Christmastime again!!

This past weekend Mav and I hosted Christmas for my family. We were all here in Beulah and had a perfect Christmas Eve. We decorated cookies, had a yummy steak dinner, went to Mass, took our Christmas pictures, and opened presents (of course the "kids" went first)!! It felt so good to be surrounded by family and we had a really nice weekend just enjoying each other's company!

Christmas with the kids!!

Mav and I went home to Williston this past weekend to spend an early Christmas with his family. We spent Saturday night with Mav's entire family, including six kids amped up on sugar and the prospect of opening presents. Simply put, this equaled smiling, running, screaming, laughing, CHAOS!! Oh but so much fun for us to watch!! We wanted to let the kids open the presents from us while we were there, so they were promised they could open them AS SOON as they tree was decorated. They all pitched in and hung ornaments and took time out to ham for the camera. It took all of 5 minutes for them to open the gifts but what a joy to see them so happy and excited!!! Their sweet little faces remind us what Christmas is all about and we love them to pieces!!

Our biggest purchase this year!

We found a house! As of today, Mav and I are the proud owners of a new house in Jamestown! (I am for the moment forgetting the fact that I still own a house in Beulah - ahhh!) We are soooo excited and are hoping to close in the middle of January. My mom has said she is already excited to paint and I am going to hold her to that! I have attached a few pics that the sellers had on the internet. It's a split level, 4 bed, 3 bath and on almost 1/2 acre. We can't wait to be settled in our new home!

I'll be home for Christmas

I love real Christmas trees!! And this year, I have two! Mav broke down and let me buy a small 2nd tree to put in the basement (only because we found one for $9.99). I love the way they smell and the way that they look all decorated! I am only posting a pic of the one upstairs as the small tree downstairs looks a little sad this year. I have to collect/buy some more ornaments to cover the tree and buy a worthy tree stand. Short version of this catastrophe: I decorated tree, tree fell down, all but like three ornaments fell off, we screwed tree stand to a piece of plywood, I redecorated, and then vacuumed for a total of FOREVER to get all the needles up. Silver lining: none of my ornaments broke AND because I didn't have many to begin with, it didn't take long to get them all back on.
Even after all that, I still love real Christmas trees!!!

So much to be THANKFUL for

Mav and I are in the midst of some big changes, starting with a new place to call HOME. Mav has accepted a job with OtterTail in Jamestown, so we will be moving/transferring there in January. We are excited about the change and Mav is excited to learn about a completely different side of the company (no power plant there). We are trying to muddle through all the things that come with moving but are also trying not to lose sight of the wonderful Holiday season. We are hoping to make it to Valley City tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with some of my family and then visit Jessie tomorrow night in Grand Forks. No matter where we end up or how busy/crazy things are going to get, we are so grateful and thankful for our family, friends, and loved ones. You are the ones that we gather strength from and rely on and we want you to know that we appreciate and love you! THANK you for being amazing people and we know how lucky we are to have you in our lives! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Halloween!!

Here are some pics from this weekend. Judy threw the kids a Halloween party and Mav and I brought early B-day presents for Hails and Cole. The kids definately had a blast at the Halloween party! They docorated cookies, played a bean bag game, ate pizza, and had a bonfire. All this while eating as much candy and sugar as possible! We all tried to get them to sit for a pic so that we could see their costumes but you can just about imagine how that went down. I threw in one pic of my giant spider web hanging in my entry way at home and one of the Frankenstein cheeseball my mom made for her work Halloween party. Yes, I swear it is all edible!!!

A friendly reminder

JUST in case we have forgotten what Winter is all about...

I may be a VIKINGS fan

Last weekend for Mav's "REAL" birthday, Judy took both of us to a Vikings game! It was the first time either one of us had to been to an NFL game. We left Thursday and spent the night in Fargo at Kel and Mal's and then left for the cities on Friday. We had a fantastic weekend shopping, eating, and spending time at Mav's aunt and uncle's house in Eagan. Steve met us there via a work trip (I know, nice work trip to a Vikings game in a suite at the stadium!). It was amazing being in the stadium with all those people - 62,000!!! We had really awesome seats, only 24 rows up from the stadium floor. It was a good game and the Vikings WON!!! Thank you thank you thank you Judy!

Craft time again...

I spent this last week and weekend at Jess's house in Devils Lake. I think we spent most the week doing some craft projects for the upcoming Halloween/Thanksgiving seasons. She sent me this link for a NO SEW runner, which I decided to make for the top of my piano. You basically cut the fabric to size and then iron bias tape (with heat bond) to both sides of the fabric. It was super easy and turned out sooooo cute and professional looking! :) I also tackled a Fall apron, curtesy of a pattern that Jess and I had reverse-engineered the last time I visited. I had an awesome time visiting and enjoyed our girl time together! We need to do that more often as I miss our crafting adventures, diet cokes, and junk food! :)

The end of deck season

As of today, I have officially accepted that it is now Fall. Mav and I did manage to have our family BBQ/deck party/early birthday party this last Saturday and it turned out to be a decent day given the change in season. The sun did make an appearance for Saturday and the temperature reached 55 degrees despite the ice and snow on the ground from the day before. We had a house full of family and had a really great afternoon eating, laughing, and enjoying the sun. Judy and Steve, Kelly and Mal, Jessie and Patrick, and my mom and dad all stayed with us on Saturday night. I loved loved loved having everyone under one roof and we all had fun just keeping each other company, trying to finish off the leftovers, and playing the wii. Here are just a couple of pics from the party. I was basically running around like a maniac trying to make sure everything was going ok (and it was, it was just me trying to be PERFECT) so I didn't get too many snapshots.

THANK YOU to everyone who came and graced us with your presence! We are blessed to have you all in our lives!