We had such a fun Christmas season here with family and friends. Christmas morning started with me making scalloped potatoes for dinner later with Dean’s siblings. Against my better judgement I filled the pan to the brim and put it in the oven. By the time everyone was here to open presents and have breakfast the house was filling with smoke. So even though the temps were in the single digits we opened windows and doors and bundled the little ones under blankets on the couch! Fortunately we put a cookie sheet under my  overflowing potatoes and the the smoke stopped and the house cleared and we shut the windows and warmed up the house. The day after Christmas we had our son and his wife and her family come and stay with us. Her family got to experience a real snowstorm and temperatures colder than they ever had before. We all enjoyed our visit and they even got to stay an extra day because of the storm. They are safely home now and I am glad they left just before we dipped down to -18 degrees. But this is winter in the great northeast. Stay warm!