Girls Night Out!

Tonight was Ladies Night!! Misha, Christina and I went out for dinner and then a Hope basketball game. We had a blast and laughed so hard our cheeks hurt! We started by picking up Misha at her condo so we could inspect her nice digs and then it was off for some yummy pizza! We ate breadsticks and pepperoni/mushroom pizza (the mushroom was for the two of them, NOT ME). Then it was off to the Hope men's basketball game. We got free reserved seats from my Aunt Eva and Uncle Cal and boy, they were comfortable!! We were also in the VIP section with the college president and his wife right behind us and then our U.S. House Representative and his wife right behind them!! To top it all off, our boss from work and his family were one row in front of us. Do you think that stopped us from laughing loud and proud? Nay, in fact it might have even encouraged us to dance with the music. :) Thanks for a great night ladies! Here are the two yahoos eating breadsticks. Hey, save a few for me!
This is one of my favorite pictures! They both laughed at me because I brought along the camera, but by the end of the night they were asking me to take it out!

Here's my lovely Aunt Eva. She gave us a behind the scenes look at her office...and a few "other" offices....

...like Men's Basketball coach....Glenn VanWieren

On the way home we got stopped by a train....so what's a girl to do? Yep, take out the camera and take another picture!

No shots needed!

I've been waiting for this two week vacation to get a few things done. I don't know about you, but I have a loooong to-do list. One of the things on the list was to call my insurance company to find out what immunizations they will cover for my trip to Ethiopia. Well, it was disappointment...they will only cover the recommended childhood vaccinations. I need a few more than these for my trip to Africa. The next item on the list was to call the Health Department to find out which immunizations I've already had. I know...if I had kept my immunization card, I would know the answer to this...but I can't find it. I'm normally a VERY organized person, but this time it required a call to the health department. I got the nicest person to help me. After a few questions and a little conversation, I realized that I don't need ANYTHING!! I've already had it all. :) I went on a mission trip to Ecuador where I was in a remote area and I must have gotten all the shots. That was ten years ago. Most of the shots are good for ten years and they don't "expire" until later in 2009. I'm planning on traveling before they expire and even if I don't, I'll only need two booster shots. Woohoo! No new shots for me!

Nothing new, just an old photo

A few days ago I posted about the cookies I spent the day making for our cookie exchange. My friend just emailed me a picture of the exchange. We had 1200 cookies! It was a fun night and the cookies have come in handy at all our parties this week.

Not much happened here today. Abby and I went to church this morning, both took naps this afternoon and went out to McDonald's for dinner. I needed to get out of the house and Abby needed to run and get rid of some energy. Now we're settled in with pj's and blankets watching The Sound of Music.

Let's Party On!

Today was the last Christmas party. We had dinner and presents with my mom's side of the family. Abby and I had a great time again! It sure is fun to have a week full of one party after another. My grandpa is 92 years old and amazing! My grandma is 89 years old and just as amazing. They were so cute tonight and loved having all of their children and most of their grandchildren there for dinner. There was lots of love and laughter. Christ sure has blessed our family. It's nice to be together with your family with the knowledge that each person has made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. What a blessing! Here are my cousins, Peter and Matt with our awesome Grandpa!
My Aunt Eva, cousin Matt and me

The girls!! Aunt Eva, Aunt Nancy and my sister in law Jodi. Everyone in this picture, except me, is an in-law. Didn't they choose well?

My amazingly awesome Grandma!

My cousins, Peter and Matt

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Here are a few pictures of our day. Enjoy! Abby's busy waiting for Papa and Nana to arrive so she can open her stocking. She's waiting by the front window watching for their car.
She ripped into her stocking and got lots of Strawberry Shortcake stuff.

She got a new booster seat for the car. She instantly fell on top of it with excitement.

Look at those big eyes....she loved her magnext.

Abby gave Papa a new mouse pad.

Abby gave Nana some new rubbermaid tupperware.

New princess clogs

There was even a present for our new baby sister. Abby volunteered to open it for her.

The biggest hit was the Groovy Girls collection. She got about 6 dolls, all the beach accessories, camping accessories and tons of clothes for the dolls. We spent most of the day changing outfits on the dolls.

Here she is in her new booster seat with her Groovy Girls.

Merry Christmas Everyone! May Christ bless you richly with His love and peace.

And it just keeps coming...Party #2

Every once in a while you meet a family that completely rocks your world. The Z's do that for us! They're not related to us, but they're just as close as family. In fact our kids call the parents "grandpa" and "grandma". We've known each other for over 20 years and that's still not long enough. We love them! Here's the whole gang! There were 14 of us in all.

Hannah and Jessica at their best.

Abby chowing down on her three different breakfast casseroles!

Mike turns 50 in January, but we thought we should give the presents early.

After breakfast the adult conversation go too boring for the kids, so Julia, Sophie and Abby headed outside to play in the snow.

Jessica, Sophie, Hannah and me just hanging around on the couch.

Julia and I decided to take our own pictures. I love spending time with her! She's such a cuddle bunny and is so much fun to have around.

Abby and Julia - two crazy cousins!

The guilty doughnut stealer!!

Christmas party #1...

Today was a great day! Since the weather has been so awful, we were starting to get depressed that my sister and her family weren't going to make it for Christmas. Today around noon we got a call from Beth and Jeff, they were coming early, in fact they were coming tonight! Since there was a break in the weather, traveling would be easier. So, we all gathered at my parents house for dinner and Christmas presents. We has so much fun! The kids loved everything and they all shared. Thank you Lord for family, for presents and for holding the weather off for a 24 hour period. But most of all...Thank you Lord for your SON! Uncle Jeff and Aunt Beth

Aunt Jodi with all the kids

Uncle Dave and Seth

Here they are...the most beautiful children in the world!! They're patiently waiting for the present ripping to begin.

Abby and her new doll Brianna Elisabeth. It was love at first sight! Thank you Uncle Jeff and Aunt Beth.

Sophie--What a beautiful princess

Lauren got a musical toothbrush that plays 2 minutes of a Hannah Montana song.

Seth got a spiderman glove that makes noise and squirts spider web "stuff". He did everything one handed all night because he didn't want to take it off.

A Leapster 2 from Papa and Nana!

Abby and Sophie...the best of friends!

New pajamas from Aunt Jodi and Uncle Dave! They're perfect!

Sophie and Papa are two peas in a pod.

Julia got a ton of Hannah Montana stuff and she wore it ALL night! She was thrilled!

Abby, Sophie and Lauren all playing with the make-up and lipstick.

Lauren and me...two superstars in the making!

What an incredibly loud and crazy night! I wouldn't have it any other way.

Going a little stir-crazy

UGH!! The snow just won't stop! Yesterday (Sunday) we woke up to white-out conditions and blowing snow. Wind gusts were between 35-40 mph! There were over 600 church closings, so we got ready to hunker down at home. My mom and dad called around 10 and asked if we would like to come over. My dad volunteered to come and pick us up in the truck since my subdivision hadn't been plowed. They also picked up our refugee family. We spent the afternoon playing cards, building gingerbread houses and taking naps. I measured the snow again this morning and now we're up to 19 inches, but I think there's more than that. Most of the snow has been swirling around and the snow drifts are 4-5 FEET high! The meteorologists officially put us in a blizzard yesterday afternoon.

We're expecting another snow storm tomorrow night with an additional 4-10 inches. I'm worried that my sister, who lives out of state, and her family won't make it for Christmas. Abby and I are again inside for the day. We may pull on our snow pants, bundle up and venture outside to shovel later this afternoon. It's amazing how stir-crazy you can get when you're snowed in! Look at that cheesy face! She was so excited about building the house that she got a little crazy. Abby wanted to make another house as soon as we were done with this one. Then she wanted to add people and to play with it. Here's the finished house. She loved it!!

Just Relaxing...

I know...this is an interesting picture. But I just wanted to share how awesome my neighbors are!! Christina, my amazing neighbor, shoveled a path between our houses.

You see, we usually visit with each other all summer long, but now that the snow has arrived and I've gone back to school, our visits are shorter and quicker. Abby and I ventured over there this morning to deliver some Christmas cookies and then later they came over to borrow some cooking supplies, and then again later on to return them. We're getting sick of walking all the way down to the road and then up the driveway to the houses so Christina just shoveled a path between the houses. What a great idea!!

Anyway, Abby and I have had a relaxing day. We started with breakfast at McDonalds and then it was off to school. Since we had a snow day yesterday, there were several things I needed to get in order before our Christmas vacation started. After a few hours there this morning I don't have to go back again until school starts. After a quick trip to the grocery store, we've been home ever since. I actually got to read my book this afternoon! Abby's been as happy as a clam, just playing with all her toys. Ahh...vacation is good.

O The Weather Outside Is Freightful!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! Well it doesn't show signs of stopping!!
I awoke this morning to my cell phone ringing at 5:15 in the morning! It was a good phone call. Today was a snow day!! We've been expecting this huge snowstorm and we're not disappointed. It's here and it's STILL coming down. I opened the slider onto the deck and put out my yard stick. As you can see we have just over 11 inches of snow and it's only 10 in the morning. Our winter storm warning goes until 7:00 tonight. I didn't even up the yardstick in the deepest part of the snow so we may even have more than that, but I couldn't reach any farther out without stepping in the snow myself and I wasn't about to get cold and wet. We're in for several more accumulating inches tomorrow night and again next week. We're definitely having a white Christmas!
Abby and I have been quite lazy this morning. I drank my coffee watching Good Morning America and we stayed in our pj's for most of the morning. We'll see if we actually venture out of the house today. The plows haven't been in my subdivision yet so I'm not sure I would even make it out of the driveway.