Christmas in Connecticut-Pt Deux

From the moment we arrived at Ney Ney's (aka Renee, aka Joe's Momma) house it immediately felt like Christmas. They had probably the most grandiose (or portly) Christmas tree ever, she had dozens of baked Christmas goodies everywhere, and was in the process of concocting more delicious goodness. We loved the time spent there. Hazel & Jade love to be around their uncles who are patient and kind to them. They love Ney Ney and Grandpa Bill who made us feel very welcomed and loved. We were warm & cozy with amazing views of the snow topped hills outside...it was very, very wonderful.

Being on the East Coast where it is definitely colder than California made Christmas feel very real this year. It snowed, I saw it fall (not something I had ever really experienced 1st hand) and we did very quintessentially Christmas activities that made me feel warm, cozy, and very much in the Holiday mood. One very important event on our agenda was visiting Santa's Village. We waited outside in 18 degree weather but boy was it worth it to see the look of amazement and happiness on the girl's faces (I know, I know they look a bit frightened in the pics, it took them a few minutes to warm up). They hung out with Santa, Mrs. Clause, visited the elf's work-room, saw reindeer, drank hot chocolate and had a phenomenal time. Even I was a little giddy and had a very childlike happiness in my heart...it was wonderful!

I would also like to say "Happy New Years!" to all of our sweet friends & beloved FAMILY!!! I have been feeling a bit sick the last couple of days and still have at least 2 blogs in relation to Christmas to write...so keep checking back for more holiday blogs...yippie.

Much love to all!!!!!!!

MON

Christmas in Connecticut--Part 1

The girls and I spent a week in Connecticut visiting family. The first part of our trip consisted of Joe driving us to Connecticut in order to celebrate Christmas early with Grandma Terrie & Grandpa Bruce, staying for less than 24 hours, then driving back to Pa for work. The girls and I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with them. Our week was so wonderful, and action packed that I feel I should break up our stay. During our first couple of days in Connecticut we experienced our first snow storm ever, spent a short time sledding, and just spent some relaxing, quality time with loved ones....

This is just the first few days of our trip, and there is so much more in store....make sure to check back for the conclusion. I just would like to say that in light of the week I spent in New England with the snow storm and all, Philly I will never say you are cold again!! We were showered with love while in Connecticut which made for one of the best Christmases ever...we had an amazing time. I have so many photos (600+) that I have put off writing about it because I did not know where to even begin. I feel privileged that Joe's family has embraced me as their own and that our 1st East Coast Christmas was so beautiful. Next, we make our way to Ney Ney's house to spend Christmas with her, Grandpa Bill, Uncle Ross, and Uncle Peter...stay tuned!

Love,

MON

Idaho in the House....

We share a love for reality TV, we often txt quotes from the Real Housewives of Atlanta & OC, and other shows that shall remain nameless in order to protect the innocent! She is beautiful, funny, sweet (she once made me stuffing after Thanksgiving after I was whining that I didn't get to eat any), she loves to travel (she has been EVERYWHERE..and I live vicariously through her), we share the "949" area code even though we both live in other states, we lament about not having In-n-out in our lives, she is fabulous and I can just go on and on...I just really love my friendship with Meredith. She is a super cool chick and Joe, Hazel, Jade, and I are lucky to call her our friend.

Last week, Meredith and her awesome boyfriend Bryan were visiting the East Coast from Idaho, and made a pit stop in Philly en route to NYC and we were thrilled to spend an evening with them. We ate at Jones restaurant in Philly, the guys feasted on Chicken and Waffles, we chatted, cracked up, Hazel fell in love with Mere's purse, sunglasses, and jewelry, we ate gelato, and just had the greatest time ever.

Mere & Bryan we had such a great time!! Thank you so much for hanging out with us!

Love you guys!

"It's Christmas TIME!!"

That is Hazel Rei's quote these days. She is absolutely loving Christmas. She loves Christmas songs, driving through our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights, and most of all she loves candy canes. It is quite an experience this Christmas. In the past, Hazel has been too young to really grasp the meaning of Christmas, or even notice the festivities...oh but this year she's totally on board. On board with the tree (taking off the ornaments and eating the candy canes), she's on board with Santa (never really introduced him, but she certainly knows he's suppose to bring her presents, and she even wants to make cookies for him), and on board with presents. She thinks my precious moments nativity set is a toy, and really desires to play with the baby Jesus...to which I say, "no Hazel, the baby Jesus is not a toy!" She loves to sit and look at the nativity set and say, "That's baby Jesus, his mommy, and his daddy". Jade, she is still young and I guess honestly she's not sure what's going on with the season, I do know one thing though, she loves to furiously shake the Christmas tree in order to hear the ornaments jingle...yup loves that.

One thing is true for sure...we can't wait till Christmas!!! Here are some pics of our "Montgomery Christmas time" kick off party, it was like 2 1/2 weeks ago when we got our tree and yes only 4 people were in attendance because we are very lacking in the friend department...but we had a blast as we always do. We picked out our favorite tree, decorated it, listened to Christmas music, and drank homemade hot chocolate...it was a delicious evening.

I must also note that the East Coast is a wonderful place to spend the holidays, yes it is cold (I'm surprised my fingers are not little nubs from being frozen off), and yes it's a major pain to bundle everyone up before leaving the house (the girls make this time REALLY fun...thanks girls), but it feels more like Christmas here for some reason...I still desperately miss wearing my rainbows don't get me wrong (and In-n-out--the perfect Holiday food--oh well anytime food---tear, tear)!

Merry Christmas, love Mon

Turkey Nachos

What to do with Thanksgiving leftovers? Well here at the Montgomery home, we have made tons of turkey hoagies...I being a purest with the toasted roll, white-meat, lettuce, and tomato...and Joe going for the roll, mashed potato, stuffing, dark-meat, and cranberry sauce. Having been the first year we actually made our own turkey, we had TONS of turkey leftovers. So we decided to make a huge, heaping helping of turkey nachos...and might I say they were fabulous.

Joe is near and dear to my heart for many reasons...one being that he is the least pretentious person when it comes to food. The guy is around all kinds of wonderfully fine foods all day...and yet can come home and grub on turkey nachos with his fam...I love him. OH, and Jade was a huge fan of the nachos as well. She dropped her pan from her play kitchen when she saw me walk by with the nachos, and crawled just as fast as her little arms and legs could go...never leaving the table...eating nachos all night...she is petite but sure can eat!! Jade's newest thing is, "mmm mmm" while eating...it is so cute! Little miss Hazey was a Nacho fan as well yet she goes for the suck-everything-off-of-the-chip-technique then re-dip in only sour cream, which we strongly discourage.

Classic Jade Face...

A hot tip...

"One man's junk is another man's treasure." Or so we've been told I guess. Joe got a hot tip that there was a flea market going on in Philly. Where you might ask does one catch such a hot tip? Well from a fellow junk collector at a "free" give away house that he heard about on craigslist of course. We showed up and it was interesting to say the least. It wasn't just any flea market with antiques and collectibles. Some old rockabilly type gentlemen where heading it up and they had all sorts of interesting items. We rummaged through all of the boxes, Hazel found a pig flashlight for $1 and really wanted a car...a little pedal car that is. I snapped a couple of shots of her out an about and I really think they are cute and wanted to share. Take care & God Bless!

Thanksgiving Deliciousness...

Thanksgiving Menu...

• Turkey-Joe brined it for a couple of days....I cooked it most of the way. It was soooooo delicious!


• Oyster Stuffing


• Sausage-apple Stuffing


• Mashed potatoes/mushroom gravy


• Creamed Corn


• Spinach salad with roasted pecans, dates, apples & blue cheese


• Cranberry sauce with tangerine, roasted pecans and ginger


• Parker-House rolls


• Sweet Potato Pie


• Pecan Pie

There are no words to fully articulate how delicious our meal was....and of course there were Turkey Hoagies the next day....yummmm!!! This was a collective effort between all adult Montgomerys, suffice to say we were all extremely exhausted post meal....wonderfully stuffed and content to be in the company of great family.

We are thankful for all of our friends and family. We are thankful for God's mercies, his salvation, direction, and love in our lives. As recent times have seem their share of trials, we have had to truly rely on the Lord for certain things an are amazed at how he has taken care of us.

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty

Let us not forget to mention that this was Jade's very first Thanksgiving and boy oh boy did she relish it. She loved the food so much. I served her a little plate and usually monitor her eating, however after being exhausted and malnourished I proceeded to eat my food and later noticed that Jade had done an excellent job of feeding herself. She is just such a sweet blessing, we are indeed thankful for her as an addition to our family....she certainly completes us!!!