Winter Photo Fun

We've enjoyed snapping a few more photos outside this winter. Enjoy! We finally caught a blue jay on our bird feeder outside! Also, D's dad made each of the kids a birdhouse for Christmas that will now entail a little friendly competition. He said that whoever can get the first photo of a wren on the house will get a $25 gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice. Being in the country, we think our odds are good it could be us! Let the competition begin!
Before we could begin holiday travel, Justin had to clear the way so we could get our "sleigh" through! Here he is on his toy!

The beauty of the ice on our fencing at the bottom of the driveway.

We've been attempting getting that "perfect shot" for our 2008 Christmas photo ornament. Our goal is to have our house in the background to remember our first Christmas in the house. Here are our attempts! Let us know your favorite! Number one is above followed by 2, 3, and 4. As you'll see, the house is not well seen in all, and my hair looks actually good in one...but you can't see the darn house! Shoot!

Christmas 2008 in IA

We started our Christmas travels to D's parents. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning there. For Christmas lunch, we were at a cousin's home. D enjoyed snowmobiling with her brother, Darin, as well as the traditional Christmas Eve hot dog roast in the fireplace.Posing for a Christmas photo.
Siblings Dana, Darin and Deedra. Sister noted that the star was over the "angel." HA!

Mom and Dad pose for a photo of their own.

Christmas Eve coloring with the kids...where did those kids go anyway?

Kiddos on Christmas morning.

Christmas 2008 in MN

We enjoyed the weekend in MN with Justin's family. Our traditional family photos are below. Howard and Linda
Justin and Deeds

Todd and Alyssa

Nate and Cori Ann Eric and Ang Baby Ty with Dad. Our nephews got these helmets for a gift. Justin and his brother, Nate, enjoyed playing with them just as much. None of us were fortunate enough to catch a photo of them together, but here's Justin clowning around!More playtime...Justin was trapped in a tent with nephews Jordan, Brady and Cody. Cousins together Cousins in their PJs

Winter Wonderland

A few sights and sounds from our acreage this weekend. We're now getting the "full effect" of living in the country! (Sorry one of the videos below isn't flipped the right way. If anyone knows how to fix that, let me know!)

Young Adults for Christmas

Our young adults from church were over last Sunday night. Wishing you guys a Merry Christmas!

Justin realized after they left that we'd hosted 3 dinner parties in 8 days. Whew. I think I'm ready for take-out! Just kidding-we enjoyed every moment.

My Students

My student employees came for our annual Christmas get together last night. We had tacos for supper (Feliz Navidad!), played Apples to Apples and enjoyed National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. A few of them stuck around until 10:30-that's late for this lady, but I had so much fun! We enjoyed learning about Ashley's life, in particular. She grew up in the Marshal Islands so we had lots of questions for her. This is one neat part of my job-getting to know so many great, unique college students.

Decorating

Per request of our Minnesota family, a tour through our decorated home in pictures.

We begin with, fittingly, the front door. The pine branches were taken from our backyard trees.Entryway. My project last winter was making picture frame ornaments for each year of our marriage. I used a photo taken at Christmas of each year and had them printed in black and white. I then added the year in the bottom corner and purchased silver frames from Hobby Lobby-always at 50% off!! A fun project that was especially fun to put on the tree this year in our dining room.

The kitchen. I've lugged this grapevine (above the window below) from my one bedroom apartment, to our former home and now our current home. I like finding lightweight things to hang in it all year round for decoration. This is the Charlie Brown tree we put in the corner in our living room. I found these great black and silver bulbs on the sale rack after the season last year. Sorry if I'm sounding like Martha Stewart! Wrapped gifts make great decorations too! These are on top of our entertainment center.

Our "sitting room" also got a tree! This one is all in green and the room itself is green. My dad had made me this ladder a few years ago and it works great to display Christmas books.

The stairs leading upstairs.

Basket full of pinecones and pines from our trees outside. Bathroom upstairs. I've always loved this funky green for Christmas!