Christmas day

I had written out a Christmas post right after Christmas day. it was a really long post with lots of pics and writing. However, when I pressed "publish post" it deleted my entire post.

So, i got mad at it and refused to repost. 

until now, because the memories from that weekend was too wonderful to not blog about it. (and i was flipping through all the pictures, and wanting to relive it with you.)

Ryan's mom has many of these little houses...she sets them up into dainty little villages.

Christmas Eve dinner:)

Nothing like a little sparkly grape juice for the evening:) i love the bubbles.

Christmas decorations everywhere!:)

Christmas morning with the Brandenbergers! waiting to open presents.

one of my most favorite gifts this year from our sister, Katie. she MADE this picture frame with our wedding picture. Isn't this amazing?? She picked out a book called, Life at My Fingertips. Perfect, isn't it?

Brandenberger Christmas!

It was a joy to spend Christmas with this side of the family:). Thanks Brandenbergers for the memories!!! You're wonderful and we love you! 

blog award:)

really, take a guess what brightened my day?;)

a blog award, from Anne, a dear friend with two inspirational blogs:

Open book girls

and

Our Family on Mission

Anne's passion for serving is contagious and you will be blessed and challenged by her blog:) 

thanks again, Anne, for the Sunshine award!

kinda matches my theme for my week;) lol. 

made me smile for sure:) thank you Anne! 

i'll be passing it to 12 other blogs - look out yours might be one of them!:) 

care free

There's something special about South Carolina. 

It's like life slows down and allows you to enjoy it and breath every once in awhile.

No matter where I come home from, whether it's a different country, Chicago, Storm lake, etc. it's always just 

a breath of fresh air to come home to Beaufort. 

Maybe it's all the water that surrounds it.

and the sunlight that usually comes from cloudless skies.

or the palm trees that quietly wave to you as you pass by.

perhaps it's the warm friendly, "hey y'all," that you get from the people.

or the "yes ma'am" or "no ma'am" that you receive from the kids raised with manners.

or that sweet southern accent when someone talks to you.

whatever it is, it's warm, and not just because of the sun:) 

it was actually kinda hard to leave home this time. but I'm thankful I got the chance to go home and be with my family and worship with my church family. I got to breath some fresh air, and go a week without sniffling from the cold weather;).

and guess what? on the trip home, my husband and I were bumped off our flight in Atlanta, GA, and got to stay a night for free at a hotel. We also got airline tickets to reimburse us for being bumped off, as well as free meal vouchers while we waited to leave for our flights. It was such a treat!!!!!

I enjoyed the extra night in the south. One less winter day to go through!:) 

 Now that I'm back, it's actually nice to be back in my home with my husband. it's good to see the people we work with again, and see the kids after the break. 

I've enjoyed the past couple weeks so much, so i'm really pretty thankful that I've got pictures to record the memories that came with it.

withdrawal

I'm having family withdrawal.

We made it back to Iowa today. 

And I'm really missing home.

Shall i let these pictures explain why?

I mean, look at this face. He's ridiculously cute in his alien costume. He's all dressed up for his 3rd birthday...

And then for the PEOPLE in the family, I can't help but adore the craziness that comes out of being together. I love my family.

I'm gonna say it one more time.

I miss them. There's just nothing like being with my family. We laugh hardest when we're together - it's the best. 

I'm thankful though that whenever I do leave home, I'm with my husband. It's really cool that we're always together. It was so much fun having him with us for our first New years at my family's house together. 

anyways, that's one more post about my wonderful family. i love them so.

highlights of winter in the south

 one of my favorite things about SC is the weather. I much prefer a warm sunny winter over a white bitter cold one. I got my fill of beauty and warmth my week at home in Beaufort, SC.

i went out with my lil sister for a morning white hot chocolate and donuts at dunkin donuts. I caught a picture of the sun peeking through the cheers in our front driveway, and tried to click a pic of it.

the pic just doesn't give it justice.

simple things like a fire and grilling is so much fun with my family. 

they just make it special. 

 here's my hubby and my daddy, grilling the filipino bar-b-q:)

 mmmm....yum.

 coffee on the back slab while dad grills seems to be one of our Christmas holiday traditions. Every year we bring our mugs out and watch the boys grill:)

 i love 'em.

call me crazy. i don't care. but look at these precious eyes. that's my boy, peyton. he and i are special buddies.  it was his birthday, and he put on his special Alien costum for the occasion. 

i've got so much more to share with you. even though out trip is over and i'm now sitting in my lil apartment in iowa, i'll be sharing about our trip this week. i'm kinda facing post-christmas blues...sad to leave my family and face reality once again, but i'm very thankful for the time i had with them.

kissing into the new year...

our family has many traditions, and when we're together, we love to carry them through. We watch the ball drop together, drink sparking grape juice to welcome the new year, and take lots of pictures.

after all that, we exchange presents. it's kinda like secret santa, only during the new year. We draw names Christmas and give the gifts to our family member on the new years:) It was fun having my husband spent New years with us this year!

i guess this tradition is just one more thing to look forward to after Christmas. Being with my family is such a treat on these occasions:) 

Here's to another year, serving our Savior and growing in the Lord!

right before midnight struck...

 we spent New years eve evening with some of our oldest family friends. It was a fabulous night of dancing, yummy food, and good time fun. I think this family is probably the best hosts for parties or gatherings...they totally know how to entertain and have fun.

The came up with "minute to win it" games to play throughout the night, where each person  in each family got the chance to compete and "win" it. we'd eat, dance the "Just dance 2" video game, and play Apples to apples, and then do the minute to win it games in between. 

I tell ya, some of the best times have been with this neat family of six...

try to guess some of the ways you had to compete in these games:)

d

we stayed til about 15 minutes to midnight at their house. (we had to hurry home to carry on some of our family traditions before the big ball dropped...it was hard to leave when we were having fun!)

they are really some of my favorite people. :)

thanks, Cerrillos! 

Happy new years ya'll!