Christmas and New Year's

Well, this weekend has been pretty uneventful. Jeff has a pretty nasty cold, so we have been chilling out in the apartment, except for the occassional walks, for the most part. I though that I would take some time to write and post pictures a out the rest of our trip.

We had a good Christmas with the Goettl's. We got to catch up with all of Jeff's brothers, his parents, and some extended family.

Top Row (L-R): Tonya (sister-in-law), Mia (niece-Chris and Tonya's daughter), Chris (brother), Miki (mom), Matt (brother), Kerri (sister-in-law), Andy (brother); Middle Row (L-R): Mike (brother), Andy (dad), Wally (great-uncle), Vi (great-aunt), Jared (cousin), Shelbi (cousin-Jared and Becky's daughter), Becky (cousin); Front Row (L-R): Jeff, Heidi, Rileigh (cousin), Isaac (cousin), Loghan (cousin - Jared and Becky's son)

We had fun playing some poker, opening presents, playing the dice game, and eating!!

On Tuesday, Jeff and I were able to go ice skating on the lake at Jeff's parent's house. We had so much fun. I was wearing Jeff's dad's skates, so they were a little bit big (like 3 sizes) for me!! I did pretty well though and only fell a couple of times :-)

The rest of the week, we hung out at the house, went to lunch with some of Jeff's family, and baby-sat for Mia! We had a good time! On New Year's Eve, it started to snow while we drove to church. An hour later, we had at least 2 inches already!! Jeff and I thought it would be the perfect time to go out and play!!

Above: Jeff doing a great job at snow-boarding down the hill at the house.

Below: The snowflakes were huge!! We even made a gigantic snowman, but the wind blew it over later that night!!

Although we were very excited to see the snow, we were a little bummed that it ruined some travel plans for our New Year's Eve Party. However, neighbor Dave and his family were able to make it (along with some of his world-famous ribs!) and the Sullivan's also drove up from Iowa - even though they were "bumped" by a semi!! (Adam and Alyssa - I hope your car is OK!!) We had a great time catching up, playing cards and other games, and bringing in the new year. Below is one of my favorite pictures of Travis!!

We also got to spend a lot of time with our kitties!! At their last vet check-up (the beginning of Dec.), Bait weighed in at 17 lbs. and Tackle at 15 lbs.!! They are so big!! Bait loves people and getting attention and Tackle is a little bit leary.

The above and below pictures are of Tackle. He is such an adorable cat and has very soft fur!!

The above and below pictures are of Bait. He is a little weird and sleeps in the craziest positions!

We got up on Tuesday morning and headed up to the Cities with Jeff's dad. We dropped him off and went to the Mall of America for a couple of hours. While there, we were able to see the world's largest ginger bread house and the Polar Express train. We then headed up to Coon Rapids and had lunch with Sally (I hope your back is better Matt!) It was great to see my old friends from Anoka-Ramsey. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Jeff's brother Andy's house. Then it was off to pick up Jeff's dad and we were dropped off at the airport.

We had a great time back "home" and are now getting back into our California life. My busy times start next week with meetings and training and classes start the week after. (Oh, on a side not and because I forgot to mention before, I got all A's last semseter!! Yeah for me!!)

We will hopefully have our first guest of 2007 here next weekend (my birthday weekend)!! Jeff's brother Chris may be coming out of work and will be staying a couple of days with us. Some good times should be had. We are also hopefully going to go to Tahoe skiing on the weekend of the 19th!! I'll keep you posted.

OK, I need to make some dinner - yes, I actually cook when the dining hall isn't open :-)