Christmas

Christmas weekend was a busy one! I don't have an organized array of pictures to share with you....just some we took here and there and I got from my mom;) 

Friday night the family came up and we went to CCC's "early" Christmas Eve service. Adam had been working on the video and design of this service for awhile so it was fun to go and see what he has been up to:) The family rushed to get to our place by 6...and we continued to rush while inhaling the lasagna that I made (yep, one of the three dishes I can make), and got out of the door by 6:30. The service was great and I was so proud of the husband!

After the service we all spent the night at my parent's house! I was so excited ALL of us were! Ohhhh yeahhhh!!! We opened presents, had desserts, and some of us stayed up until 2 to watch The Help. I read the book and it was amazing...the movie was great as well. Adam and I kept thinking about all night however (5 am to be specific)...."emotional roller coaster" were the words he used to express his feelings about the movie. 

We had fun with Belle before she headed off back to the Netherlands this last Tuesday. Sad. We will all miss her! We hope that in the future we can visit her;)

Dad borrowed one of Adawg's ties. They just scream holiday cheer.

AMari made us all blankets...sweet thing.

Belle rockin the Ray Bans she got for Christmas!

Dad doing his "JC Penny Modeling" tradition for when he receives new apparel.

Adam shooting the arrow....

Us looking for the arrow Adam shot...and lost..and never found. It was his 1st time;)

The cousins were back and that was quite lovely. Al from Chicago and Mols and J from California. Loveeee it.

Al stayed a bit longer in NE to hang out with yours truly. I showered her with fun and memorable times including Golden Graham cereal, Pancheros, and $30 bumpers. We basically lounged like Bruce in the picture below the majority of the time. 

B thought this was his new spot...until Adam took it down. Sadness all around.

 We are off to Adam's dads this weekend. Sadly, we both forgot to take pics the weekend before at Adam's moms side:( But I assure you, fun was had! I'm pretty sure Adam, Thomas, Tyler, and I may have been "doodle jumping" at the same time in the same room. What more could you ask for?

Ryan & Vlanca Time

So, Adam's college buddy, Ryan, and Ryan's gf, Vlanca, are in town for the holidays. We got to hang out back to back...both school nights;) I know. Tis' the season. Yesterday, we went to Kona. Couldn't get in for happy hour and so we ended up spending a pretty penny for dinner. I may or may not have complained about a $168 tab....but, it's just we don't usually "dine" that way. We usually hit up the local cheap spots. My fav, being Hy-Vee Chinese, which I talk about way too often, classy, I know. Anyways...to sidetrack quick, after being stunned by the bill I had a dream that night that Adam and I were "held up" and I was trying to "bargin" with the "killers" that I would only give them $400. Ha. Then, they pulled out guns. I woke up in the middle of the night and told Adam that "I didn't care about money and how much things cost...as long as we are safe"....ha. Adam made sure to remind me of that one the next morning;)

So, Ryan and Vlanca came over today right after we got off work and...you'll never guess it...made us dinner! I know! It was amazing. Ryan whipped up these tasty sandwiches with turkey, apple, and fancy cheese. Plus, they brought cupcakes. I was in heaven. We both were. After they left we talked about how we needed to make the "Ryan sandwiches" on a weekly basis. It was fun. Vlanca and I heard about old "college stories" from the boys who both "know how old the oldest tree is"...special ones they are...it was fun. 

And Adam and I stayed in love...and finished the food and wine....and this all happened by 10pm. 

Happy last day of school for 2011 for me tomorrow! Cheers world!

Merry Christmas....

...from the Andersons.

Christmas Tree Time at the Ziegs

Today we all met up to find a Christmas tree for my mom & dad's house! This has been a little tradition for us ever since Alex, Austin, and I were little. We would all take turns on who would get to "pick" the tree for that year. This year...Belle was the one! So, we geared up and set out!

Dad stayin classy in his Santa hat.

And Alex stayin classy in those boots.

 

The tree was a Blue Spruce ended up being very prickly and sharp! We had to resort to gloves as we decorated...I even bled a little on my pointer finger:( Aw...you feel so sad for me, right? The price you pay. Luckily, we had Michael W. Smith's Christmas album going on in the background which has a special Christmas place in my heart. So I got through...

And I even got a "little real tree" of my own (since ours is artificial)...yeah, it's so scrawny and cute! It's the little things.

It was just fun to hang out with the fam and laugh and stuff. Gotta love 'em!

Check it!

So Adam has been working night and day on his new freelance website! It is finally done! Check it out: http://www.doubleacreative.com/

Nice job Babyyyy!!! Proud wife here:)  If I had to choose you or the sun, I'd be one nocturnal son of a gun.

Some Girls Trying to Bake

So we decided to get the "book club" together and hang out this month. We also tried to bake some sweets to celebrate Jen turning 27. 

To be honest, my party expectations are a little high for the stage of life that I am now in. I'm used to planning parties with my girlfriends back in college with themes and themed outfits and loud music and dancing and lots of people. Hmm....after tonight, I realized that we are just on to a new stage in life. Hahaa. And that's okay. More lounging and talking and tiredness on a Friday after working full weeks! However, we did take in the calm Friday night with lots of food, wine, and conversations:) and Liz was in town from Florida! So that was a fun surprise...