At Least One Post in January!

Woh! Where did the past almost two months go? I have no idea.

We had a pretty awesome, but busy Christmas. It included lots of awesome church/music/Jesus Birthday activities, and gatherings with friends. I can't believe it's the new year already! Here are some pictures to recap some of our activities in the past couple months.

First up is our visit to my dear friend Rachel's for the weekend. Rachel moved closer to us about two years ago (an hour and a half away instead of 3 hours) and every since we've been talking about Sam and me coming up for a weekend. Nick and I sat down with our calendar at the beginning of the fall and picked out a weekend that would work for him. So in early November Sam and I left Nick all by himself with no car for the weekend and drove up north to Wautoma. Rachel's daughter, Lucy, is just a few months younger than Sam. We were all looking forward to spending time together. Rachel has been one of my very best friend since high school. Spending time with her comes naturally. It was nice to have no agenda for the weekend except to hang out. The kids had a great time, and Rachel and I bonded over board games and a little work out time. We have so much in common with our take on being stay at home moms that it's always refreshing to hang out with Rachel. She clued me in to a very handy housework check list that I've been using every week since my visit. I've also been working out on a regular basis, thanks to Rachel's encouragement.




I love this one of Sam and Lucy! The kids were getting a little stir crazy so we all got our coats on and ran out to the mailbox.


Late November brought Thanks Giving. Ever since my in-laws (Nick's Step mom and Dad) moved up to Door County, I've been trying to come up with any excuse I can to get up there. They are about three hours away. It makes for a great budget friendly vacation that has the added bonus of including family. While up there Nick and Sam had the chance to try out Herbie's four wheeler. We also went to the smallest, cutest Thanks Giving Parade I've ever seen. Nick's grandma Millie and Aunt Barb cooked up the BEST Thanks Giving meal I've every eaten. I am convinced that what made it so special is the fact that Mil and Barbed were able to use many of the vegetables they'd taken from there garden this past fall. Included were home grown potatoes (mashed), home grown sweet corn, home grown green beans, home made stuffing and the list goes on.



We ended our Thanks Giving evening with a few friendly games of Polish Poker. Now usually I don't gamble, but with this game requiring only three quarters to play I really don't mind. That and I usually win the pot at least once!



Late this past November my dear cousin Tammy got married. It was a much anticipated wedding, as all weddings in our family are. I was sad to note that we're getting short on cousins to marry off and will soon have to come up with other venues in which to get the family together. As always we had a great time!

Wow, Sam's quiet time somehow turned into nap time. That almost never happens. Since I have a little more time on my hands than anticipated I'm going to wrap this post up so I can get more stuff done!

I hope and pray that you all had a blessed Christmas and fun New Year!

diana