Christmas, Part 1

Here's my Quinn cuddle-time. I'm not sure why Amy has this expression on her face. All I'm saying is that Quinn was a little gassy. I'm just saying...

I just think this is a cute picture!

I'm not exactly sure why we all ended up crouched down on this one. There are several pictures like this that we tried to take and actually get Brutus to look up. It was a no-go.

Again, I just think this is a cute picture. Kyle was putting up the rest of his ornaments and Brutus was tagging along, watching intently. If only she listened this intently!

Christmas morning hug. That's a bear hug, for sure.

Well, I've made it safely back to Poland! I'm here in my cozy little apartment enjoying watching kids sled down the hill next to our building. I'm also trying to figure out how to blog about the past week. It was a great trip, and there's so much that I want to share! So, stick around for a few installments of pictures and play-by-play of the past week!


First of all: family. I am blessed. I have a wonderful family and it was great to get to see so many of them while I was in town. On Saturday, my dad's side of the family got together. I have to confess...I was still a little out of it and forgot to take many pictures! Bummer. But, it was a great time and I really appreciated all of the people who travelled and made the time to get together.



Then, on Sunday my mom's side of the family came to my parent's house for a little Christmas celebration. It was wonderful to see everyone (even though the Texans were missed---but, in honor of y'all, I went out and bought my fat baby boots!!!! I brought them back here to Poland with me and I love them. They're brown on the foot and a color called tigerlilly on the rest! Just wanted to share that with you) Ok, where was I...oh, yes, it was wonderful to see everyone. It was fun to have Jacob, Jenna, and Rylee running around, and I LOVED my Quinn cuddle time. And, of course, it was great laughing and catching up with cousins and aunts and uncles. (This is totally random, but I just have to add that it was great talking to my cousins and finding out that blog-stalking is in my genes).



And, last but certainly not least, time with my immediate family. Wow. I couldn't have asked for a better week with them. It was WONDERFUL! I am so blessed and so thankful. I have no clue how to sum up the week, so here are some of my favorite things:



-laughing--few people make me laugh as hard as my mom, dad, and brother. Kyle nearly got me kicked out of the Christmas Eve service at church. All I'm saying is that there was a reference to "more cow bell" and the "Rhymemaster Rev. Al Sharpton". Unreal.

-playing cards--it's official...my dad and I are the euchre champions. Of course, we only played one game because we were so tired, but I'm confident that we would have won other games as well. I guess we'll just have to continue play in a few months. It was also a great time playing Phase 10 with grandma, too. She was letting the one-liners fly and I think she was even talking some Phase 10 trash. There was a LOT of laughter that night!

-eating--I love sitting down to dinner with my family and we did plenty of that throughout the week: perch, walleye, salmon, fisherman's stew, turkey soup...yum!

-spending time with Kyle driving to Mansfield and to pick up his girlfriend. He's a great guy!

-sitting around together watching movies--we watched We Are Marshall, Ocean's 13, The Guardian, and The Prestige...all good ones

-playing with Kyle's dog Brutus (she gets an upcoming post all to herself!)

-lots of real-life bear hugs from my mom and dad, rather than just the imitations over Skype

-running on their new treadmill

-waking up in the morning, taking it easy, and just enjoying coffee with my mom and dad



I could really go on and on. Like I said, it was just a great week home. Thank you to all of my family for their love and support and encouragement and prayers. You all are a blessing and I love you!