French Christmas

For the first time I can remember, I spent Christmas without my family. But being with great friends in a chateau in France ain't a bad alternative! The six of us had a delicious pot-luck style dinner on Christmas eve:

(Taylan get's credit for the roaring fire in the stove in the background of that photo. It was actually so hot we had to open the windows a bit.)

I made a green bean and carrot casserole, which I had never made, but it turned out pretty good! We had pasta, lox and cheese, and lots of other delicious things :)

Self-timer group shot!

I was pretty bummed that we didn't have a Christmas tree so I bought a couple strings of lights and got creative with a laundry-drying rack and a fire log! Nicole made a great star for the top out of clothespins and a game piece she found.


It turned out wonderfully and sitting by it in the dark was the perfect way to end a lovely Christmas Eve.

The next morning we slept innnnnnn (due to luggage and wallet limitations, we didn't have any gifts to open so we didn't have to wake up early and race to the tree). And even though we were still full from our huge dinner the night before, we had a mission. And that mision was French Toast!

Nicole and Ryan took the reigns on cooking the French Toast and scrambled eggs:

We used a LOT of eggs...

While they cooked, the kids (Taylan and Sophie) played in the living room:

Yes, there IS a swing hanging in the living room. We're not quite sure why, but we certainly enjoyed it!

When breakfast was ready and mimosas were poured, we were pretty proud of yet another beautiful meal...

...which we dominated:

And in case you were wondering, Santa did pay us a visit on Christmas Morning. He was on our syrup bottle!

Little known fact: Santa wears plaid.

Merry Christmas!