Family Christmas 2009

We finally celebrated Christmas last night, the Christmas Blizzard and the Flu prevented celebration on Christmas. Everyone gathered at my house for chatter and the requisite family photos.







And then on to the best part – gifts!! (I will admit my brother, dad, mom, and I already opened our gifts on Xmas as we couldn’t wait).









And an amazing dinner prepared by my parents (I host the shin dig but my only requirement is to have a clean house with the tables set for dinner – my cooking skills could not even come close to the skills of my parents).



I don’t have enough Christmas china for all so had to resort to my everyday Christmas dishes for a few tables. May need more Christmas china…

Oh yeah there was a football game last night…Sadly the men had to watch it on my computer as I am cheap and have the most basic cable package ever (which did not include ESPN).

Sorry guys! I am not a tv person so not worth the money to me. My dad’s advice “buy one less pair of shoes a month and upgrade your cable”. Classic. A very enjoyable evening with family. Thanks family for a fun evening, great food, and the great gifts. Love ya.

Winter Wonderland

I have definitely had my fill of snow and its only the end of December!! Scares me to think winter had only just begun. Council Bluffs has already had two major snowstorms with about a foot of snow each storm. I must admit it is very pretty though….






All these photos were taken at my parents on Christmas Day. We were snowed in so I decided the snow and their Akita puppy Elizabeth (Izzy) were great excuses to use my new Christmas present.





How often do you see corn stalks and over 2 feet of snow? Very very rare.



Once I finally made it home Aeisha was stir crazy and decided to brave the cold. This is huge for her as she hates cold and wet. Poor little desert kitty.

Watch out Picabo Street

I picked a star from the 90’s as that was the last time I skied! And I was sporting some very unstylish warm up pants from the 90’s (small college soccer stint) for my return to the sport - therefore no photos were taken below the waste. Even my brother commented on their ugliness – may need to invest in ski pants. I thought I hated skiing, turns out I actually enjoy it. A bit shaky the first few downhill runs, but towards the end I was feeling a bit more confident. Mostly snow plow on the bunny slopes but I didn’t crash (except maybe a few times getting off the lift…)

This lodge brought back many memories of eight and ninth grade when skiing equaled boys. Several of us girls would faithfully snap on skis and our finest ski clothes to chase after the bad boys that were regulars at ol Mt Crescent. Nothing like a ski hill in Iowa!

I must admit, it was a lot of fun and great exercise. I would like to try snowboarding – but they were out of boards yesterday. Maybe a blessing in disguise as skiing was hard enough. Justin of course is a natural and was on the “Blacks” within a few runs.

Snow Day

Most people make a last minute run to the grocery store in preparation of a big snowstorm, not I. I made a last minute run to the paint store. If I was going to get snowed in on Xmas Eve and miss my traditional father/daughter shopping day I might as well be productive. This hallway has been driving me nuts for quite some time.

Yes, I painted it this color. Obviously I was a horrible painter at the time and also had no design sense.

Really who paints the ceiling, walls, and woodwork red? Yuckee!

Xmas Eve was spent working on beautifying this small space.

Don’t you love my “vintage” ladder? I borrowed it from a shoddy contractor – my mom and aunt think it’s a bit unstable….Thanks better paint skills (I still need a bit of work on staying inside the lines) and a brand new camera.

Voila. The new and improved entryway.


(please ignore the mint green peaking out amongst the woodwork, I have brand new trim waiting to be installed once I stain it. Sadly the entire interior was once this color!!)

Merry Christmas!

Lets hope this pending storm doesn't cancel Christmas! It already ruined my yearly father daughter Xmas Eve shopping/lunch experience. We decided to reschedule for Saturday or Sunday to be safe. It is great to be home for Christmas and looking forward to spending it with my family. A quick photo recap of the past several Christmas's.

I hope everyone remembers the true meaning of Christmas this time of year and has a very merry Christmas with their family and friends. I feel blessed to have such an amazing family and amazing life.