Eagle Scout

We have a new Eagle Scout in the family! Before the Christmas break Ryan officially received his rank as an Eagle Scout. Previous to receiving his award, he was doing the paperwork and planning and completing the project, which was building and placing benches at a local Nature Reserve Park. He, several boys and leaders all met together to build the benches prior to the day of the project, making the project completion day less time consuming. We also were able to spread mulch along a pathway in the park. We had a lot of help and were extremely grateful for the volunteers who came to support Ryan in completing his project.

To say we are happy to be done is a huge understatement! We are overjoyed and ecstatic it is finally done!! Good job Ry!!!

And a few flashbacks...Ryan with Cody when Cody received his Eagle.

Cub Scouts - where it all began...

Merry Christmas 2019

Lanier Under The Lights 5K

I ran in my favorite 5k again this year! I don't really enjoy running races, but this one is a favorite of mine. It starts at dark and the race is lit up by Christmas lights around Lake Lanier. The runners are treated to a Christmas ambiance with holiday music and a view in the dark that is one of a kind. They had more vendors this year, so Casey treated himself to a few of the foodie freebies before the race began.

People dress up and there are prizes for the best Christmas costumes with different categories.

Contest Categories:

*Best Santa Claus

*Best Christmas Tree

*Best Snowman

*Best Grinch or Grinch Movie Cast Member

*Best Single Theme Group

*Best Single Theme Family

*Best Christmas Bulb

*Best Christmas Elf

*Best Reindeer

*Best Christmas Gift/Wrapped Present

*Best Cool Christmas Costume (For costumes that don't fall under the previous 10 categories) Santa also makes an appearance for pictures and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! It's so much fun!!

You can see pictures of the costumes here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=ms.c.eJxNU9dtQEEI2yiil~%3B0Xix4EX34tXDB3EhTEGSWZRMo~%3BsgB5m0YG~%3BQFh~_U2wy02kD0XsD6iwjxJ0GuEjygZR0RG10yhXyei2uAnnEbU6jeKhFFy0gkmlD0ijoXgj6dr62ZbxUpCjYiisB6gNEH5AbFLCtkWfhmL9Ctptj1IUAyBHtg9FEzk2OnZJWtuG7TZG~%3BxrbibyJiJpgfaLRvYdChZxb8qvQtkLcJRd4fdie0u1d7ktqCSB0gLjlKuXT8EaFPYeKR6kYyrutbjBBsKQVRae6nSo6ZZsKuQDUPJi3i45t6dl6TnTHLt4jWqjQS3aCAPACEKXptDzQx7owlqNpjPEKQ9aWHjAfqAwfiOdpcxWCTaeuDcA2Kf8Cpc64dA~-~-.bps.a.2606015679436898&type=1

And everyone gets a participation medal and a t-shirt!

Proceeds benefit The Marine Corps Toys for Tots, and Hamilton Mill Christian Church of Buford 'Secret Santa Mission. It's a wonderful start to the Christmas season.

Cookies

Cookies are probably my favorite dessert to make for family and friends. There are so many different varieties and they are all their own bites of deliciousness. You can double a recipe and it makes a lot with minimal effort and time. Over the years I've made quite of few, but these are the favorites that we always seem to come back to, basically because you can interchange with different M&M flavors and waalaaa, it's a whole different cookie. Chocolate and Peanut butter are by far my favorite flavors of any dessert, so when I found this recipe I was very excited. They taste as good as they look!

You can find the recipe here - https://lilluna.com/reeses-pieces-chocolate-chip-cookies/

I like to put my dough in the refrigerator. The purpose is to solidify the fat in the dough so the cookies will not spread excessively in the oven and the cookies become soft and tender when baked. It really does work!

I made more cookies but switched out with the regular peanut butter M&M's(I also included chocolate chips). They were very good!! In fact they were in high demand at Ryan's lunch table. One friend told Ryan he'd pay him to make 80 cookies - Ha!

A new recipe we tried this year was for No Bake Pumpkin Spice Cookies. They were so good!! We love regular No Bakes, and these were equally as delicious!! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but they were gone in a flash!

You can find the recipe for those here - https://numstheword.com/no-bake-pumpkin-spice-cookies/

Flash of Fall

It took forever to get here and then it was gone in a flash. It's the best time of year, and I wish it would last longer. If fall was 2-4 months and winter 1-2, I'd be very happy about that arrangement. The most beautiful colors are found in the fall, and when the weather behaves it's a cool 70 and sunny - the very best! However, this fall season we only had 2-4 days with wonderful fall weather in all of it's beauty. I really need more than that, but I did manage to snap a few photos along the way.

Come back Fall....we miss you already!!