last Sunday to come over. And they came over last night. I thought it was quite cute that Logan would want the girls to come over.

We had a short lesson/story about Christmas and then we headed into the kitchen to make some cookies for the families of the girls and for those families that I home teach.

So we split into teams and started making some cookies. The girls started on the Snowball cookies.

Logan made his usual cake mix cookies while I was chopping up some pecans.

Mom was in charge of making the very yummy icing.

I love the way Snowball cookies smell when they are in the oven.

It was nice of the girls to come over. I'm sure Kristy liked it since she is always outnumbered in this house.

It was a nice evening and I am glad that the girls were excited to come over when Kristy and Logan invited them. I have said this many times before, but I am very thankful for the neighborhood and ward we live in. It is awesome to have such great examples and role models for Logan.

Christmas Memories: Christmas Eve Goodies

Day 46

The last few days I have blogged about some of my favorite Christmas traditions and now I will share another one that I have not done for many years.

When I lived in Edmonton, every Christmas Eve my family and I got together and we went around delivering plates of treats to some of the people we know. We would just knock on the door and run, leaving the plate of goodies on the steps. These were not your ordinary treats either. This was a huge plate loaded with my dad's famous Baklava (Baklava is a Greek pastry. Loaded with butter, honey and chopped nuts and topped with a clove), my mom's famous Snowball cookies and Grandma Anhder's famous Fruitcake.


I remember one Christmas Eve in particular when we also picked up a Christmas tree and delivered it anonymously to a set of newlyweds that were very poor. It felt good delivering these treats. And the smell of Baklava cooking fills the house and just reminds me of those simpler times.

I asked my mom for those recipes so I can post them here. During this week I am going to attempt to make some of them. The Snowball cookies are the easiest to make so I am going to start there. These recipes originated from my Aunt Helen. Yet again, I am stealing an idea from a fellow blogger. Thanks Jennifer!


SNOWBALL COOKIES

1 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
2 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Finely Chopped Pecans
Confectioners Sugar

Bream butter, sugar and vanilla till fluffy. Add flour and salt to creamed mixture blending thoroughly.
Add pecans and mix well. Shape into one-inch balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes. Do not brown, they should be light. Cool and then roll in powdered sugar. Yields about 6 dozen.

I'll have to let you know how they turned out.