No man is a failure who has friends (and family, of course)

Ava loves to drive the last leg of the journey to Mimi and Coach's house, the mile-long dirt road through the cow pasture.

Game faced to drive

Josh gave me a set of pasta rollers for my KitchenAid mixer for Christmas. After having the attachment for 10 days I've already made fresh pasta three times.

Jaryn and I started making ravioli and fresh tomato sauce from scratch at 3:30. We all sat down to eat at 8:45. But it was SO worth it, and such fun to make.

First we made semolina flour wells with egg, olive oil, and salt in the middle.

See, it's lots of fun?

Gradually stirring the flour into the egg mixture.

Kneading the pasta dough

Rolling the pasta dough thin and flat

Spooning the cheese mixture onto the pasta dough

We folded the pasta dough over, sealed, and cut out the ravioli.

Finally, we boiled the ravioli until they floated to the top.

The finished product

After our late dinner, we taught Dusty, Jaryn, Sarah, and Ray how to play Settlers of Catan.

It's tough to learn, but oh such a blast. Always a great time when the Millers are around.

The next day Ava and I met up with some of our dearest (not oldest, I didn't say oldest) friends. R (center) and K (far right) are the kind of friends who you can go years without seeing and pick right back up where you left off. We were especially excited to see K, who lives far far away. I love how the holidays bring families and friends back together. R and K took turns loving on Nolan and Ava James.

Hey Joe, look how good baby looks on K!

Old, er dear, friends

Later our Cam drove out to Frost for a visit. Another sweet, forever friend.

The Farmers drove up the driveway from Matt's house to catch up. Josh and Matt grew up living less than a mile away from each other. It was precious to watch our girls play together.

Little Matt and Little Josh play peek-a-boo.

A familiy-ish shot

Sure there are other bathrooms, but why in the world would we spread out? Six people in 5 square feet makes total sense. Hey if the Brady's can do it so can we.

After our Frost Christmas we headed to spend a few days with Baba and Pops. As soon as we unbuckled the car seat, Ava and Baba started making gingerbread men.

PJ love with Daddy

How baby Nolan spent most of his first Christmas -

Beef Bourguigonne has become a Christmas tradition. It's an 'all hands on deck' kind of meal.

Sitting down for Christmas lunch

Happy to spend some time with her Mamaw and Papa, which she spells 'MLML' and 'PLPL' because that's how she pronounces it.

The three youngest at the Raines family Christmas. Aren't they adorable?

I never dreamed we'd be able to see so many of our friends and family members over our Christmas break. We can't wait to get back to Norman and catch up with our Oklahoma bunch. Check back soon for a 6th anniversary celebration post.
Hope your holidays were merry and bright!