Happy Holi-daze!

The holidays were amazing, but all too quick.  Unfortunately just before Christmas, I had a big project (that I'm still drowning in) come up and it zapped a lot of my time and energy right at holiday time.  It was stressful, but in the end it all worked out and we still had a great couple of weeks.  

Finnish Christmas Dinner

For Christmas, I wanted to make sure that I did something special for Freddy.  So, I sought out advice from his Finnish parents (Erik & Anki) about what Christmas is like in Finland.  It was very easy for me to get in touch with them because they are so very helpful and communicative.  They were quite pleased to help me with traditions, recipes and all other things Finnish.  Mike and I planned to have a three day Christmas celebration.  

We began on Christmas Eve, with our first trip snowboarding/skiing for the winter season.  We all had a great time.  Freddy showed me a few tips (this is only my second year snowboarding) and I did very well for the first trip of the season.  I even did one of the steepest hills with Freddy by my side.  Freddy really is an exceptionally great snowboarding partner.  He always stayed behind me or slowed down to make sure I was all right.  And, of course, when I hit the ground he'd make sure I was all right.  We all had so much fun and it was a great start to the holiday.  That night when we got home I began putting together all of the "top secret" Finnish food I had been working on.  We had told Freddy that we were going to have Finnish Christmas on the 24th, but I left many things out.  I warmed up the glögg, ham and put the rutabaga casserole into bake.  I also made up a bit of a smorgasbord for us with multiple other things (salmon, especially for Freddy).  It went great.  We also got online to skype with Finland after all of their festivities were over.  It was very nice to chat with Erik, Anki, Mimmi and Oskar.  After chatting and dinner we opened presents from Finland.  We got some amazing gifts and we're so thankful for a little piece of Finland!  The best gifts I received were cookbooks!  Freddy brought me a book from Greece and the rest of the Boijers sent me a beautiful Finnish cookbook.  I am so excited to make something out of both.  Although, technically, I've already made rutabaga casserole that is in the Finnish book.

We continued with American Christmas the next morning.  Freddy had his first American stocking and we had nice relaxing day at home.  I got an AWESOME present from my husband.

A mazel t-shirt!  So fantastic along with my immersion blender.  Freddy became a normal American teenager with a new iPod.  iTunes was tough for him to learn, but he's clearly got the hang of it now.  

That evening after a couple of skyping sessions Mom, Dad and Dana came over for dinner.  We had leftover Finnish Christmas dinner with some American added in.  Eggnog, etc.  We played a couple of good natured games of Scene It and then we were off to bed for day 3 of the festivities.

Day 3 was Christmas with the family at my Mom & Dad's house.  It's always a long fun day of food presents and games.  We did stockings as always and then a little breakfast before the big presents and opening of gifts to/from each other.  My Mom apparently needed kitchen supplies this year because she got 2 waffle makers and 2 food processors!!  We finished the day with Freddy's first time playing Pit.  Sooooo much fun!  I'm pretty sure he thought we were lunatics when we all began shouting at the top of our lungs, but it took him only one game to be shouting louder than all of us.  That game is definitely a favorite!  Misc pictures below.

December Gone & January Going... Going...

December and January have flown by.  Wedding, hockey, holidays, work and training have gulped up the days and I just finally got my act back together this week.  Hopefully I can keep it together for the next two months and then the pace shall slow down a bit.  (Only a bit, mind you.  Too slow and I'd be restless.)  Hockey is quite a commitment for all of us and it has been taking over the majority of our time besides work.  Yes, work, don't forget that!  It is my busy season and my desk is drowning in paperwork.  This week began with an attack of misfortunes and phone call after phone call of unpleasant things in the office.  I've pulled some very long days and today I am reaping a bit of reward from them.  I'm sure my relief will not last long, as I can now still only see 33% of my desk.  But, I must savor it while it lasts.

Well, December started off in spectacular style with, my brother, Ben's wedding.  It was a big homestead affair and went wonderfully.  The ceremony was cold but incredibly romantic and the reception of around 400 people was a great party!  Freddy had his first taste of a big American farm wedding and even found a couple of girls to dance with.  Although, I will say that he could use a few dance lessons.  He needs some more groove.  Unfortunately though, our camera quit working after one unfocused photo at the wedding.  Not sure what's wrong with it because I haven't had time to find out!  So, we've been getting by with Freddy's camera... When he remembers it!  Hopefully I'll be able to look at the warranty information tomorrow and get it sent in to be fixed up.  We'll never have enough pictures if we're relying on Freddy's picture taking skills.

December then disappeared into a whoosh of hockey games and holiday celebrations.  The hockey games went well and Freddy shared time with Alex, the other Senior goalie.  As some of the teams they've played weren't too challenging, Freddy kept saying that we hadn't really seen him play yet.  We finally got that pleasure when we watched DSJ play East Grand Rapids.  Whenever the puck heads down towards Freddy I get all tense and say things like, "Watch out Freddy!"  or "Heads up Freddy!", which of course Freddy can't hear but it makes me feel better saying.  Freddy blocked so many goals this game I was practically talking to myself the entire game.  Luckily for us and them, Mike's parents happened to be visiting that weekend and we all got to root Freddy on through a terrific game for him.  They ended up losing in overtime, but they would have never made it to overtime without Freddy.  Good fun and certainly the upside to driving all over Michigan for hockey games!

To be continued...   

Christmas is Coming Full Throttle

Ha! That kinda sounds like a hokey Christmas action film doesn't it? Well that's kinda how life has been the last week or so. Mom's Annual Christmas Open House was last Sunday and it was a dousy! We were nose to the gristmill for 2 weeks to pound out the finishing details for the party. Mom's new-old house was glistening in it's Christmas glory and the community showed up to check it out and eat to their hearts content. I will say that the "Italian" inspired theme this year turned out some pretty amazing food. I was a pizza baking machine during the party. It was tough to navigate around all the people and shoes, but I think it all turned out grand.

Mom & Dad Keenan came north late Saturday afternoon and we had a little Christmas Sunday morning with them before the party. It was nice to just relax for a moment, have breakfast and open presents. I made fritatta and Mike whipped up some of his soon to be famous sweet potato home fries for breakfast. Mmmmm, they are yummy! Mike got some of the hunting things he had wanted and I got some perfume and several other wonderful presents. Momma K was an awesome party prepper as well during their quick visit. She came over to Mom's both Saturday and Sunday to help. She also did some very important sewing on a Christmas/Birthday present she was transporting to New Hampshire for us. Let me just say, they turned out great and I hope Christy loves them!

We also had a Cooking Divas christmas party last Friday. It was a very nice dinner out (with the hubbies) at the English Inn in Eaton Rapids. Besides the snotty waiter we had, it was a super fun evening. Had some delicious food, yummy wine and we really enjoyed our company. It was neat seeing the cozy Inn in the winter.

Looking forward to a couple of days off and a lovely holiday : )

Pictures!!!

Talahassee 2009

Ice Skating!

MSU Bowl Game - Florida 2009

Holiday Season 2008