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~We wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas~

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

~Luke 2:8-12

By the time you read this we will have already met our little girl for the first time!

What a beautiful and amazing Christmas gift she is to our family.

Last night we took a trip on the Polar Express all the way to the North Pole! When I had heard that the Sacramento Railroad Museum puts on a Polar Express ride every year I knew it would be something Spencer would love. It sells out every year so we purchased our tickets back in September and have been anxiously awaiting the day of our departure. Our expectations were high and they did not disappoint! They go all out to really make you feel that you’re part of the Polar Express, complete with music, hot chocolate, cookies, and Santa who gives a bell to all who believe.

We went with Nana, Auntie Lo-Lo and our cousins Alyssa and Caedmon. They had a fantastic time!!

Well after running around like crazy people for the last week, I think we are almost finished with all of our packing. There are so many facets to our trip, packing has been a bit challenging. I think we managed to fit it all into two bags (50lbs each) and two carry-on duffles!

Things will be quiet on my blog for the next few weeks as we have very limited internet access while in Ethiopia. To learn more about our itinerary and how to follow us on Twitter while we’re gone check out: www.aaronklein.com!

I’ve been on the lookout for a “Babies First Christmas” ornament for Emma and was thrilled to stumble upon this one at Hallmark. It was exactly what I was hoping to find!

We opted to put up a small tabletop tree this year as our life is in major flux right now. Did I mentioned that on top of traveling to Ethiopia in a few weeks, we are also in escrow buying a bigger house (Yay!), and trying to rent out our current house!?! Never a dull moment around here!

Cheers!

Yesterday we were on our way to Spencer’s Citizenship appointment in downtown Sacramento when an e-mail came through from our agency letting us know that Emma’s paperwork has all been approved, clearing us for travel! We quickly called both of our families and then had to leave our phones in the car (any device with a camera is not allowed in the federal building). I was dieing to read our travel information in more detail and to start booking flights!

As of right now our travel plans include leaving a few days early with a stop over in Paris and then on to Addis Abba to meet our little girl! We will be arriving on Christmas morning and couldn’t think of a better Christmas present!

…thecrazynightowl! Congratulations – I know you will enjoy your Beer Bread and Artichoke Warm Spinach Dip! Thank you everyone who participated – I really enjoyed hearing from you!

With everyone gathered for the holiday, Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to take some updated family photos. We rotate which side of the family we are with and this year it was our turn to be with my side of the family.With three new grandchildren added to our family this year alone we barely fit in the frame – and that’s with only three out of eight of us married! Next year we’ll have to try an aerial view just to fit us all in the picture

Nana, Papa and the Grandkids

Oldest to Youngest

Just Us

My Boy

I was recently flipping through a copy of Bonappetit and came across a recipe for a Sausage, roasted red pepper, and spinach torta rustica. The title alone made my mouth water so I ripped it out of the magazine, ran to the store for the fresh ingredients and gave it a try. I was not disappointed! It wasn’t that much work to prepare and the flavor combinations were amazing! My husband voted it the best dinner of the year

Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Torta Rustica

• 16 1/4 inch-thick baguette slices, cut on slight diagonal
• 1 Tbs butter
• 12 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed (I used Italian Turkey Sausage)
• 1 1/2 cups grated Fontina cheese, divided (my local store only had a very large,  pricey block of Fontina so I substituted with Smoked Gouda)
• 3/4 cup diced drained roasted red peppers (from 12 ounce jar)
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (I couldn’t stand adding that many calories so I just used regular milk)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 8x8x2 inch backing dish. Place 8 baguette slices in bottom of dish; press 2 baguette slices onto each side.

Melt 1 tbs butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add spinach; toss until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer spinach to strainer; cool. Squeeze spinach dry. Transfer to medium bowl.

Heat same pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage. Saute until cooked through. breaking up, about 7 minutes. Mix into spinach; mix in 1 cup cheese and peppers. Spread atop baguette slices in bottom of dish.

Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in last 4 ingredients. Pour over spinach mixture and stir lightly with fork to distribute evenly. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over (the Gouda didn’t melt very well on top).

Bake torta until puffed and golden and center is set, about 55 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

What is a Torta Rustica? According to www.cookadvice.com it’s…

A large pie similar to coulibiac, filled with salmon, cabbage or spinach, eggs, and mushrooms. Other versions use meat or sausage in the filling. The crust is usually made of bread dough and sprinkled with salt before using.