A Bake Exchange and So Much More!

As we are all aware, tragedy struck our community last week. The state was shaken by yet another act of violence. Despite the tragedy, we turned to our friendships for a good laugh and the reminder of love, kindness, hope and joy. I found each of these things among an incredible group of women on Monday night. 

Cara, Abby, and Jayne hosted a bake exchange. Friends, both Dutch and non-Dutch gathered around an amazing spread of baked goods. 

 We went around and introduced ourselves. We each had a story about our relationships with the Jansen/Syers families and we all had one thing in common...our love for cookies!

 I decided to bring my Mom's Triple Layer bars to share. 

Kim Krauth brought these crap-licious bars! Appearance isn't everything. 

And these are some delightful Elf On a Shelf poopsie cookies!

There were so many delights to share!

 Our gracious hosts...Jayne, Cara, and Abby.

I so love the picture above because these three ladies were well-deserving of a good laugh.  

 I came home with an amazing array of deliciousness. But even more so, I came home with a deep appreciation for my friends. I was so pleased to hear that Cara was still going to host despite the events that she had endured. The bake exchange became something more than delicious, worthwhile calories! It became a time for us to embrace friendship and to recall the joys in life despite such terror. I have a new-found appreciation for my friends and the strength that we can share with one another.

Until now, I certainly underestimated the joys that can be found in a Christmas treat!

Thank you for hosting ladies!

I Can't Believe She's Seven

Where does the time go? My daughter turned seven this past weekend and I can't hardly believe it! 

In an effort to cut back on the Birthday parties, we planned a small gathering at Skate City. Two of Elizabeth's girl friends came along with us. 

Elizabeth loves Skate City despite the fall after spill after crash! I think that we could play connect-the-dots with the bruises!

Elizabeth's school friends Avi and Claire.

Caleb and Jude joined in for the fun as well. Jude wasn't very interested in skating and spent some time at the video games. With a little assistance, Caleb was a champ! 

It helps when you have a semi-pro ice skater for a Mommy!

The only way we could get Elizabeth off of the skate floor was to have her open her gifts.

Her very first diary...here we go!

 My PTO duties brought us to Peabody for Cookies and Cocoa. We built gingerbread houses!

Daddy got Elizabeth exactly what she wanted.

Skylanders!!!

Elizabeth spent the night before with YaYa and Pops and we invited Grandma and Grandpa over for cake and ice cream. 

Elizabeth's favorite color is blue!!! Can't you tell?

The fun continued on Monday night when Aunt Julie took Elizabeth for her first manicure/pedicure!

Elizabeth even convinced Julie to put snowflakes on her toes! 

Six was a fun age! Elizabeth is thriving in the 1st grade and we are so very proud of everything that she has accomplished. Her fight with epilepsy, although difficult has made her incredibly brave and strong. Elizabeth is bright, and beautiful, and funny. We treasure every moment with our sweet Elizabeth and look forward to the great memories that seven will bring! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZABETH! MOM AND DAD LOVE YOU DEARLY!

Old & New Christmas Traditions

If memory serves me correctly, this will be my eighth Christmas with Nathan. Over the years, we have upheld old traditions that were dear to each of us. We have also developed new traditions that we share with dear friends. One of those is decorating the outside of the house with Christmas lights. With each house we move into, the decorations become more and more beautiful! 

Nate does a great job with the lights and who better to help than another electrician. This is the third year that Chris has helped us! 

Dana has also helped us every year. Dana is a huge part of the tradition and we are thankful that she still wants to help us string up tiny little lights every year!

Dana and I get the small but highly important projects like this garland and lights!

The final product, other than the reindeer that later went out! (Another big, time-consuming project that my electrician husband insisted we perfect.)

While the adults worked out in the cold, the girls (Elizabeth, Abby, Shae, and Reiley) enjoyed hot cocoa and popcorn while watching a Christmas movie!

Another valuable tradition is the Christmas tree, of course! 

Last year, we got a screaming-great Black Friday deal on a pre-lit tree! We would love to have a real tree (and may still purchase one for the Christmas party) but we have a very long history of bad Christmas tree luck. A dying tree strung with Christmas lights is a fire hazard that we would like to avoid!  

While shopping for a house, we would always picture the front room with a tree in it (a deal-breaker so to speak). This house has a lovely front window and our tree glows beautifully in front of it. 

The bottom of the tree required some rearranging when it was all said and done.

Last year, Elizabeth topped the tree so it was Abby's turn this year. One day, the girls will be too big for Nate to lift and he will have to do it on his own. 

Such a beautiful and joyful site. 

 We continued to decorate the house through the rest of the week. It's so much fun having a house of our own that we can decorate in any way that we wish!

Wrapping the fan blades is an old tradition that we had lost to our last house where there were no ceiling fans. A site for sore eyes!

In the coming weeks we will continue to decorate and prepare the house for the Christmas party. We are so blessed to have a home of our own this year and these past few holidays have reminded us of those blessings! We are also blessed to have the friends and family members to fill our home with laughter and joy. We look forward to the Christmas party this year!

Thanks Given, Lessons Learned!

Thanksgiving snuck up on us this year! We have been planning to host for my family since we moved in to our new home, but we of course waited until the last minute to actually plan and organize everything! 

We did a lot of prep the night before, but I learned that with a Thanksgiving meal, most of the action happens right before we sit down to say our Thanks. So, we went to the 9 a.m. church service and enjoyed the morning. 

Christ Community always displays this beautiful bounty. 

 After service, the kids went up to play some tunes on the piano. When your Grandpa is the pastor at your church, you have a lot of pull!

"Cheese," says Jude!

 After service, Nate and I ran home to put the turkey in the oven. 

Trial and error: that's what your first Thanksgiving is all about! Lesson #1-Have an oven test run before your Thanksgiving bird depends on it's functioning properly. 

We couldn't figure out how to set the timer on the oven so I fell back on my good ole' Mom to come over and turn the oven on so that Nate and I could head back over to Bruce and Maggie's for our first of two giant Thanksgiving meals.

The girls patiently waited to serve themselves their meals! 

 Lesson #2-Don't allow children to eat three helpings of chocolate pudding after they have just filled their bellies with a Thanksgiving meal.

To spare you all from the details, I will just tell you that Abby now has an aversion to chocolate pudding and Grandma and Grandpa were forced to throw out their white sitting chair!

After we left the VanDusseldorp Family Thanksgiving, we went home to put the finishing touches on the house. 

Nate and I purchased new dishes from IKEA for such events.

 We created a long table in the middle of the living room. It required that we rearrange some furniture, but it actually worked out really well and translated nicely into a nice large space for our Christmas tree and party!

I was pleased with the table. 

And the centerpiece of Ball Jars and votive candles.

 LESSON #3-Plan ahead when cooking a predominately baked meal in a very, very tiny oven. 

 I hadn't realized beforehand that our oven was so small. I had never cooked a meal for 12 people in such a small space. In fact, we had to take a casserole over to Dan and Julie's so that it we could bake it as well! (Thank you to our neighbors!)

Nate did a great job carving 23 lbs. of turkey!

The spread was too large and we had to spill it over onto a card table!

A plateful...or plates full!

I borrowed family silverware! This was my Great-Grandmother's silver.

LESSON #4-Hold the lid on the gravy shaker tightly...or it will surely explode all over you!

LESSON #5-Take more photographs! I have lots of photos of food and place settings, but none of my family which makes me sad. 

LESSON #6-Spend more time on the meaning of Thanksgiving. Regrettably, we didn't talk to the girls much about the meaning and importance of Thanksgiving. I think there are valuable lessons within the holiday and we missed the opportunity. 

Despite a few hiccups and slight regrets (to my own fault) we had a great Thanksgiving. Nate and I have wanted, for so long to have the space and comfort of our own home to be able to host holidays and we really enjoyed it! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Oh Grand Lake, How I Missed Thee!

It had been a while since our last trip to Grand Lake. Dana coordinated an adults-only, long weekend to the cabin on Shadow Mountain Lake. Dana, Jen, Nate and I left late on Thursday evening. There was some snow on the pass but we made it safe and sound! We had intended to hit The Lariat right away but as we drove into town, we realized that the power was out...in the entire town of Grand Lake. So, we went back to the cabin and made it a relaxing, early night.

Dana's aunts and uncles are so generous in sharing their cabin with us. Dana's aunt Dawn had already decorated for Christmas and we were able to enjoy the beautiful tree that overlooks the beautiful scenery. 

We did a lot of relaxing while at the cabin. We also did a lot of shooting with the BB guns!!! (Hence the many following photos.)

In day one, it was cans!

Jen earned the name Pocahontas as she could scout very well and Annie Oakley because she hit about 90% of the targets she was aiming for.

On day two, Nate, Wes and Chris had it out for some Finch birds in the trees nearby. I think that the birds were laughing at them! I would have been too!

Cara taking aim! 

That Finch really got the best of these guys.

When we weren't shooting BBs at small, innocent animals, we worked on a 750 piece puzzle...

...that ultimately got the best of us!

We played card games, watched Notre Dame football, and napped.

And Chris played the guitar.

We also spent a great deal of time at the local watering hole, The Lariat. The Lariat is our must-stop Grand Lake bar. The guys enjoyed hours of Buck Hunter and the girls enjoyed our girlish selves! We talked and laughed and enjoyed each other's company!

(I think it's funny that Wes hates being called "Red" but he calls himself "Red" on Buck Hunter!

.

So much fun!!!

We also enjoyed the beautiful scenery! 

Breakfast at the Sagebrush...

...twice!

And a nice stroll through the main road in town. 

As you can see, it was cold!

We took a walk down to the lake.

I am so grateful for Dana's family's generosity. The cabin and Grand Lake always provide us with the R and R that we so often need! We missed being with the kids, but we enjoyed the beautiful mountains, the relaxing cabin, and great company! 

THANK YOU DANA! WE ARE SO BLESSED TO HAVE SUCH AN AMAZING GROUP OF FRIENDS TO SHARE IN SUCH MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES!