2nd Annual Holiday Cookie Exchange

Our good friend Josie Wolfe hosted a holiday cookie exchange last year, and Tara Lindley and I were so excited to carry on the tradition this year! Thanks to everyone who braved the pouring rain and near freezing temperatures to celebrate the holidays and exchange some great recipes. Garett was too busy playing to partake during the party, but he chowed down once everyone left. His favorites - the sausage balls (of course, it's pork, and my baby doesn't pass up pork) and Ellen's butterscotch cookies. Yum! Personally, I never met a cookie I didn't like. And, man oh man, did we feast this year: Austrian raspberry shortbread hearts, lemon wreaths, cathedral windows, elves' snickerdoodles, magic bars, raspberry chocolate chip pastries, homemade Oreo cookies, and more!
Miss Lauren arrives, looking just as lovely as Mommy and sister Ashley, and looking ready to gobble some goodies too.

Speaking of lovely - like mother, like daughter. We were so glad baby Emmaline and Mary Lane Sloan could join us. Who is that precious little elf, sneaking a sausage ball from the table? Ah - it's Henry!

So sweet! Garett's Christmas storybook collection gets the once-over.

All Baby Sam wants for Christmas is a pony. What do you say mom and dad?

Congratulations to Natalie and Austin Roers - the proud recipients of a cookie cutter and cookie dough scoop for winning our "Twas the Night Before Christmas" fill-in-the-blank game! Our contestants hard at work, trying their best to remember what Saint Nicholas' belly shook like a bowlful of. Was it Jell-O or jelly? Little did they know that Natalie had it in the bag all along.