Family Christmas 2009

This year we spent Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and the following weekend by ourselves. We had plans to drive down for the Bartel Chirstmas on Saturday but the massive amounts of snow prevented that! It was nice to be forced to stay inside. We played games, folded origami, cooked together, and watched movies. All in all a great holiday.

Christmas Eve Night . . . the snow is piling up.



Bam. Over a foot of snow! DJ helped several people who got their cars stuck on our street all throughout Christmas day, what a kind hubby I have!





Isn't he handsome?



A huge drift against the back of the house. It came up to the office window, approx. 3 feet!



The dogs LOVED the snow. I took this photo after they ran around the yard sticking their heads in it!



See how the snow is all trampled? See how cute they are with their ears flipped back?



Origami Wreaths!



We made wreaths out of old Christmas wrapping paper. We now have enough to decorate our big tree next year :).



The Next Week . . .

New Years week we went to Newton for my family's Christmas and the Quiring Christmas. It was great to see Elissa and Dustin for a week straight (and my parents too of course)! Dan and Anne got to play/chase/fight with their cousin Snickers. I was a little concerned about our cats because it was the first time they'd been left alone for more than two nights, but they did really well.

We also managed to squeeze in visits to the Grandma's at Bethesda and to DJ's family in Halstead. We do wish we could have spent another week in Newton for more time with everyone, alas we had to get back to "real life".

Here are some photos from the week:

We played LOTS of Settlers of Catan.





Much time was spent in the kitchen, Mom did most of it but Elissa and I enjoyed helping!

Pretzel Turtles



Mashed Potato Twists- They don't look very good but they tasted good!



The Christmas Table, laid out with Mom's beautiful Fostoria.



Cooking. Please ignore my hair, I don't know what was going on with it that evening.





There are no pictures of me because I took all the pictures (as usual). I wish I had gotten pics of all the presents but I didn't, so here's just a few:

DJ got some outdoor extension cords.



We gave Snickers a new laser. He likes it. Alot.



Mmmmmm . . . new bones.



Dog snuggling.



Anne was pretty pooped.



Snickers is pretty.



Elissa and Dustin got some new serving dishes that match their wedding dishes.



Mom got a much needed new Stir-Crazy popcorn popper.



Dad got some K-State gear.



Dan got an indestructible fetch toy. So far he has chewed off the yellow fabric. We're hoping he can't destroy the rest of it . . .



Our dogs just love their grandparents. Dan sat on dad and slept for quite a while, he even started snoring. So cute.



Mom made a "Snickers" pillow for Elissa and Dustin.



My embroidery handiwork.



I made them a lap quilt for their first Christmas as a married couple :). After looking at this picture I realized how tall you are Dustin, I'm not sure it will cover your toes!



We had a very merry Christmas and we are already looking forward to next year. It can be a bit of a challenge to try and make it to see all our family, but we are glad we got to see most everyone. We feel very blessed to have such great families! Happy New Year!