Who's that girl?

27 years ago today. Happy Birthday Katrina!

Lemon Bars for dessert - Yum!

Audra treated us to homemade Lemon Bars last night. She followed mom's recipe and made them all on her own.








LEMON BARS

Preheat oven at 350*

*crust* Grease 13x9 pan. Mix together 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of butter (softened) and 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar. Press into bottom of the pan and bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

*Filling* 4 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, 4 tablespoons of flour, ¼ teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 6 tablespoons of lemon juice. Mix all together until well blended, and then pour over hot crust. Bake for 28-33 minutes.

Cut while still warm. Cool then dust tops with powdered sugar.

Audra and friend

Audra and her friend Gracyn look gorgeous in these photos taken at the Santa Rosa Plateau by my talented friend (and Gracyn's mom) Diane.

Christmas PJ's

It's tradition for the kids to open one gift onChristmas Eve, it is always the same thing, Christmas pajamas.
Although they know what it will be, they always look forward to opening their gift and wearing them for Christmas morning. I think this tradition started when they were young and we wanted them to look nice for the Christmas morning photos.

Christmas Eve - The Lohmans

Every Christmas Eve, our friends Mark and Peggy Lohman have an open house at their home. We came to know them 7 years ago as the parents of our son-in-law Jeff. We try and stop by after church on Christmas Eve for their delicious homemade tamales, baked goodies and holiday cheer. Each year the gathering has grown as more of their kids have gotten married or had their first babies. This year their youngest daughter Aimee brought her new puppy. We had a great time.

Tamales!

Peggy & Me

Papa G

Jeff, Ewan and Katrina

The girls - theargentinegene.blogspot.com

The crowd

Ewan, Jef and great-grandma Marilyn "GG"

Marilyn and Mark

Jared, Liana and Aimee

Aimee's new puppy "Brody"

Corey and Becca

Katrina and Becca

Christmas Eve - Audra's Birthday

Audra Rose was 11 on Christmas Eve. When she was 12 hours old, the hospital sent us home with her in a big Christmas stocking. She was so cute with a red and green knit cap on and just her little cheeks peeking out. We still have the stocking, and every year we put her in it to take a photo. This year she stood in it for the picture as I told her that we will probably have her stand in it until she is 21 and can only fit 1 foot in. She loves her special stocking and is always happy to pose in it. Here she is 2007, 2008 and 2009.

So this leads to the question, "How do you celebrate a child's birthday on Christmas Eve?" We have always been careful to make it special for her so she doesn't feel forgotten. Typically, most of her friends are busy with the holidays, but our family is big enough for a party. We always have a birthday cake sometime on the 24th, and the last few years we have tried to do something special that was 'non-Christmasy'. Last year we all went to Build-a-Bear Workshop so she could make a stuffed animal, then we went to Limited Too to choose some new birthday outfits, then out to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. All 11 of us, at the mall, on Christmas Eve. It was great fun.

This year we went to see Disney on Ice at Staples Center, all 11 of us,  then a few days later we took her ice skating. Also great fun.

We love our Christmas Eve Baby, our youngest,
Audra Rose. Happy Birthday!

Holiday Lights

Every year we spend some time driving around looking at the holiday lighting displays our neighbors put up. This year Audra and I walked around our neighborhood and took some photos. Enjoy.