Brownie Extravaganza

It's that time of year again.......yup, it was time for some holiday baking. Every year I do a big baking day and make goodies for Ben and I to take to all the people we work with. To give you some perspective last year I ended up making over 1000 cookies. I knew there was no way I could take care of Riley and still be able to make that many cookies so I went with something a little less labor intensive and made brownies this year. I ended up making 9 different kinds of brownies and ended up with 288 large brownies.

I made: Peanut Butter Hazelnut Brownies, Choco-Marshmallow Bars, Peppermint Bark Brownies, S'mores Bars, Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies, Fudge Brownies, Fudge Brownies with Walnuts, Cream Cheese Brownies, and Black and White Brownies

The baking part ended up being the easy part of the whole process. For the past couple of years I have always had my sister Cindy around to help me during the packaging portion of the process. Not this year!! Since I was wrapping each brownie individually and labeling them and then packaging them it was quite a process.....I was my own little sweat shop! I had a blast though and can't wait until next year to come up with something new!!

Here are some pictures of what I ended up with:

Last Year's Cookie Extravaganza!

The 9 different kinds of brownies

Each of the brwonies individually wrapped and labeled

The finished products......the front and back of the bags!!

The label on the bag

Where Does the Time Go

So sorry about not keeping up with the blog. I warned all of you that I'm not great about this!! Here's a little photo montage of what we have been up to since Thanksgiving.......

Quentin and DiDi were out from Arizona for a visit the weekend after Thanksgiving. We had a little seafood cookout at the house and hung out. It seems like it has been forever since we last saw them so it was a nice chance to catch up. We'll be going to Las Vegas in March for their wedding!!

King of the Bathtub!! We had to do a little strategic cropping to make this PG13!

I always like to go and get a Christmas tree as soon as Thanksgiving is done with. However, the past couple of years has taught me that trying to find a "nice" tree in LA that early is next to impossible since it is never cold here and the stores don't want to have all their trees die so they put out trees later. So, we waited until the first weekend of December to go on our hunt. Like my mom and sisters I want the "perfect" tree....the right size, the right height, the right bushiness, the right shape, etc., etc. This usually means that Ben is opening and shaking out multiple trees...however this year, much to the shock of Ben, we opened up only one tree and it was perfect!! The tree is up, the house decorated, and the presents wrapped......we're ready for Christmas!!

Ben went on his first job interview this past week to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Riley missed his papa and wanted to send him a good luck picture telling him how much he loved him!! Riley would make an adorable cowboy if we ended up in Texas.

I love to bake but it's been awhile since I've been able to do much since the pregnancy (who wants to bake when it's 90 degrees outside and you're pregnant!) and Riley's birth. Caroline's birthday was a great reason to pull out the cake pans again and do some baking! Ben was gone at his interview at the time and Riley decided that he had to be held so making the chocolate swirls for the border with Riley in one arm was a new experience!! However the cake - a chocolate cake filled with strawberries and bananas and a cream cheese cream and ganache filling - turned out great! Happy Birthday Caroline!!

A Day of Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have a lot to be thankful for this year - our family and friends, our health, and most of all...Riley!! Even though we would have liked to be with our family this year we hate traveling during Thanksgiving because of all of the traffic so we stayed in Alhambra once again. Riley decided to start off Thanksgiving with a treat for mom and dad by sleeping eight hours last night. We had a nice relaxing morning with a pancake breakfast and then the cooking began. Jon came over to join us for dinner and to celebrate Thanksgiving. We decided to forgo the turkey this year and try something else....on the menu for today was: horseradish and salt crusted prime rib, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread stuffing, brioche bread, and of course, dessert - cherry cream pie. Everything came out great, the boys demolished the prime rib, and then relaxed in front of the tv to watch Ben's trip to Africa movie.

Ben and Riley on Thanksgiving morning and Riley getting some tummy time!

The prime rib before going into the oven.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Ben and Jon enjoying their meals.

Riley in the sweater my grandmother made for him.

A Walk For Hope

Today was the 11th annual City of Hope Walk for Hope to raise money for breast cancer. The walk was originally scheduled for October 28th but because of the fires and the poor air quality it was rescheduled to today. Even with the rescheduling there was still a great turnout. I can still remember talking to a friend about the trouble we were having with the miscarriages during the walk last year....it's amazing what a difference a year makes! So, we strapped Riley into his Baby Bjorn and off we went..........

The beginning of the walk......

Sylvia, Riley, and I before the walk began........

Riley was quite the trooper and even threw in a couple of smiles for us....

Tuckered out after the walk..........

A Trip Up North

We went on our first big outing with Riley to the Bay Area for his Red Egg and Ginger Party. We went up for the whole week so that Ben could do some work at Stanford. We woke up on Saturday, fed Riley, and packed up the car for the 5 1/2 trip. Riley did so well in the car and slept for the entire ride except for a short break to eat and get his diaper changed. We spent the week relaxing at my parent's house and Riley got spoiled by everyone.

Then finally it was Saturday and Riley's big party day was here! My sisters, cousin, and I went to the party store and the restaurant early that day to set up the room. When we got back to the house we dressed Riley in his party outfit and then headed to the restaurant. As soon as we stepped into the restaurant Riley fell dead asleep and didn't wake up until the very end of his party - 2 1/2 hours later!! After the party at the restaurant we headed back to my parent's house for a little after-party. Riley was awake for part of that and went happily to person-to-person for a little one-on-one time!

We had a fantastic time and hope that everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did. We want to thank everyone for taking time and traveling to come to the party. Also, thank you for all the gifts and red envelopes. You guys spoiled him!!!

Laughing and talking with grandma and Auntie Jamie

Story time with daddy. No Dr. Seuss for Riley!!!

A visit with Scott and Matteo. Scott was nice enough to drive Ben home from Stanford and he brought along Matteo to visit with Riley.

Hanging out in the living room just looking too cute!!

The car ride home. Stopping for a pit stop.

There are too many pictures from Riley's party to upload thanks to our wonderful paparrazi photographer- Auntie Cindy - so here is the link to the pictures.

More Riley Pictures........

Happy Halloween!!