Thank You!

Kabe got another package yesterday from Aunt Candice, Uncle Eric, Bre & Jayce yesterday. He loves to check the mail and the front door for packages. He sorts the envelopes everyday to check & see if there's anything in it for him - everyday. He *loves* mail. Keep in mind, he almost never receives any. So you can imagine his excitement when he actually had a package yesterday.



Can you imagine his excitement when he opened it up and found Transformers? Wow. He didn't put them down all night and thought he needed to take them to school this morning.


Thank you, Aunt Candice, Uncle Eric, Bre & Jayce! You're the best!

Home!

We made it home safe and sound from Iowa and of course, Kabe still had one more gift to open from us. Santa Claus had made his visit to Iowa, but this gift was just to big to haul back and forth and would be too tempting to open while we were there and of course, with 1300+ pieces we didn't need to leave any behind.
Being all about Star Wars these days, this was a huge hit! Since I'm posting retro, I'll be posting the finished product pics soon. (he's almost insistent!...sorry - bear with me).


Also found at home, a HUGE broken tree limb in the back yard on the Bradford Pear. This just barely missed the house and unfortunately, will probably need to come down now or be trimmed immensely. These trees aren't known for their sturdyness and once they begin to break....they're done for. Goodbye master bedroom shade.

More Christmas

The last of our Christmases in Iowa ended at Aunt Kimmy's where Kabe got some fun table top games.

Presents are always fun, but it was really nice to see Aunt Kimmy and Jerry and get to spend some time with them, eating our favorite pizza....taco, from Godfathers...YUM! We love you Aunt Kimmy!

Christmas Day!

Christmas Day was pretty relaxing for us. Kabe woke us at 5:30am to see what Santa had brought him.









His favorite gift was Guitar Hero for his Nintendo DS.











He even got to play outside in the snow.








And so did grandpa!







Kabe learned how to play marbles and was really good at it!







And at the end of the day, we watched 'House' and had our own sort of slumber party.






My personal favorite of the whole trip...proof that Iowa brings out the hillbilly in all of us! ;)

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was a busy day with some time spent finishing up shopping and of course, there were presents to open!






We were joined by Adam's brother Andy and his family. Here's Casey (14), playing wii.






Kabe & Casey dueled the Nerf & Strike.








It's hard to get a decent picture of Gene & Connie, Adam's parents, together. This is the best I could do.






Connie starts her day really early, taking care of her chores and when we're there, she gives up her room so we'll have a place to sleep...she insists. So at the end of the day, this is what you'll find.

Special Friend

Do you have one of those people in your life that you've known forever, a special friend, someone who's always lookin' out for you?

Someone who makes you smile?

Kabe has a special friend.

They've known each other since he was born. Although they live pretty close, schedules don't permit that they see other as often as they'd like.

But when they're together, they talk & laugh and at this time of year, they even exchange Christmas presents!

Kabe is so lucky to have a special friend like Miss Candis.

Dinner, Presents and a Camel!

**Warning**
This post is long. Seriously. No, I mean, You know those Christmas letters you get that talk about each person in the family. Yep, the one with a paragraph about each member. A looonnnngggg paragraph. Now you're with me.

On Saturday our small group had it's annual Christmas Progressive Dinner. This year we started with appetizer's at Wayne's.
This is Ling & Karen. Doesn't Karen have a great smile?


Next we were at Judy's for salad.


And then on to Lynne & Dick's for the main course.
Here's Lynne showing us she is a cook and here's a shot of Dick too.

Aren't Scott & Stacey cute? Connie & Diane took some time to warm by the fire and catch up.



Next, it was on to our house for dessert and the white elephant gift exchange. For those of you who've been in our home, you'll be surprised to know there were 19...YES, 19 people in the living room Saturday night. Yep, we're a pretty close-knit group. As you can see, we filled every knook & cranny. ;)


White elephant gift exchanges can mean different things to different people, but 'round these parts, it means, wrap up the nastiest junk you possess or want to get rid of, something partially used, don't like, ugly, don't want or whatever....pretty much anything goes. It's good for getting rid of junk, but of course, you'll get some sort of junk in return.
Here are Lynne & Dick obtaining a 'pretty' brass apple...with a face.

Lots of laughter....always a good time.

Deb will now be tranquil and Jay...he's in BIG. TROUBLE. He left this lovely carrot pitcher at our house when he left for the evening. Paybacks Jay. Paybacks.



Here's Adam with his gift....an oreo gift pack. Now don't go gettin' all excited for us. It's Six Year's Old. See....anything goes. We ditched the oreos & kept the mugs.

Wayne won the Seraphim Award for the night. First, he drew the pretty little ditty on top, but then someone stole it from him so then he chose and unwrapped the gorgeous number on the bottom. Now, what more does one bachelor need?

Kevin got a rubber ducky & a load of bath supplies...how appropriate. =)

Thanks to Judy for hauling everyone around!


Oh yeah...here's something you don't see in Illinois everyday. This was just around the corner from Dick & Lynne's...

Luke 2:8-14 (New International Version)

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

** See... I told you it was long! =) A+ If you're still reading this!