Easy No-Bake Cheesecake

My daughters attended middle school at all girls school which offered amazing elective classes including gardening, programming and cooking. Since most of us love to cook in our family, it was natural that Madeleine would choose cooking for one of her electives. She has saved this recipe from her class many years ago and has made it multiple times. 

Madeleine and Sophie both came home from their summer jobs last night with a friend and immediately started making this cheesecake- its a winner and so easy!!

Easy No-Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 package graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Pie Filling:
8 ounce block cream cheese
1/2 cup (heaping) sour cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Graham Cracker Crust instructions:

• In a bowl, crush the graham crackers into small crumbs using the heels of your hands or place in bag and crush with rolling pin.
• When the crackers are well crushed, stir in sugar and cinnamon. 
• Add butter to create moist, sticky mixture. 
• Spray a pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. Press the crust mixture in to the pan, making sure all surfaces are covered and even. 
• Place the empty crust in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up. 

Pie Filling instructions:

• Place cream cheese in a bowl and beat until it is soft and fluffy. 
• Add the sour cream and stir until the two are well combined.
• Add the powdered sugar slowly, stirring after each addition until it is well incorporated.
• Add lemon juice and vanilla extract, stirring until the mixture is smooth.
• Place the filling in the chilled crust and place in the refrigerator until solid.

Oven Baked S'mores Bars

My family just celebrated the special 80th birthday of my sweet mom at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. My parents stayed in a beautiful room facing the gorgeous ocean on the edge of the green golf course which had a deck with a wonderful fire pit. After our dinner, we anticipated returning to their room to make s'mores in the fire pit, but after slices of delicious red velvet birthday cake, we were too full of sweets for any s'more (pun intended!)

Since I had all the fixings for s'mores and remember the many times the ingredients have become stale in the cupboard after bringing them home from summers in Lake Tahoe, I was eager to find a way to use them immediately.  I found this recipe with the exact ingredients I had on hand, so made them tonight to my family's delight. They are ooey gooey just out of the oven (ie. scoop into a bowl and eat with a spoon), but cut more cleanly after cooling completely. Enjoy!

Oven-Baked S'Mores Bars

Crust
18 graham crackers
1/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
Topping
7 regular sized Hershey Bars (one more than was in the bag-thankfully I had an extra on hand)
24 Jumbo Marshmallows

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 9x13" baking pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides.

Make the crust- crush graham crackers until fine in zip lock bag (or food processor if you have one). Put in medium bowl and combine with sugar and salt. Stir in melted butter until crumbs are moistened. Press crumb mixture into prepared pan and press with hands or bottom of measuring cup into even layer.

Bake crust for 8-10 minutes, unto edges are golden. Let crust cool 5-10 minutes.

Arrange chocolate bars evenly on slightly cooled crust, leaving about 1/4" of crust uncovered around edges. Arrange marshmallows on the top of chocolate, leaving some space between each one as they expand slightly.

Bake until chocolate is soft and marshmallows are evenly toasted on top, 10-12 minutes.

Scoop and serve immediately in bowls with a spoon or wait until they cool and slice them into pieces. You can pop them into the microwave for a few seconds after they have cooled if you want them soft again~

~ Happiest 80th Birthday to my dear Mom ~

Toffee Bars

This recipe is another awesome treasure from the UC Davis Coffeehouse cook book (just like these Apricot Bars which were similar to Bozo bars from the UCD Coffeehouse). They are so easy to make and are a perfect quick sweet treat to bring to class events, office celebrations or family gatherings. They would also make a wonderful surprise for your kids when they come home from school or camp, served with a cold glass of milk!

Toffee Bars
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (if desired)

Preheat oven to 350º Spray a 9x13" pan with baking spray. Combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla and beat well. Stir in flour, chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Spread mixture into the pan and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown (don't over bake!) Let cool, then cut into squares. Enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day with red, white and blue Shortcake!

Happy Memorial Day to you all! And much appreciation to all the men and women who have served our country and enabled us to live in peace and freedom today.

We joined friends for a lovely dinner last night in celebration of our national holiday and brought this tasty dessert to top off a delicious meal. Shortcake with red strawberries, blueberries and white whipped cream was perfect to honor our red, white and blue!  Last time I made shortcake, I used a recipe with milk (see here), but this time I used heavy cream. Yum~

This is a great dessert to bring along to your memorial day celebration!

Strawberry Shortcake 
Recipe found here

And talk about a beautifully decked out table, look at how our friend set hers~ perfect for a Memorial Day Celebration!

Apricot Jam Bars / Bozo Bars

Recently my dear high school girlfriend, Abbie, and I were talking everything going on in our lives, even what we had served for dinner that night (you know, the best inspiration comes from friends!) and she mentioned she had made Bozo Bars with raspberry jam for dessert, much to her kids' delight. She found the Bozo Bar recipe in her much beloved UC Davis Coffee House Cookbook.

They sounded very similar to Apricot Jam Bars that were one of my husband's favorite treats his mom made when he was growing up. The recipe for these jam bars was included in a very special cookbook my sweet brother-in-law, Chris, created for my husband and me when we got married 24 years ago. Chris designed the cookbook cover, typed up each of the recipes inside and bound them together with binder rings. I have used this treasure of a cookbook often ever since he gave it to us because it includes many recipes that their mom, Marie, made for them growing up and I love that I get to carry on their family traditions with our kids.

Apricot Jam Bars

1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ sticks of butter (a little more than ¾ cup of butter-grate the butter- makes it much easier to incorporate!) 
1 cup apricot jam (10-12 ounces) (or raspberry or strawberry- use your favorite! I often use the whole 13oz jar  of Bonne Maman)

Mix dry ingredients together and then cut in cold butter until crumbly. Press 2/3 of mixture in a buttered 9"x 13"pan*. Spread the jam on top and then sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture and pat lightly. Bake for 30-35 minutes until light brown. Cool completely and then cut into squares. 
* I often make these in a 10½" x 15½"  jelly roll baking sheet, as pictured above, which makes the bars a bit thinner and bake for 25-30 minutes

Ricotta Cake

We just spent a glorious week in Lake Tahoe with family and friends enjoying fun time on the water and lots of delicious meals on the deck. We had fresh ricotta in the fridge and since I didn't have the energy to make lasagna and have always wanted to try making ricotta cake, I did!  It turned out yummy- the cake is moist and has a light lemon flavor. No one could really identify what else was inside (the ricotta being the secret ingredient). We didn't have powdered sugar, so our cake was served plain with strawberries, but a dusting of sugar would be lovely on top to not only make it pretty, but to also to make it a touch sweeter.                                    

Ricotta Cake
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups fresh ricotta
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
zest of one lemon
pinch of salt

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Lightly beat in ricott, flour, baking powder, lemon zest and salt. Pour into 9 inch cake pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until brown on top and pulling away from sides a bit. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with fresh strawberries.

Texas Sheet Cake

Chocolate Cake 

Perfect for a Crowd!

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

   

1 cup butter, cubed

1 cup water

1/4 unsweetened baking cocoa

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sour cream

ICING

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoons baking cocoa

3 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, bring butter, water and cocoa to a boil. Remove from heat. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; add to cocoa mixture. Stir in sour cream until smooth.

Pour into greased 15"x10"x1" baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

In the same saucepan (cleaned), melt butter , then add milk and cocoa. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in confectioner's sugar and vanilla until smooth. Pour over warm cake.

Strawberry Shortcake Treat Bars

These sweet little bites of vanilla, marshmallow and strawberry are a refreshing twist on rice krispy treats- they are a cinch to make, take just a few minutes to create and are an awesome after school snack for your kids or just for you.  I have made several batches for after-game snacks for my daughters' softball and water polo teams and they have been happily gobbled up by many hungry young athletes. 

This is a quick and easy recipe to have on hand when you want to bring a homemade goody but don't have much time!

Strawberry Shortcake Treat Bars

4 tablespoons butter
10 ounce bag mini-marshmallows
13.5 ounce box Vanilla Chex
1.2 ounce bag freeze dried strawberries

Melt butter over medium low heat in a large saucepan. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Turn off heat and add box of Vanilla Chex and freeze dried strawberries. Pour into 9x13" pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Spray a little non-stick spray on your clean hands and press mixture into pan. Let cool and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Such an easy line up of ingredients

Recipe from Iowa Girl Eats

Raspberries with White Chocolate

The high school my kids' attend has an awesome college advising center and the counselors from the center recently held a volunteer tea to thank all  who have helped there for the past year. We were asked to bring a treat to share and while strawberries are a quick, easy and tasty treat, these little "bites" bring the yummy factor up a notch.  All you do is stuff white chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli) into the raspberries and a tasty bite is ready to pop in your mouth! And they look pretty, too...

          Raspberries with White Chocolate

Mini Meringue Chocolate Chip Cookies

A friend of mine was having a bad week a while ago and I wanted to make her a little something to try to "sweeten" her day. I am not usually very successful with meringues and whipped cream, but these worked out great. They melt in your mouth and my kids loved them. I think they made my friend happy, too!

Tasty little bites

Mini Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

4 large egg whites (at room temp-important so that they whip up fluffier)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 250° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat together egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until blended. Add vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form and egg whites are glossy (this took my hand mixer in a glass bowl about 8 minutes). Fold in chocolate chips. I sprinkled a few chocolate chips on top, too, so you can see them from the outside.
Drop batter by tablespoons onto prepared pans, about 11/2 inches apart. Bake 35 minutes. Turn off oven and let cookies rest in oven for 30 minutes. Remove cookies and cool completely.

Recipe from Robin's Healthy Take

Pop some in a fun jar and brighten the day of a friend~

The Best Sugar Cookies

Ok, so I know I'm making a huge assumption by saying these are the Best Sugar Cookies, but to me they are and here's why: I love dense, firm, almost shortbread-like sugar cookies that keep their shape when they cook. I like the edges to stay sharp and similar to the cookie cutter shape, and not spread out and get thin around the outside. This recipe does just that. So if you love softer sugar cookies, these aren't for you, but if you like ones with a bit of a bite that look very pretty and taste delicious, try these!

The Best Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mix thoroughly then add the vanlla. Stir the baking powder and salt into the flour then add dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix on low to combine. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill 2 hours. 

Roll out on a floured surface to 3/8-inch thick and cut out desired shapes. Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes until just starting to brown around the edges. Let cool on the sheet pan. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Gale Gand

Royal Icing

(Makes about 3 cups)

3 tablespoons meringue powder (you can find it at craft stores or specialty grocery stores)

or you can use 2 egg whites

4 cups confectioner's sugar (about 1 lb)

6 tablespoons warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer). For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water and for thinned icing, add 1/2 teaspoon more water at a time until you reach consistency you want.  Put the icing in separate bowls and add food coloring to make multiple colors.
Recipe from Wilton

Chocolate Ganache Cake

Chocolate Ganache Cake 

from a 

Provençal Birthday Lunch

Chocolate Ganache Cake

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 (16 ounce) can Hershey's chocolate syrup* (don't use the kind in the plastic bottle!)

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup flour

For Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli)

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (if you have 'em- although Ina says coffee brings out the flavor of chocolate, why go out and buy a jar that you use for only one recipe)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 inch round cake pan, then the bottom with parchment paper. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix in the syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until JUST combined (overbeating with make the cake too tough). Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Let cool thoroughly in the pan.

Flip the cake upside down on a wire rack and pour the glaze evenly over the top, making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. You can tilt the rack to smooth the glaze. Let the glaze set and then move the cake to a pretty platter. Do not refrigerate.

* just a note: I forgot to get Hershey's syrup at the store, so made my own- 1/2 unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan, heat to a boil and boil for one minute. When cooled, add vanilla. It made about 1 1/2 cups of syrup, but was still a fine amount for the cake.

How to make the Ganache Glaze:

Cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.  I learned from a new friend at our lunch that you can also microwave the cream and chocolate chips until melted and smooth and skip the whole double boiler action- makes this delicious frosting even more simple!

Recipe from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Parties Cookbook

Serve with fresh berries and small scoop of ice cream- yum!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

And happy anniversary to Keeping it Real with Joy~my blog is officially one year old!

Thanks to my faithful readers~ I've appreciated all your visits and hope you continue to stop by!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Here's an easy sweet treat to make for your kids or yourself~ just takes a second and it will make everyone smile!

Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches

20 vanilla wafer cookies
vanilla ice cream
colorful sprinkles

Put a spoonful of ice cream on one side of the vanilla wafer and top with another. Roll in sprinkles and pop back into freezer. Offer them to your kids (or yourself!) as a fun afternoon snack. Enjoy!


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Microwave Peanut Brittle

Microwave peanut brittle is the BEST! This is just my kind of recipe for candy- one that requires no thermometer (just like this toffee) and comes out consistently great every time. And it literally just takes 10 minutes to make.

It is an awesome hostess gift, thank you gift, or holiday gift. Valentine's Day is coming... you could give a bag of this yummy stuff to your besties and make them happy!

1. Mix sugar and corn syrup & microwave on high for 4 minutes 
2. Stir in peanuts and microwave 4 more minutes

3. Stir in butter and vanilla and microwave 2 more minutes
4. Stir in baking soda - it's fun to see how it foams up~

5.  Pour onto greased baking sheet and spread thinly
6. After it has cooled, break into chunks

Microwave Peanut Brittle
  
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup salted roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Spray a baking sheet lightly with non-stick cooking spray. 
Mix sugar and corn syrup in microwave dish. Microwave for 4 minutes on high.
Add peanuts, mixing well and microwave another 3 minutes on high.
Stir in butter and vanilla and microwave an additional 2 minutes on high.
Remove from microwave and stir in baking soda until light and foamy.
Pour onto baking sheet and spread out in a thin layer. Let cool and break into bite sized pieces. Enjoy!

Peanut Brittle is a perfect sweet treat to give your friends for Valentine's Day

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Cracker Toffee

This toffee is one of my kids' favorite treats and is so easy to make as far as making candy goes- no thermometers required. My daughter brought some to school with her and shared it with friends who wanted to know how to make it. So this blog is for Madeleine's friends!  

Cracker Toffee

1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° Line 9x13"pan with foil. Lay all the saltine crackers out in one layer. 

Melt butter and sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until combined and let boil for 3 minutes. 

Pour sugar butter mixture on top of crackers and spread until all crackers are covered. Bake in oven for 8 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Let sit for a few minutes and then spread melted chocolate over top of toffee. 

Sprinkle with chopped nuts if you like.My kids love the plain toffee and cracker part, so often we put chocolate on just half of the batch- the plain part is always the first to go! Break into pieces and enjoy!

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Caramel Oatmeal Bars + The Price is Right!

A new friend of mine had the chance to fulfill a dream of hers of being in the audience at the Price is Right; lucky for her, it happened to be on the day Bob Barker made an appearance for his 90th birthday! Another sweet friend decided we should make a celebration of Kathryn's 15 minutes of fame on tv and invited us for lunch and a viewing of the taped show. What a fun and decadent way to spend an hour in the middle of a weekday!!

Cindy served an amazing buffet lunch of mixed green salad with juicy pomegranate seeds, roasted beets and an orzo spinach salad= perfect!

Rachel, Martha, Cindy, Kathryn and Abbie ready to view the show

Katheryn offers Bob a caramel oatmeal bar ☺

Caramel Oatmeal Bars for dessert

Caramel Oatmeal Bars

2 cups flour (plus 2 tablespoons to thicken caramel sauce)
2 cups quick oats (I used regular, quick-cooking is best)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups cold butter, cut into small squares

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (12 ounce) jar caramel topping (like Mrs. Richardson's butterscotch)

In bowl combine oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut butter in until crumbly and the dough starts sticking together. Set half of the dough aside for topping and press the other half on the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan. 

Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. While baking, add 2 tablespoons flour to the jar of caramel topping to thicken it. After 15 minutes, remove crust from oven, sprinkle with chocolate chips and drizzle the topping all over. Press the rest of the topping over the caramel by taking a bit into your hand and flattening it, then laying it on top. Bake for 15-18 more minutes. Enjoy!

  
Recipe from Color Issue

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Sometimes life just calls for chocolate and these cookies are perfect for that calling! They are not only fun looking, but delicious... each one of my kids said they were awesome and wanted me to make another batch.  I have tried making these before with a different recipe, but Betty Crocker's recipe is the best!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted, cooled
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

In large bowl, combine oil, chocolate, sugar and vanilla. Stir in eggs one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours. This is key- if you cook them before they are cooled, ironically they don't spread out and look as crinkly as they do if you cook them after they are chilled.

Heat oven to 350°. Grease cookie sheet with cooking spray. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar and roll to coat. Place on cookie sheets two inches apart.
Bake 10-12 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Enjoy!

Mini Strawberry Hand Pies

These are a fun and quick pull together snack to make with your kids or anytime your want a sweet treat. You all will be popping these sweet little pies in your mouth in a blink of an eye!! So very tasty.....

Roll out the dough and plop a bit cream cheese and jam on the top 

Strawberry Hand Pies are ready to eat!

Mini Strawberry Hand Pies

1 ready made pie crust (Immaculate and Pillsbury make great ones)
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup strawberry jam
1 egg, beaten to brush on top 
sprinkling sugar for top

Roll out ready made pie crust and use 2" cookie cutter round to cut out top and bottoms of pies. You can make around 6 in the first batch and then pull all the dough back into a ball and re-roll to do the rest. 
Mix whipped cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Dollop a bit of cream cheese mixture on crust circle, then top with a bit more strawberry jam. Top with circle of dough and crimp edges with fork. Vent pastry with a few cuts on the top. Brush some egg wash on and sprinkle with granulated sugar. 
Bake at 400° for 12- 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Snowballs- Christmas Dessert from the Past!

Happy Holidays to you all!! I hope this special time has been filled with smiles and love for you with your family and friends~

We had a very special Christmas eve that started out with an amazing service at our church. We felt blessed to have our family together in one pew at the packed  5 pm service where we enjoyed beautiful Christmas music (my all time favorite song every year is Peace and Silent Night sung in a round together with the congregation and choir at the end, which always makes me teary in a great way) and listened to a meaningful message about happiness- the question being, where do you feel you are most happy? During this holiday season, I was very conscious of feeling profound happiness in my little house with my dear family filling the spaces around me with hearty laughter and love. That's where I find my happiness!

Back to Christmas eve...our family tradition is to have Christmas eve dinner at my parents' house where we often enjoy delicious beef tenderloin and Yorkshire pudding. This year my mom surprised us with a "new" dessert that was awesome! We love the persimmon pudding she usually makes but she decided to introduce us to a recipe dear friends of her parents made for her family when she was young.  It is a delicious whipped cream and coconut wrapped surprise that you can't quite figure out if you don't know what is inside. Thanks for introducing something new to us this Christmas, Mom, and to all our old traditions, too!! 

My beautiful mom in the midst of snowball preparation

The snowballs pre-wrap 

Delicious holiday dessert!

Snowballs

1/2 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

1 well-beaten egg yolk

1 cup drained, crushed pineapple

1 egg white, stiffly beaten

60 vanilla wafers

1/2 pint whipping cream (sweetened with powder sugar and vanilla to taste)

1 cup coconut or pretty candle sprinkles if your family doesn't care for coconut

Cream butter and sugar until light. Add egg yolk and pineapple. Add beaten egg white and fold in lightly. For each snowball, take three wafers, spread mix between wafers, stacking together. Let stand in refrigerator three hours or overnight. Whip cream and sweeten and add vanilla. Spread over each snowball. Sprinkle with coconut or candy sprinkles. Let stand again for three hours in refrigerator. Enjoy!

just a note---this is an old recipe and does indeed call for uncooked eggs, so if you are not into eating uncooked cookie batter or that sort of thing, you might want to skip this recipe :)

Christmas Eve PJ Tradition
Our family also has a wonderful tradition of our kids opening new Christmas pajamas and posing with Omi and Papa in front of their house in them...we have such fun pictures of our kids and their cousins over the years as they have grown up.This Christmas we actually got to enjoy another Christmas eve service after dinner to see our son's girl friend sing beautifully in her church, so our kids didn't change into into their pj's to have their photo with their grandparents until we got back to their house close to midnight! What amazing grandparents our kids have!