Mandy and Jace

Early this morning I got a text saying I was an aunt. I know it’s very weird. I didn’t think I was old enough to be an aunt. No, Matt didn’t have a baby. My brother and sister-in-law welcomed a beautiful baby girl this morning at 6:36 am east coast time (so 5:36 for us here in Texas). Her name is Mary Elise Gregg. She is 7lb and 13 oz. Everyone is doing great and are very happy. I know the grandparents are very excited! I haven’t seen photos yet, but I hear she is beautiful. As soon as I get photos I will put them up so everyone can see.

Here are some of the photos of all of our Christmases this year. They start out here in Midland and the end photos are on Christmas in Georgia. I could only fit so many on this page so I’m going to put more up on our flickr page.

Matt playing with his new iphone.

Enjoying the evening with family.

Braz likes the box better than what’s in it.

Rani is the chef now.

Joe and Jace wrestling.

Margaret cooking our fattening but amazing Christmas meal.

We spent our Thanksgiving here in Midland and it was wonderful. We didn’t do anything and it was everything I hoped for. We made the turkey again this year and it was delicious. We brined it in apple juice and oranges overnight, rubbed it with spices the next morning before we put it in the oven to roast. It was so juicy and flavorful. I think this one is our best yet.

On Friday we again did nothing. I know, everyone expected me to go shopping but I just don’t think it is worth fighting the crowds. I also don’t like to dig through piles and piles of things just to find something that is on sale. Not my thing. I did do a little shopping online from the comfort of my recliner. Now, that’s my idea of shopping. We just sat around and we also put up our Christmas tree but that will be in a later post.

Our Thanksgiving was great and very relaxing. We just wished it was longer.
Here are the recipes for the brine and the rub:

Brine:
2 quarts apple juice
1 lb brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
3 oranges (quartered)
6 bay leaves
1 tsp ground clove
1 tsp black peppercorns

Rub:
2 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

It is officially fall around our house. I love to decorate for the seasons and I finally have a house I can decorate. When I was little I remember my mom decorating for the seasons and I loved it. Even then I couldn’t wait to have a house that I could decorate myself. I’ve just done a couple of little things so far and they have already put me in the mood for fall. I did a centerpiece with apples and pine cones and it turned out very cute.

I also put a wreath on our door and a little man hanging from our number that says “Happy Harvest!” I couldn’t resist it when I saw it at Hobby Lobby.

It all turned out very cute. I am thinking that I will put some halloween stuff out on halloween too. This is the first year I am going to be able to give out candy so I will probably go all out.

Need a dinner idea? I have one for you. It’s baked chicken and sweet potato fries. We made this Monday night and it took about 25 minutes. First you marinate your chicken breasts in Italian dressing for about thirty minutes. Then get them out of the marinade and coat them in Italian bread crumbs.

Next cut your sweet potato into strips to resemble fries. Put them on a greased baking sheet and be sure to salt and pepper them well.
Put both baking sheets in the oven for 20 minutes. The sweet potatoes may need a couple more minutes depending on your oven.
Next put them on a plate and enjoy!