Christmas in The Bahamas!!

Christmas in the Bahamas!!
I've been uploading these pictures all day and wanted to post more but this is what you get kiddos!!

It was totally fun but very different than what I'm used to! I love sleigh rides, skiing and snow! BUT..we opted for something different this year and here we go. NOT BAD!

We arrived in the Bahamas to this!

Not too bad eh? Swimsuits, coverups, drinks! It was SUCH a change considering Charlotte was bracing for a snowstorm.

Our first night we headed to the Atlantis Hotel and Casino. It was DECKED out in Christmas decor.

Before dinner - pictures by the tree. WAIT for IT. This becomes a trend friends.

Dinner at the Seafire in the Atlantis' Marina Village(which BTW has mega-yachts..more on that later)

SUPER expensive but in my opinion..worth it.

Brad's response?

"Let's call the cops because Wally(Dad) got robbed!" Even so he enjoyed his nice steak, sides, apps, wine. THANKS MOM AND DAD!

Me, Brad and my rents. This is an after dinner picture in front of the A. As I've said before, my camera does crappy at night.

Then onto the casino at the Atlantis -- nice sculpture. Reminded me of VEGAS' Bellagio.

I had to get a shot of the Tabasco slot machine. Two of my old college roomates are part of the T family. One of which reads this blog. Hey Mar!

Christmas Eve was a blast! Brad and I had a bit 'too' much fun. Here's our tree shot this night.

Dinner with a nice wine. Always nice..

Entertainment was provided each night by the pool. Here's Brad and my madre.

Me and my rents out for after dinner cocktails.

Brad getting his 'party' on. Not going to lie. Brad partied like a rock star this night. I went to bed around midnight and he got home at 3:30AM. Good times..Good times.. At one point I woke up and wondered where I was and why he wasn't there? hahaha!

Christmas Day with Santa at the pool. Loved that they had something for the kiddos!

Santa got his groove on with the traditional Bahamaian band. It was their version of 'Mardi Gras' while we were there.

It was 85-degrees Christmas day in Nassau. Brad and I took to the slides at the hotel! Mom has the pictures of me getting my slide on.

Nice to be on the beach on Christmas Day when there is 7-inches of snow on the ground at home! Here's my Mom and Dad.

Christmas night dinner. Our infamous tree picture.

Then on Sunday we took an excursion to the Blue Lagoon to hang on the beach and chill out.

Beautiful but the bad weather rolled in once we got off Nassau.

We still saw people swim with the dolphins even though it was 60-degrees, pouring down rain and windy!

The dolphins were too cute!

Who knew they could be so trained?

Our thumbs up on the way home despite it being cold and rainy. BOO!

We got back to the hotel and decided to nap, chill out, watch a movie, surf the net and drink. Brad gets tired of pictures! haha~

THEN..he ran into a celebrity. No kidding..I thought this dude was Steve Spurrier at first but found out it's some TNT NBA announcer. Can your hubby name this guy? He generally dresses a bit CRAZY. Not this night.

Drinks and apps.

Drinks and apps was interesting because we ran into two of the guys Brad spent the night at the craps table with.

He came back to the room talking about how he had met 'two young bucks' who were partying down and using the crap table as a bobsled like in 'Cool Runnings'. Nice!

Brad recognized them and they asked me if I knew he had been out all night? LOL!!! Of course.

Weird thing was they were also from the DC area -- like Brad. Fun hanging with them. They were there with their family for Christmas too.

Monday it turned chilly and we spent the day at the Atlantis again at their aquariums.

Nice but overrated.

Back to the Marina Village for lunch. Big yachts GALORE! Brad and I both agree we need to make millions.

And..finally at last...Brad got his conch-fritters. Overrated too.

The last night was low key. Naps,movies, more cocktails and time with my rents.

Awesome Christmas indeed!!! We ALL agreed though that 5 days was a bit much. Even my Dad said 4-days in one place is enough. But even so it was FANTABULOUS and I can see us doing it again.

Thanks Mom and Dad!! We LOVE you!! Happy New Years!!!!!!!!!!!

Pumpkin Dip

Remember all these little pumpkins I used for place card holders at Thanksgiving? Well, they're still good. I put them in a bag and placed them in the garage because it's cool down there.

I hate wasting stuff so I've been wondering what to do with them? Well, now I know!

A co-worker suggested roasting all the little pumpkins and freezing it for later and/or make her pumpkin dip!

She brought some to work yesterday and it was delish with fruit and gingersnaps! I know she won't mind me sharing her recipe so here it goes!

Pumpkin Dip

1 can(2 cups)pumpkin

1 8ox. pkg cream cheese(softened)

2 cups confectioners sugar

1tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp nutmeg

(other spices to taste if uncanned pumpkin such as pumpkin pie spice)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend!

Wah-Lah!

Of course I won't be doing this until we get back from our trip because I couldn't imagine eating all that dip in two days!!

Stephens Christmas Celebration

We're leaving for the Bahamas on Thursday so over the weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Stephens clan.

We drove up to my in-laws Friday after work to have dinner and see all their holiday decorations.

It was decked out indeed! A lot of the outside pictures of the house are too dark so I didn't post them.

Here are some of the inside shots though. Pretty tree.

Mantle.

Then my MIL showed us what her and FIL got each other for Christmas. This awesome piece by artist Bob Timberlake. It's Grandfather Mountain during the winter. I LOVE..LOVE..LOVE Grandfather Mountain so I would love to have one of these.

It's a limited edition though so we'll see.

FIL cooked us an AMAZING dinner of roasted red pepper pasta..

And.. filet in a merlot reduction sauce. YUMMY!!!! I'm not a huge steak person but this was awesome!

Saturday we came back to Charlotte and got ready for our Christmas dinner and gift exchange at my BIL and SIL's house.

Buddy got decked out for the family fun!

BIL whipped up a prime rib.

While it was cooking we snacked on goose breast compliments of FIL.

Elfie was 'hanging' out in the kitchen keeping an eye on the little ones the entire time.

We decided to let nephew Reed open one of his gifts early. We got him the Sweet Smells of Christmas.

I remember this scratch and sniff book when I was a kid -- and of course, he thought it was cool too.

Loved watching him sniff it! So cute!

Robyn and Jeff's house was decked out with Christmas decorations! Two trees, wreaths, lights, the works!

She looked good too!! 3 chemos down as of today and 3 more to go!! woohoo!

We don't generally exchange gifts with Jeff and Robyn but she picked me up this cute little apron anyhoo!

How cute is it with the pearls and skirt! She said she couldn't resist because it screamed 'Dee'!
Thanks!

Then it was time to open gifts! Even Buddy got in on the action!

Paige totally loves her copy of Fleurdelicious, the book my friend Renee, co-wrote. So cute. You have to pick up a copy!

We got Reed a baseball toy he wanted and I found Paige this little apron while in the mountains this October. Cute or what?

They are ready for Santa! Less than one week to go!

MIL and FIL were thrilled with their personalized sign that we got them.

STEPHENS LAKE HOUSE

What happens on the deck stays on the deck

I thought it was too cute and fun!

Love this picture of Robyn and Reed.

Can't forget Buddy's gift from Grammy and Papa. A Virginia Tech visor to wear on the pontoon this spring and summer!!

Brad got a sorter for all his change from his pockets. I'll be glad to get it out of the jars and organized.

A bottle of wine for me. It's from NASCAR team owner Richard Childress' winery. He and artist Bob Timberlake signed it since Bob designed the label.

LOVES it!

The Stephens men. Brad, his dad and BIL Jeff.

An attempt at a family photo. Buddy's eyes are glowing.

After our gift exchange we ate dinner and it was wonderful! Even baby bear got a taste from Paigee!

And..the night was topped off with another reading of Fleurdelicious. In this scene of the book she's at Superbowl with the Saints! Awesome or what?

Great family time! Great Christmas! Great gifts! Thanks MIL, FIL, BIL AND SIL!! Now it's time for our tropical Christmas with the Wallace side of the family!!