Christmas 2011

This past Christmas season was great.  We spent time with both of our families and got to see family we hadn't seen in a long time.  The gifts we got weren't so bad either :)

Christmas Eve we have always gone to Saybrook to be with my parents and some cousins.  This year, though, we decided we would just stay at home.  We spent the night cooking dinner together and watching movies.  We had a great time.

Christmas morning we exchanged gifts with each other right after we woke up and then loaded up the car and headed to Saybrook.  Jeff got my a great gift- a Kindle Fire!!!  I was so shocked as I had not asked for it, but he knew that it was a good gift since I had asked for an iPad a long time ago.

In Saybrook all of my family was there.  It's so fun to be their with Sid and Mady and how fun it is for them to open presents.  WARNING: Picture Overload :)

Dad and his flashing light hat!

Sid and Mady passing out the stockings

Kelli and Aubrey opening presents

Dad and his fishing buddies.  Their hats both said Grandpa's fishing buddy.

The boys waiting to open gifts

Sid and Mady giving each other love....actually just trying to tackle each other.

Some of the gifts passed out

Aubrey's gifts being opened...she fell asleep

Mady's turn

Her truck

Mady's princess lunch box

Sid (im)patiently waiting his turn

Sid opening the sleeping bags.  They got 3 and also a tent so they can go camping.

Sid and his Lego's

Kelli excited she got a GPS!

Neil in his Stoneyfield gear from Aunt Kathy & Uncle Den

Neils Sweatshirt

Aubrey woke up and was spending time with Uncle Nathan

Jeff got what he wanted.....more Christmas lights...

and a high powered BB gun

Dad opening his gift from Jeff and I, and Nathan's family

tears were starting to flow here

"No kidding!"  He's going to see Neil Diamond in concert in July.  Neil Diamond is one of his favorite artists and he has never gotten the chance to see him in concert.  Jeff & I decided to splurge on the tickets and get him a Christmas gift he wouldn't forget.  He is very excited!

After we left Saybrook, we headed home and relaxed for a little bit before we headed to be with Jeff's family.  We exchanged gifts, ate, and talked.

Overall, we had a great Christmas and are very thankful for all of the gifts that everyone gave us.

Holidays 2011

I'm planning on posting about our holidays in the next few days.  We had a lot of family time, a little of Jeff & Natalie time, and great time with friends!  I'm hoping to post tonight

Blessing Ring

I saw a craft on pinterest and tried it out.  It's called a Blessing Ring and holds cards and/or memories from special events.  The blessing ring I did was for our wedding and all of our cards.

I used a ring necklace that I found at Hobby Lobby.  The one I saw on pinterest had ribbons added, which I may still do but now there are no ribbons, just a lot of cards!

I also added one of our wedding programs to the ring.  I think it turned out great and I really like having all of the cards together.

Bear Down Chicago Bears

Last weekend hubs and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary one more time.  He had been mentioning for the last few years wanting to go to a Chicago Bears game.  I had never been, so I thought it would be a great idea for us to go together.  I ordered tickets back in August and gave them to him on our anniversary.  We were both excited to go!  We had ahhhh-mazing seats in the north endzone.  I won't lie it was cold- but we got to experience a Bears game all bundled up and had a great time, even though they lost.  It was fun and I am already looking forward to going back sometime and eventually making it a tradition with our future children.

Pictures from the game

After the game, we headed back to our hotel, complements of my company.  We stayed at the Palmer House.  It was very nice!

from here

I wish I would have taken pictures while we were there- it was all decked out for the Holidays with some gorgeous trees!

After getting cleaned up we headed to Ruth's C*hris Steak House.  We had a great dinner with my company.  It was awesome planning on my part to get tickets for the weekend my company had a meeting in Chicago! :)  I didn't plan it at all- I just happened to pick that game and a few months later I was invited to the meeting.  It worked out great.  We got a few days away and we got to enjoy some of the luxuries of Chicago.

Pinterest

Lately, I have discovered the world of pinterest (Need an invite?  Just let me know!)  Follow me here.  I love looking at all of the different ideas that others have as well as design aspects.

Some of my favorites lately have been design/remodel ideas.  Jeff and I are toying with the idea of a major renovation at our house.  We've pretty much decided that we are going to be here for awhile, so we might as well make it like we want it.  Here are some ideas I have found that I would love to go into our renovation.

Bathroom-  We have  a full bath in our master bedroom that desperately needs work done!

something very sleek, yet traditional

-a tiled shower

-no bath tub ( we have another bathroom with a tub)

-NO CARPET ON THE FLOOR!!!

-calming color

-functional, something that doesn't require lots and lots of time to clean and keep organized

More ideas later

It's time to keep up on this!

I have been blog absent lately--again.  I am going to try and make writing down my daily happenings at least once a week, if not two.  The last few weeks have been pretty slow around here.

Jeff & I had a nice Thanksgiving by ourselves.  He has been working a lot, so we just stayed home.  I made a turkey breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and dressing.  It was pretty good if I do say so myself.

This weekend-well tomorrow- we are headed to Soldier Field!  I got Jeff tickets for this game for our anniversary back in August.  I was hoping that by this time in the year he would be able to have the whole weekend off and enjoy Chicago.  Unfortunately, he's working so we will be heading up tomorrow morning and staying until Monday.  It worked out well that my work has a conference on Monday in Chicago so we'll stay overnight and then I"ll head to the conference while Jeff gets to chill out.  If you're watching the game we are in the north end zone in row 16.  I'm excited to go because I have never been to an NFL game, but I love me some football!

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