Early Celebration...

Since we were vacationing for 9 days over Christmas, my dad and step mom drove down for an early celebration. I think the only other Christmas that I didn't spend with my dad was my Senior year in high school when my mom and I traveled to Hawaii. I was cheering in the half time show of the 1994 Hula Bowl...was tough to be away from the rest of our family but it was certainly warm and exciting to explore the islands!

The girls loved having dad and Anna here for a quick visit and lots of snuggle time.

 Since dad built his own life-sized Cobra a few years back he has been collecting models of them...can you tell he's thrilled? Ha!

 Izzy's face doesn't tell how excited she was. This holiday all she wanted was kits to make her own jewelry (as if she needs more accessories!). We made bracelets the rest of the weekend...and they turned out so cute!

 Mike and I exchanged a few presents before we left and I had framed the instructions of a model boat my grandfather started building many years back. When my Nana and Grandfather moved out of their house and into a retirement community a few years ago we all were able to save a piece of their lives...which was such an honor and so special that we had this opportunity. Mike jumped on the opportunity to salvage some of my grandfather's model boats he was building and we have them on display in our front "boat themed" room of our house. When we moved into our new house we unpacked a box of all the books on boats that came with the models and tucked inside one of them were the instructions for the "Sea Witch"...I immediately knew I wanted to frame it.

 Dad is holding the start of the Sea Witch that Grandfather built. Love having this piece of Grandfather's history.

 And as for Laney, all she wanted this year was a Baby Wanna Walk. She asked Santa when we met him. She begged Coca (our elf on the shelf) for him nightly. Thankfully dad surprised her with the little walking, talking beauty...and she has been pushing her around (in a new stroller, thanks to Jaim!) and walking her ever since.

Thanks to Dad & Anna for coming down to spend special time celebrating the holiday early with us...love you guys!

Reflections of...

These sisters...

 ...are dripping with cuteness.

 And this will be the last year...

 ...that they'll be taking sister photos together at school.

 So I find myself staring...

 ...and pondering...

...and burning these images into my memory.

I don't want to forget how stinkin' cute they are. How incredibly funny they are. How much they love to snuggle (and ask to do so all the time). How they are as different as night and day (even though they're dressed alike). And mostly, how much they have enriched our lives.

Hugging them extra tight. Telling them more than ever how much they mean to us. How special they are. And how proud we are of them. Because they should know. Now...and always.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

..Christmas!!! It's here. December. Pretty much one of my favorite months of the year. Digging out all the seasonal boxes from the basement. Reminiscing with every ornament we hang. Holiday music in every room. Ugh...I just love it.

Our house is looking more and more festive each day. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is when we put up our tree(s) and the decor starts flowing throughout the house in the days that follow. Both girls love to help and it's fun to see how their eyes light up when I hand them an ornament and they say, "I remember this one!"

 I let each girl decorate a tree for their rooms and then we have two others upstairs. All four trees are decorated with ornaments they've received over the years or they've made.

 The girls had fun playing and dancing in the stockings...

 Mike decorated our pillars out front

 Mini tree in our entry. Still looking for a mini-skirt.

 Love having the house lit up each night

 Festive mantel

 What little decor I do put out always includes a Nutcracker

 And this idea was stolen from Pinterest...

 Another Pinterest idea...making use of our large collection of wine corks. My neighbor laughed saying her front door wreath screamed country flair while our screamed come drink with us. Truth.

The girls & their buddy Maggie went to visit Santa last weekend...

 Can you tell how excited they were to see him? They all got to share with Santa what they wanted for Christmas (Izzy wanted a jewelry making kit while Laney wanted a walkin' baby doll). As they exited Santa's little house, Laney immediately started crying, "But he didn't give me my baby doll!" Had to explain that Santa's elves had to go and make it now and will deliver it at Christmas. Was really sweet.

They even got to meet a real, live reindeer!

And we've been counting down the days until Christmas. Izzy says, "Christmas is the 2 and the 5." And then she follows it up with, "Disney is the 2 and the 6!" While Mike and I keep saying, "We leave for Florida on the 2 and the 1."

Let the countdown begin!

Turkey Day 2012

This year's Thanksgiving was perhaps my favorite in memory. Mike and I hosted this year and had my mom, Aunt Gail, Uncle Thomas, sister, niece and nephew all stay under our roof. My mom was the first to arrive, the Saturday before the holiday...she kept the girls home with her all week to get her special one-on-one time. Then slowly family started to trickle in via airplane and car. Of course Mike grocery shopped for weeks preceding, anticipating the full house and hungry bellies. The beer fridge was stocked and the pantry was bursting. We were ready for the holiday!

Thanksgiving morning we hosted our 'First Annual Thanksgiving Day Hops Trot 5k." Mike's idea. He and his buddies brew beer and what better way to start off the holiday than with a beer at the end of a 5k, right?! The day turned out to be beautiful (highs in the 60's) which is perfect for a 5k. I made large turkey signs for the start line, mile markers and for the turn around. My uncle was my driver as I strategically placed my signs along the Monon. The whole house was readying for the event; layering clothes, grabbing blankets, hydrating. I cooked up some buttery spiced apple cider (if you didn't try it you seriously missed out) and friends started arriving. They unpacked bikes, joggers, bloody Mary bar and food galore. To say we were all a bit giddy with excitement was an understatement.

I'm tickled to say that we had a total of 30 (!!!) participants. And I'm so glad I got the opportunity to spend time with each of these people along the course. I'd run up to chat with some then hang back to chat with others. I ran with little cyclists, was passed by mamas pushing joggers and cheered on 4 year old runners. I am positive I had a smile from ear to ear the entire 3 miles. As I was approaching the 3rd mile I passed my mom and noticed she was pushing a double jogger but my girls were not the passengers. Rather, it was Luke and Jacob (Jaime's boys). I asked mom where the girls were and she said Mike took them back home (he walked since he is still recovering from back surgery). My mom ended up with the girls because she saw Jaime flying by towards the finish and offered to take the boys from her so she could win. And win she did. Jaime took first place. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my Uncle Thomas won as well. His age group. Jaime and Uncle Thomas had some bantering going back and forth and I loved it. Here my family and my friends were merging on the trail. Love.

Serving up some *spiked* butter spiced cider with Aunt Gail

Hugging the winner. And why yes, that is a feather I'm wearing.

After we spent a few hours visiting post-race we all cleaned up and started preparing for the big turkey dinner. Well, these two cousins partook in some tomfoolery...

 Making Grandma Bruhn's famous homemade crescent rolls. My mom has it down to a science.

 Once we got out of the kitchen it was Mike's turn to cook. The rest of us took a walk in attempt to get some family pics...

 

 Dylan, Kim & Taylor

 Aunt Gail & mom...sisters

 Kim & Kelly (or as my mom often said when we were growing up, "Kelm!")

 Wonder where I get my silly from?

 We had Jaime and her family over again for dinner. Think it's going to become tradition (at least I hope). Her boys. My girls. A pink cowboy hat. We just let them loose and they play for hours. Love having a full house and full table.

Jaime was in charge of desserts and I can't tell you how much it meant to me that she made my Nana's apple pie and pie crust from scratch. If you've never made a pie crust from scratch, it's no easy feat. She had a little coaching from my sister but Jaime did it all on her own ("I'm fluffing, I'm fluffing!"). So proud of her. My Nana would be so proud...

 The final product was perfection. Nothing short of delicious. Jaime wouldn't eat any until she had our approval that it passed the test. Love her.

 Her other dessert was a homemade strawberry cake. Let's just say I'm still eating it today. Can't stay out of it!

We did a little early Black Friday shopping (thanks for the tip Karie!), attempting WalMart at exactly 8pm. I've never gone shopping at this time and was honestly a little confused at all the turnstyle type lines and caution tap boundaries all over the store. Maps of where every deal would be and at what time. Whaaa??? I knew I wanted one thing. Plotted out where I had to go. Upon arrival two security guards/WalMart employees told me to stand in line and take a ticket. At 8pm on the dot I was handed my item and then we bee-lined it towards checkout (but we did take notice of women acting like crazy animals to get their hands on $6 fleece pajamas - no joke). I'm not kidding you when I say we were out the door at 8:05. And at that time the line to get into WM was mass chaos. Enormous. Out of control. We drove by Target for their 9pm opening and noticed the line was around the building. No thanks. Back home we went, only having been gone for 30 minutes. Anticlimactic  But I saved $60. Think that'll be all of my Black Friday / doorbusting shopping I'll ever do.

Last night we played games for several hours (my fave) and soaked in the final hours we'd all spend together.

 Uncle Thomas played the mandolin and sang a bit for us while we played. He's very talented and it was an honor to hear him in his element.

All our family has left. Laundry is beginning (although mom always kept the laundry basket empty while she was here!), dishes are being cleaned and leftovers are being eaten. The beer fridge is looking barren and the house is quiet. So what does my husband do? Invites a slew of friends over tonight for dinner. He loves being a host and entertaining...and I can't blame him: he's pretty darn good at it!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!