Full House

Last weekend we hosted the family Christmas for my mom's side of the family. Despite the snow storm that came through on Saturday, everyone still managed to travel to our home safely. It had been a year since I had seen most of my aunts and uncles, and even two years for one aunt and uncle. So it was really great to see everyone and have us all together for our early White Christmas. Below are some pictures from the weekend...

My mom was a lifesaver in the kitchen. She worked really hard to prepare a feast for us, including our traditional Turkey and Dumplings... mmmm....

My step-dad, Greg, relaxing in the living room.

As always, Harli was especially nice to anyone who had food. Here she is cozying up to Aunt Shirley and her cookie.

Scot's mom, Michele, helping in the kitchen.

My step-son, Matt, graciously served as our photographer for the day.

Greg, Uncle Melvin, and Aunt Shirley watching the football games while the feast is prepared.

My youngest cousin, Claire, posing for the camera.

Aunt Cheri also posing for the camera. :)

Uncle Barry and his daughter, Claire.

My step-son, Andy, hanging out with Allie on the stairs. Andy was under the weather last weekend (and still is), so he wasn't feeling overly sociable.





Harli and her new best girlfriend, Scarlett, posing under the Christmas tree. Scarlett is my Uncle Ed and Aunt Cheri's little pup. I wasn't sure how Harli would do having another dog in her home (she can be very territorial.) However, Scarlett and Harli had a lot of fun together and loved taking turns chasing each other around the house.

Aunt Glenda and her daughter, Claire.

Scot's mom, Michele, and her "man," Rob. :)

The Hanstein Clan.

All of the Hansteins stayed the night at our house on Saturday, and then we all went for an enjoyable brunch on Sunday morning. By then the roads had cleared enough for everyone to have safe travels home. It was a great weekend, and we really enjoyed seeing everyone. Hope to see everyone again soon!

Oh, Christmas Tree(s)

I have been a little neglectful (busy) lately so I apologize for the lack of postings. Since Christmas is only 5, count 'em, 5 days away, I thought I would post some pictures that are Christmas in nature. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we put up 3, count 'em 3, Christmas trees this year. So here are some pictures of our forest...

Here is the newest addition to our family. We splurged and bought a new tree for the living room this year. Since the ceilings are so high in our living room, our old trees would have looked like dwarf trees! The best part about the tree? It's pre-lit! I know they have been around for quite a while, but this is the first pre-lit tree we've ever had. Boy, was it great not to have to mess with the lights!

Here is the tree in the kitchen/dining room area. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but it has (fake) sugared-fruits and grape bunches on it.

And here is the "girly glam" tree in the bar room. I got the idea from a Christmas tree I saw at a silent auction a few months ago (yes, the one that the lady cheated and outbid me after the time was up.) It is done in all purple, silver, and black. Not your traditional Christmas tree, but I love it (and as you can see, so does Harli!)

It has dragonfly ornaments. Most of you know that I love dragonflies, and that I always keep one very close to me. :)

And there are little black heels...

And sassy sparkly heels... These remind me of Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, but in purple!

Merry Christmas to you all!

A little more holiday fun...


http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/rnUljSqgDznH0EgcPI7dJTFi

We've been elfed!

I've had a few other friends "elf" themselves, so I thought I would give it a try, too!

Click on the link below for a little holiday fun!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1483256416

All Aboard!

In my last entry, I mentioned that Scot and I (and Andy) were banished to our bedroom last night (watching the depressing Mizzou loss). So I felt that I should provide some additional explanation of our banishment.

Well, Matt's girlfriend, Jenny, recently had a birthday. Since Matt cannot drive yet, they've never been able to go to dinner just the two of them. Therefore, for her birthday gift we planned out a fun little date night for just the two of them last night. The theme: A Night on the Orient Express. So Matt and I made up something to look like a train ticket. It had the Orient Express insignia, her name, the departure date and time (last night, 6:30), the name of the terminal (her street name), the track (her house number), and the train, car, and seat numbers (the month, date, and year of their anniversary). It turned out really cute. So Matt gave this to Jenny at her birthday party last weekend, but wouldn't tell her what it was for.

So we/the train picked Jenny up last night (the train arrived closer to 6:40 due to the ice storm we got yesterday). We then dropped Matt and Jenny off at Kobe's Japanese Steakhouse so they could have dinner on their own. This is one of those restaurants where you sit around the grill and the chef prepares your meal in front of you. It's very interactive, and they said they really liked it. Meanwhile, Scot, Andy, and I went to Old Chicago for our dinner and to watch the first part of the Missouri game. Matt texted us when they were finished, and we went to pick them up. Oh yeah- at dinner he gave her a necklace. It was the Chinese symbol for Love. OK- so our theme had a few inconsistencies- Japanese restaurant, Chinese symbol. Get over it. :)

After dinner, we all returned back to our house so they could watch the classic movie, Murder on the Orient Express. We let them watch it in the living room on the big TV, which brings us back to why Scot, Andy, and I were banished to our bedroom. Their opinions were mixed about the Orient Express movie, but overall they said they really enjoyed the evening. Matt did good to keep everything a surprise, so Jenny didn't know what was going on until it happened. This allowed us to have some fun with her. On the way home from dinner we were teasing about the next part of the night- anywhere from watching the Japanese version of Godzilla to a subtitled Kung-Fu movie.

There was another "fun," but unplanned part of the evening. Due to the aforementioned ice storm, our driveway was a sheet of ice (the roads were fine, but the driveway hadn't melted yet.) So when we pulled into the driveway after dinner, our car stopped about halfway up and then started turning and sliding backwards. We ended up turning 90 degrees across the driveway, and then slid back down. It was a little scary, for fear that we were going to go forward into our ditch. However, Scot maneuvered it beautifully, and we just ended up turning a complete 180 degrees and drove back out of our driveway. So we drove once more around the street (we live on a circle), and then pulled back into our driveway and successfully made it into our garage! We joked and said it was a planned part of the theme of the night. Ever heard of the movie, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift"...

So except for the Missouri loss, the evening seemed to be a success!

Happy December!

I know, you must be thinking... Wow, that was one hell of a long 6th day in Hawaii! Sorry, I've been out of the blogosphere for almost a month. This past month has been very hectic, and somehow updating the blog never made it to the top of my "to-do" list. I'll try to do better...I promise! Scot and I are banished to our bedroom tonight (more on that in another entry), so I thought it would be a good time to type up an entry. As I type, Scot, Andy, and I are sitting on our bed watching the Mizzou/Oklahoma game. Go Mizzou!

So, what "excuses" do I have for being so neglectful to my blogging duties? During the last month, I had to do some traveling to Mississippi for work. Taking the time to get ready to leave town, then being out of town, really put me behind on my normal tasks in life. Then, on top of that, I've been super busy at work when I've been in town, too. As most of you know, I received a promotion in October. Well, that's the "good news." I put "good" in quotes, because I accepted the position under the pretense that they would be hiring someone to take over my old position. Well, basically that has been put on hold until at least the first of the year. Not to mention that it will take a minimum of three months to get someone trained and functional once they are even hired. So, I've not only been trying to keep up with all of the responsibilities from my old position, but I've also been thrust into the responsibilities of my new position, including travel. And who doesn't love doing two jobs for an extended period of time with no definite end in sight? Well, I'll answer that question, "Not me!" Sorry to sound so disgruntled. But the truth is, I am! But I'll stay positive, and hope that things will get better soon before I'm 100% burned out.

We've also been in full-on Christmas mode. I say "we" as this means "me," but Scot has been willingly dragged along for the ride! This holiday season we've done two things we've never done before:

1) We put up our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving this year. This has always been a no-no in our opinions. Well, due to our schedule, it was the only practical time to do it. On top of that, we also put up 3 trees this year! I love it! We bought a new tree for the living room since we have such high ceilings in there. Then we put up the two trees that he and I each had, one in the kitchen and one in the bar room. Scot and the boys have given me a hard time for having so much "Christmas cheer" all over the house, but I know they secretly love it! There is one place by the kitchen table where you have a line of sight to all three trees. Scot will stand there and say he feels like he's in a forest. :) Maybe I'll post pictures of our "forest" soon.

2) We also went shopping the day after Thanksgiving this year. This is something I had never done and said I would never do. However, we happened to be back at my mom's in Mexico, so Scot and I decided to drive over to Columbia to get ahead on our Christmas shopping. No, we didn't do the doorbusters at 4am. We went for the afternoonbusters around 1pm. OK- so I think I just made that term up. Either way, we still got really good deals, and the crowds were no where near what I was expecting. Toys R Us was the most crowded place. And, I'm happy to report that except for finishing up Matt and Andy's shopping, we are ALL finished with our Christmas shopping. AND everything is wrapped and under the tree! Woo-hoo! Go me!

Well, those are the "hi-lights" of the past month's craziness. I have to travel for work again this week. The "fortunate" part, however, is that it is to Boonville, MO. So at least I can see family and friends in Mexico and Columbia while I'm there.

Wow- I just noticed I have an excessive amount of "quotes" in this entry. :)