New Orleans Christmas Recap (Part 1)

 Holy rental car! This is what happens when Dave goes to the rental car place by himself. Haha. It was fun though, when else are you going to drive a bright yellow Camero?

 I loved my mother-in-law's mantle! I am still looking for a great garland (with lights) like hers and I love her reindeer!

 We went to the Windsor Court Hotel for drinks and then to dinner at August afterward. Dave's childhood friend is a chef at Windsor and put together a wonderful spread of appetizers on a beautiful chalkboard slab that had the description of each item on it.  August is one of John Besh's restaurants. He is a really well known chef in NOLA and has been on the food network several times. the dinner was wonderful at August and needless to say, we were the loudest group there!  It was a great night and we got this fun family photo out of it! (Mueller Family Photo run down - FRONT: Me, Mother-in-Law Beth, Cousin-in-law Ethan, Father-in-law Nick - BACK: Hubby Dave, Uncle Jack, Cousin Cristina, Brother-in-law John)

 HELLO! Yes I wore this dress twice while we were in NOLA. I am not sure why we all are crouching down and smiling into the camera but I thought this picture was funny.

 This is Dave's Uncle Jack and his Cousin Cristina. Such a sweet Father-Daughter photo! Isn't the tree in the background gorgeous?! Jack lives in Ridgeway Colorado and is a poet. Cristina and her husband Ethan live in Berkeley California - she is Alice Waters assistant and Ethan is an editor at a McSweeney's. They both have always had really really cool jobs!! :)

 This is what happens when you spend 30 minutes taking family photos on the self-timer lol. You go nuts.

The Mueller Christmas tradition is Shrimp Creole for dinner on Christmas Eve. Beth used an Emeril recipe that called for way too much spice so we cut a lot of the cayenne pepper out but here is the recipe if you're interested... it was delish!

 Then opening presents on Christmas Eve! Afterwards, we went to a friend's house for a party! Then came home and played a game. It was a fun night :) Oh, and this book that hubby is holding is called Snog and is suuuuper cute! It's full of puppies and love quotes - my favorite! The two pups on the front are chocolate labs - just like our girl Brees!

 Cousins!

I always like to incorporate my family Christmas tradition which is POPPERS! You can get some fun ones at Williams-Sonoma and they run about $40 for a pack of 12. You pop them after dinner and everyone gets a paper crown, a game, and a joke! It makes for a fun time :)

And this is a wonderful moment that I had to capture on camera. I have such a great husband! Haha.

More of the Christmas recap to come.... I have more photos on my cellphone to share! ;)