Kick-Off to Christmas!

We are spending Christmas in Tyler this year, so the night before we left, we had a little party at our house with Jer's parents. It was a wonderful night and the PERFECT way to start the festivities! Mom Mom and Pop Pop gave Colin his present from them...a TRAIN TABLE AND TRAIN SET! Colin has been wanting one for ages and it was the most wonderful gift. They surprised him with it when they arrived at our house and he was so excited that we were completely unable to get him to eat dinner! He was beside himself over it and ordered us to play with him throughout the evening. We have it set up for the time being behind the dining table, which is probably where it will stay for awhile. Our need for a bigger house just keeps growing! ;-) I decided on a whim to cook something special for dinner and I am so glad that I did! I served a sweet and spicy brie (recipe and ingredients courtesy of my wonderful friend Kim), seafood gratin and baked apples for dessert, all of which turned out far better than I could have predicted! Seafood has been my final frontier when it comes to cooking. I have been a bit fearful of cooking it myself, especially since the good stuff is expensive and I don't want to mess it up! I threw caution to the wind after stumbling upon a mouth watering recipe and ended up in Central Market stocking up on halibut, scallops, shrimp and even saffron! I think it turned out to be my favorite thing that I have ever cooked, which reminds me that I need to continue to test myself when I feel daunted. It was so great! The baked apples were the perfect ending to such a rich dinner and afterwards we stayed around the dinner table chatting and drinking coffee while Colin laughed and played. It was a cozy and really lovely evening and I could not think of a better way to kick off Christmas! Here are some of the pictures:

Colin and his awesome new train table!

Laughing with Pop Pop


Mom Mom was being so silly...look at Colin laughing!

One happy little man!

Daddy and Colin playing with the trains. It took FOREVER to get Colin in bed that night!