Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday

Wow - Another great Christmas in the books! It was jam packed with stuff to do, but I guess that is what happens when our families are both so big! On Friday afternoon (Dec. 23), we traveled up to good ol' South Sioux to see my family. It is always so great to get together with the whole family. That night, Alex, my brother Jason, and I went out and met up with some of our cousins and some old friends from high school. It was nice to catch up with all of them and see how things are going in their lives! Then, all day Saturday and Sunday morning were mostly spent eating and opening presents. We also got a kick out of watching our nephew and niece (Bennett & Anne) open their presents, they are both so stinking cute! Christmas with the Pfister's was a great time this year, and I am so thankful that they live so close and we are able to see them so frequently.

On Saturday night we celebrated Jesus, Alex, and my birthday with my family. My sister-in-law made us a cake and the picture below is the piece that Bennett ate. He got his slice, managed to lick every bit of frosting off that he could, and then said, "Ok, I'm done." It was so funny and adorable!

On Sunday afternoon we drove back to Omaha to celebrate Alex's golden birthday with his family. When we got home, Alex and I opened our Christmas presents from each other. Then that night, we had Alex's traditional birthday dinner - Fondue! Alex's brother, Nate, was in town from Chicago so he also helped us celebrate. It is always so good to see him. The dinner was great, and I think that Alex really enjoyed himself! Happy 25th Birthday babycakes!

On Monday night we celebrated the Ehly family Christmas! Unfortunately, Alex woke up that morning with the flu and was in bed all day! So, he obviously did not partake in any of the festivities. It was fun to get together with his family, eat, and open presents, but it just wasn't the same without Alex there!

As you can probably tell, we had a great Christmas weekend! I am so thankful that there wasn't any bad weather and we were able to drive everywhere safely. We are so blessed to have such amazing families that we are able to celebrate the holidays with! Thanks to all of them for the wonderful gifts and memories from Christmas 2011.

It's Back to Vegas...

So...apparently it is our new thing to go out of town right before Christmas! Not sure if that is the smartest idea, but this year I finished all of my Christmas shopping a little early - so it ended up being alright! We went with some of Alex's family and met up with more of his family when we got there. It was great to see family we haven't seen in a while! So, last Sunday we hopped on a plane at 6:00am and two planes and a two hour time difference later, we were in Vegas at 9:00am. We had to burn some time before we could check-in to the hotel to take a nap, so we did a little exploring and picture taking that morning!

The picture below is inside the Venetian. It is so beautiful inside all of the huge fancy hotels, and all of Vegas was decorated so pretty for Christmas! The Christmas tree below was also pretty cool. It was so tall and it had a ton of lights that turned all different colors.

Vegas has some great shows outside of some of the hotels at night. The picture below is of Alex and I in front of the Mirage. It has a volcano that erupts every half-hour, and it is a great sight to see! The other two pictures are of us in front of Caesar's Palace!

We went to a show one night called, "Recycled Percussion." It was pretty awesome! It is a group of four guys that have a band that is known as - JUNK ROCK. During the show, they use drum sticks to hit on buckets, power tools or any other kind of recycled object to make music. Each audience member got a drum stick and piece of metal to hit during the show as well, so it was very interactive. The pictures of us below are after the show was over!

One day we took a cab down to Fremont street, to see some of the shops and hotels down there. The picture below is of a guy who spray paints pictures. I have to say that it was pretty incredible to watch him do this. I do not know how they get those beautiful pictures out of only spray paint!

All-in-all, our trip to Vegas was pretty fun! We walked a lot and saw all kinds of great things! I am always so amazed by how much there is to see and do in Vegas! We were there about three years ago, and it has changed so much just since then. If you want to go on a vacation where you'll never have a dull moment, Vegas is the place to be!

Harper 7 Reunion (minus a few).

Sorry Folks - I haven't posted in a while. Let's just blame it on all the busyness that the Christmas season brings!

Anyway...On Friday, Dec. 16 some of us lovely ladies from Harper 7 got together for a little girl time. It was so great to see Anne, Ashley and Kasey and I believe this is something that needs to happen more frequently. We went to dinner and reminisced about our college years, especially freshmen year since that is when we tend to have the most stories. For a little recap, some of the details that made it into the conversation were: Charlie, finals week, Schramm 10, standing behind refrigerators, throwing up of all kinds (in laundry room sinks, while talking to the RA, breaking blood vessels), Dr. Staff, screaming in movie theaters, the bike couple, rearranging our rooms, drum major, hearing things in the homework bubble, bruised butts, one Amazing trip home from Council Bluffs, taking lots of naps, threatening to use pepper spray, and of course, Hoesing's House! It was a great night filled with lots and lots of laughing.

I would just like to thank all of you wonderful ladies for making my college years so memorable. There are so many stories that I will remember and laugh about for years to come. I couldn't have asked for better friends!!! We missed you Callie and Crystal! Callie - good luck with all the wedding planning, we will see you soon! Crystal - keep enjoying Hawaii and send us some of that sun please! Lots of love to all of you and Merry Christmas!

Broken Cars, Baking Cookies, and Babies!

What a weekend! It was probably one of the busiest weekends we have had in a long time, and we hardly ever left the house…..Ha! On Friday we took our car into the shop because it had been making some funny noises, and to our surprise, there was a lot more wrong with the car than we anticipated. After doing a bunch of calling around to find car parts, Alex decided it would be a lot cheaper if we just fixed the car ourselves. So, along with the much needed and appreciated help from Alex’s Dad and our brother-in-law, they thankfully were able to fix the car. We are so grateful that we have an amazing family that will help us out when we need it. Thanks again Bill and Phil, you guys are the best!

Because I know it is never a good idea to get in the way when guys are working on cars, I took on another project this weekend. My mother-in-law had Christmas cookie baking to do, and my two sister-in-laws and I helped her complete this task. Or should I say tasks! What was supposed to take Saturday afternoon, rolled over into Sunday afternoon as well. Between both days of baking we ended up with an estimated 80 dozen cookies. Although it was a lot to do, it was fun to just spend time together. We even became very inventive. You will notice in one of the pictures that we used an old screen to sift some flour. We couldn’t find a sifter anywhere, so the screen was the next best thing (it of course was washed).

It definitely was a jam packed weekend, filled with lots of time spent with family. And speaking of family, today we got to welcome another nephew into ours. Byron Lucas was born this afternoon, and he is adorable. Happy Birthday Byron we love you already, and congrats again Bill, Chelci and Cameron!

School's Done...Time For Fun!

Yes, that's right - I am officially done with school! I just completed my Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and all I have to say is, "Praise the Lord." Even though the passed 18 months were very busy with school and work, I am so glad I went back and got my degree when I did, but I also think it is safe to say that my days in school are over! Ha!

Alex decided to rally up our friends to help me celebrate this momentous occasion! We went out to dinner and then met up to play some darts. It was very low key, but that's how we like it! Some of my co-workers even came out to join in the fun!

I did not partake in the dart festivities because I was chit-chatting with everyone, but I heard it was pretty fun! Amy and Zach won the team game - with Amy getting three bulls-eyes in a row...way to go Amy! Alex won when they played singles - good job honey! All-in-all, it was a great night and I believe that we have some pretty amazing friends! Thanks so much for helping me celebrate...Matt, Sam, Amy, China, Zach, Trisha, Katie and Stacy!

On Saturday I went Christmas shopping and Alex decided to brave the snow and go to the Creighton Men's Soccer game with some friends. After they got into the game and got their seats, it was postponed until Sunday. So, they left and had to help a bunch of people dig their cars out of the snow! He took a picture of what the field looked like before they left.

Now that I am done with school I am so glad to have a little extra free time on my hands. I wonder what new adventure or hobby I should start next? :)