The rest of Mom, Dad & Hunter's visit {Part 2}

I realize this post has taken me forever to get published...can't say I really have an excuse. If you didn't read or don't remember Part 1, get caught up here.

While Mom & Dad were here we headed to Amish Country for them to get a taste of it all. We planned on doing the tour at Amish Acres, but unfortunately they close for the winter so we were not able to. I was a bit disappointed by this, but we didn't let that stop us. The restaurant was still open (it is closed now though) so we did get to enjoy an Amish Fest. It was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S! Seriously, if you ever have an opportunity to eat at an authentic Amish restaurant, DO IT!

After lunch we strolled around some of the property and took a couple pictures:

We stopped at a couple antique stores on the way back home and had a great time doing so. Stephen and I enjoy places like that! We had been in these antique stores before, so it was nice to show them to Mom and Dad. Hunter was not too thrilled about the shopping for "old crap", but he put up with it pretty well! Maybe it was because we promised to go bowling with him that night? He rarely bowls in Florida, but loves to bowl up here!

That night can you guess what we did? If you guessed we went bowling, you are correct! The bowling alley in our town is small-about 6 lanes I think. We bowled there last year with Hunter and ended up going to a different, bigger bowling alley in another town. This year we tried it again and stuck it out. We were the only people in there each night (we went 3 nights in a row). It was awesome!

I loved the big tree they had inside:



We bowled and bowled and bowled. Hunter improved some each night, which was nice to see. Now he loved bowling even more and I know he has gone at least once since we returned home. Stephen and I have thought about going bowling since they left but it just seems weird to go without Hunter, ha!

Hunter also like "ice skating" in our yard. The snow was pretty icy to begin with, so that made some pretty icy tracks going into the garage. It was funny to watch him tackle the graceful job of ice skating on this "ice". He totally provided us with entertainment! I will say thought, that he did not fall once. Bravo, Hunter!

Another day we headed north, almost to the Indiana and Michigan state line for some shopping. We first went to my Dad's favorite store; Bass Pro Shops. It was cold outside on this day. Like freezing. It was nice that we were all bundled up close together in the back of Dad's truck:

While Dad shopped, we spent time looking around the store. Have you ever been in one of these? They are incredible and all different. So very cool! Hunter and Mom had an impromptu photo shoot when they did the exact same thing unknowingly, ha. Love that they think alike so much!

We ate at Quaker Steak and Lube, which was pretty amazing. Hunter had hot wings that he talked about all day long, and I had a hot wing salad that I would order again in a heartbeat. I really like trying new places and finding out they are delicious. It is not so much fun when you hate your food and leave hungry, you know? After lunch we stopped at the outlet mall and I stocked up with some new jeans that I desperately needed. It was another fun (but cold) day in Indiana!

Mom, Dad & Hunter left for Florida (via: Georgia) dark and early the next morning. It was quiet in our house and seemed so odd! We really enjoyed the time they spent here with us and hope they come back again soon!

The rest of Mom, Dad & Hunter's Visit {Part 1}

The day after Christmas we had some shopping to do. Well, I had some shopping to do. :) I have for years always bought wrapping paper for next year on the day after Christmas. It is cheap and always on sale, so why not stock up for next year? I love saving money!

I also wanted to get some more Christmas decor type things for the house. I wanted some more wreaths and ornaments this year, but since it is silly to pay full price for these things...I tried to wait patiently. I can tell you now that we scored some super cute and very affordable Christmas wreaths that will adorn our doors next year. Each door should have a wreath on it if all goes as planned! We also got some ornaments for our silver and green tree, since next year it will be much taller. Taller = bigger and bigger = it will need more ornaments. Agree? Okay, great!

Moving on...

The next day we woke up to snow. Actually, I set my alarm for 4am (when the snow was supposed to start falling in our area) and had promised Hunter that I would wake him up if it was indeed snowing. Well, sadly at that time it was still raining so back into bed I went. When we woke up around 8 that morning though, it was snowing and the ground was already covered.

Everyone was SO excited!

We got ready and headed to Warsaw for some walking and shopping. Mom wanted to eat at The Boathouse, but Hunter really wanted to eat at Long John Silvers because they closed in Florida...in the end Long John Silvers won. I forgot how greasy that place is!

After eating we headed to Winona Village to walk around the boutiques and do a little shopping. Here are the pictures from that trip:

Once we made it home, we changed clothes and packed up to head to the park for some sledding and snow fun!  Hunter got to wear his new snowboarding pants, so he was thrilled J We all bundled up and hit the road…since the hubs, Hunter and I had on layers and layers of clothes we decided not to squeeze into the back of the truck but rather to ride in the bed of the truck sitting on saucer sleds. Disclaimer: the park is only a couple blocks from our house so we felt we were safe going that short of a distance. The bed of the truck had a bit of ice and snow in it, so we kind of slid around whenever Dad turned. It was pretty fun, but I was worried about the dangers of it! Here are some pictures of us headed to the park:

And sledding:

Then the guys started building a snowman. It was pretty awesome. Dad and Hunter even used their pocket knives to help shape the snow ball. Pretty funny! I didn’t get a finished picture of the snowman because my camera battery died (poor planning on my part), but just try to imagine a snowman with wooden arms, 2 eyes and a camouflage baseball cap. Have that picture in your head? That’s their snowman!  

Mom and I decided the snowman building was a man’s job, so we sat pretty and took some pictures:

All in all, it was an amazing day in Indiana. We prayed for snow and we got snow…enough to play in while my parents were here. It was beautiful outside, too!

God is SO good!

Stayed tuned for Part 2!

Christmas Morning & Day!

{Picture heavy post-consider yourself warned!}

Our first Christmas in the new house was pretty wonderful in my opinion! We started the day out not too early, at around 9am. We cooked breakfast, ate a little, then started opening presents. The morning was perfect for me. Here is the breakdown in picture form:

The tree on Christmas morning...

Breakfast waiting to be eaten. Hashbrown casserole (old family recipe), cream cheese and sausage pinwheels, and sticky bun breakfast ring. All so delicious!

Mom & Dad starting to open gifts :)

One of the nice gifts I was so excited about. I love Wood Wick!

For a Florida boy, Hunter was pretty excited about opening snowboarding pants as a Christmas gift!

The hubsters big gift was this saw. I was very proud of myself for not letting it slip to him and also for hiding it so very well. Fun fact: I actually ordered this online and had it delivered to his sisters house so he would not see it! He was excited!

After opening gifts and trying to corral the wrapping paper to one area, we had a little photo shoot:

Louie on Christmas morning. He was not too sure about all the noise and commotion but he did really well!

He got so many nice gifts from Santa and other pups in our family in Florida. This sweater was the first one we opened. So cute!

Look at his brown eyes, I just love them!

"Please pick me up, Mommy!"

The whole family :) The little white dog belongs to my parents. His name is Bristol. Lets just say that he and Louie did NOT become friends over the week.

Our little family on Christmas morning...

Me & Mom in our Mickey and Minnie Santa hats, love it!

We spent the rest of the day cooking and mostly eating...we ate so much delicious food! Our menu included ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, baked macaroni and cheese and corn. Desert was a delicious key lime pie. After eating half our body weight we went for a little drive to see the covered bridge in Manchester. We did a quick tour of our town that included a stop at Stephen's sisters house while his parents were there. After that we returned home...can you guess what we did?

If you guess EAT, you are right! :) We ate again and finished the night with a family Christmas movie and Louie snuggled up between me and the hubster:

So sweet!

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”-Luke 2: 8-12

Happy New Year & Christmas Re-caps!

First and foremost, we want to wish everyone of our readers a Happy New Year. We pray that 2012 blesses you beyond measures! I can sometimes get sad over the ending of a year and starting of a new one, but this year I have challenged myself to look at 2012 as a positive change! 2011 was an incredible year for us; it was our first year as a married couple and we bought a beautiful home. If 2012 even has half the blessings that 2011 did, we will be good! :)

Secondly, I have so many updates that I need to get out. With the business of the season AND a winter cold I am feeling pretty behind the 8 ball on this one. Sorry about that! I seemed to catch a cold last weekend, and it hit suddenly this week. I actually stayed home from work yesterday (which is unlike me) to rest and hydrate. Today I am back at work, and feeling much better-but still not good. I pray that this cold leaves quickly and soon because we have another family Christmas celebration this weekend. It would be wonderful if I didn't have to worry about spreading germs and was able to enjoy the time with family celebrating the birth of our Lord! Please pray for that, will you?

Now, I will talk about Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas with my parents and brother in Indiana. It was the first time I was not home in Florida for Christmas. While I expected it to feel weird, or something-it really didn't. It felt right. Not that I did not think about or miss my family in Florida that we would have spent the day with; because I did. But it was nice to spend Christmas in our home, in our state and with my parents. By the way, this was their first trip to Indiana!

Christmas vacation started Thursday night for me because I did not have to work on Friday. The hubster did have to work, but his day ended up being short enough that we were able to get lunch together at Cerulean's and do some shopping, too. What a blessing that was! After shopping the afternoon away, we headed home for what I thought would be a relaxing evening. Well, it wasn't. I was taking a bubble bath when Stephen started yelling about something with Louie. I got out to find that Louie was doing something that looked like a seizure, foaming at the mouth, and unable to control/move his back legs. We panicked and called out vet. Thankfully our vet has an emergency line at all times, so we talked to a Dr. right away and he met us at the clinic in about 30 minutes. I was able to calm Louie down, get some water in him and convince myself that everything would be okay. By the time we went the vet he was walking and using his back legs-thank the Lord!  The vet said that after that long if we still was not using them it would have been a bad, bad sign. As it turns out, Louie had a pulmonary embolism (blood clot) from his heat worm treatments. He was treated at the office Friday night with several shots and we were under strict orders to watch him very closely and keep him calm. I set my alarm an got up every 2 hours Friday night to make sure he was okay and breathing steady. It was such a scary night for all of us!

Saturday, we stayed home and did things to tidy up the house before my parents arrived.

We planned on going to church for the Christmas Eve service but I was worried about my parents arriving while we were there. Mom, Dad and Hunter had left Florida around 3am, so they had a ETA of 8pm...which was right in the middle of our church service. Regardless of timing, we decided to go to church :) We snapped some pictures before leaving:

You can't see the tree behind us, but this was our Christmas Eve in front of the tree picture!

As it turns out, God had other plans for our Christmas Eve. Mom & Dad did make it to our town while we were at church and they killed time by stopping at McDonald's for dinner (it was the only place open). All the while, we were at church but I started feeling bad. I checked my blood sugar before going to church it was good, but when we got there it was much lower. About 20 minutes into the service it dropped even lower-to the point where I was seeing spots. I let the hubster know what was going on and he said we should leave. Focusing on getting to the car where I knew we had glucose tabs hidden in the glove box, I didn't even realize what time it was. We headed home and got there about 10 minutes before my parents pulled up.

Had we not left church early because of a low blood sugar they would have been stuck sitting in our driveway waiting on us...after a 16 hour drive. Had I been in their shoes, I would not have been happy about that. So, see how it all worked out? God knew what he was doing!

After greeting my parents and introducing their dog, Bristol to Louie-the men started unloading the truck. What a load they had brought up with them! Along with their luggage for the week, they also had gifts from them ("Santa"), other family members, friends, a antique chair that was my great-grandma's, a 9.5ft artificial Christmas tree for us to use next year (YAY!), and a few other things. The truck was FULL! After all the unloading, Mom & Dad went to bed pretty quickly. Hunter stayed up with us while we rearranged the gifts under the tree so it was pretty (my idea), and caught up a little before going to bed.

I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve again because I could.not.sleep! I was just so overjoyed with my parents being in Indiana and guests in my house and the fact that the next morning was Christmas morning!

Childlike joy is an awesome thing!

Christmas Morning/Day coming up tomorrow!