The Amount of Calories on This Tabletop....

Oh, I don't even want to know......

So, this is how I spent almost all of Saturday. Baking away, watching "Miracle on 34th Street" from the kitchen (and crying, of course), and trying to absorb the happy feelings of the whole experience. I think this must be the 12th year I've been baking for the folks that either worked for John, or who John works for or works with. It really is a labor of love, however, the shocking thing is that when you start to divvy it all out between the trays how quickly it goes - which unfortunately leaves little left over for Sunriver or when we return for Christmas Day. Last year, I wrote on my "suggestions for next year" to bake more (so that I'd have plenty leftover), but as you can see, I kind of had my hands full with what I did bake, and really did not have any literal time to give from my oven to bake more.



The weekend was also filled with two visits to restaurants. After Brayden's soccer game on Friday, we thought it would be fun to meet at Red Robin with Amy's family - there were twelve of us, and we waited in the lobby for an hour and 10 minutes. (We were quoted 40 minutes). Keeping 7 children happy for that long - that's a bit of a trial.

On Saturday night, we decided to meet in Salem with the Schillings, as we were going to take their kids home with us so that Michael and Michele could do some more house work and I could take the girls to Erica's birthday on Sunday (very sweet, btw). We thought we'd meet up at Olive Garden (we all had gift cards)- however, they were quoting an hour and 40 minute wait! Unbelievable. We ended up at Applebee's where we waited twice as long as they told us, much of our food was cold, and some of us received the wrong entrees. After a little chat with the manager, John and I's meals were comped..... Certainly, a fun memories of all of us gathering, but note to self - if you want to go out to eat on a weekend in December, find a place that takes reservations!