Maximum Cuteness.

About this time, everyone has written about their year -- reflecting on the highs and lows.  I have so much to catch up on, I'd rather just share some of the memories from the past week.

Starting with these two...

Can you believe how much they have grown??  Can you believe how beautiful they are???  The picture cannot capture how smart, sweet, and hilarious they are so just trust me when I say they are pretty incredible 6 year-olds.

Of course, we capture a lot of video during our holiday with the family.  Unfortunately, we haven't been able to edit it together yet -- stay tuned.

In California, we were busy with our families, eating good food, enjoying our gifts, and sharing quality time with our loved ones.  We even had time to take a quick trip to Big Bear for some skiing!  

We headed back in to "chilly" Minneapolis last night and woke up bright and early to pick up little Clyde.

Our little service dog-in-training has been a great addition to our household so far.  He's super-smart -- he already gets that outside is for potty and has consistently gone within 10 seconds of us taking him out.  The frigid cold air may have something to do with that, though. We also hear that he already sleeps through the night.  Time will tell.

He doesn't quite seem to get how dog beds are supposed to work yet, but I'll chalk it up to first day fatigue.

Happy New Year everyone...

Pupkallah.

You know what looks kind of like babkallah but is infinitely cuter?

A PUPPY PILE!  They are at 7 weeks now and most of them will be going to their homes on Friday.  Can't wait to find out which of those golden little furballs is going to be our buddy for the next two years.

Birthday Babkullah.

A couple of months ago, Man Boo and I were flipping through an issue of Bon Appetit when we both let out a little gasp upon beholding the "babkallah".  Knowing the decadence and elbow grease required for this concoction categorized it as a strictly special occasion endeavor, I made a mental note to make it for breakfast on Jamie's birthday.  I also knew that one way or another, it would find it's way onto this blog -- most likely as one of those "nailed it" fails.

Fortunately, not only did it come out edible...

...it was actually pretty tasty!  Couldn't even take this picture without first tearing off a piece of it to try.

While I don't think I'll be making it again (did I mention the elbow grease?)...it did tempt me to try out making straight-up babka which I had never heard of before.  I'll just have to wait for another special occasion...next holiday season?

Puppy Update! (PUPdate??)

Remember when those puppies looked like this?

(Yeah, they're named after different colors for now)

After 4 weeks, they looked like this...

Then...at 5 weeks...

...and as of yesterday, they had their first outdoor adventure.

I should note that I haven't met the puppies yet.  All of these pictures were taken and shared by their caretaker (momma dog's owner) and fortunately, she's a prolific and excellent photographer.  I cannot get enough of these puppies.

Puppies are supposed to go home the day after Christmas.  Unfortunately, Man Boo and I will have to wait a few extra days to meet our puppy since we'll be out of town.  Can't wait to meet the little guy (or girl).  

Last Month, Tonight.

I'm so out of practice with this blog thing.  Here's a quick recap of the last month...

Los Angeles.  When we left off, I was in LA doing work during the day and spending quality time with my parents at night.  We even made a trip to Las Vegas over the weekend for a mini-vacation and to take advantage of a free room with a Las Vegas-y view.

Thanksgiving.  After a quick trip back to Minneapolis, I hopped back on a plane for LA again...this time for Thanksgiving festivities.  Managed to pull off a pretty tasty Thanksgiving together with the whole family.  Man Boo came through with the brave and skilled lowering of the turkey into blazing hot oil...

...and 56 minutes later we had a delicious spread.

As usual, it was great to be with family.  Of course, we played a Calvinball-esque version of ping pong.  Needless to say, Man Boo lost 318 to 0.

Got older and baked a lot.  Flew through Minneapolis to get to Boston for work the next day and celebrated another year of life.  Never mind that I totally forgot how old I was turning.  That's what happens once you pass thirty...Upon coming back home I immediately set out to BAKE for our annual holiday/birthday party the next day.  I think I made enough cookies.

Clockwise from left: glazed lemon cookies, sweet and spicy nuts, chocolate crinkle cookies, and peanut butter blossoms.  I should note that this is not even half of the cookies I baked.  Jamie insisted that I bake 142 peanut butter blossoms because apparently every single person at our party would want one or two.  That, folks, is how much I love my husband.

Work, work, work.  Throughout all this has been some really busy work time.  Still loving the job, but it's sort of kicking my butt these days.  After weekly travel for the last month and a half, I really enjoyed my first full weekend at home and am looking forward to my first full week here too.  Minneapolis has been accommodating by giving us some 50 degree weather.  

Next post: PUPPY UPDATE!!