Tradition

One of the last steps in making Tea Rings

Mom letting Ezra help with the process...

The new face of CenPeCo...

David (my brother) visited his girlfriend, Molly, in Italy, where she was studying for a semester. I look forward to hearing more about their time when I see them at Christmas. The little he has said about it makes it seem awesome- David loved every minute of it! In this picture, they are standing at the back entrance of a castle started in 1201. He said it had a moat and a drawbridge and everything. Amazing!

Daniel and Cynthia (law school grads) on the Pacific coast. Beautiful!

As the boys grow older, I have more of a desire to both pass down traditions and establish new ones for our family. My mom came down on Wednesday and we made Swedish Tea Rings, a Christmas tradition in my family. Every year, mom would make tea rings for Christmas. Tea Rings are made with a sweet bread dough. Butter, brown sugar, cinammon and raisins are spread on the rolled out dough. The dough is rolled into a log, formed into a circle, then cut partially and laid down on the pan. After it is baked, we drizzled frosting on it, then placed maraschino cherries on top. It seemed more like Christmas this year because there were tea rings in my home.

We have the Sollenberger Christmas gathering tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it. I love the festivities of Christmas. We keep our schedule pretty free, so the business of the Christmas season centers around family get-togethers, which I love. This year (finally!!) we get to have a Lengeman Christmas get-together at my parents. My brother and his girlfriend as well as my sister Krystal will be in from Iowa. That means that everyone except my brother and his wife, who live in CA, will be together. 8 out of 9- not too shabby. (By the way- my brother and his wife found out recently that they both passed the bar- three years of law school have paid off and they are done! My brother is now a District Attorney for Riverside County in California. I am so proud of him!)

Asher fell asleep a little before 6 this evening. Amazing. He woke up to eat at 8, then fell asleep so deeply I checked twice to make sure he was breathing! Ezra is asleep, there is Christmas music playing, the tree is lit, we are home, and I am at peace.

Blessings to you this Christmas Season.