totally off topic and not in chronological order...

Ok, so this was taken shortly after we moved, but I wanted to share it and brag a little (I stumbled upon the picture while looking for ones of our basement project). This table cloth was a birthday present from my Oma, she MADE it. pretty amazing, eh? This will definitely be a family heirloom!

the basement project...

ok, so i'm not so sure you'll ever get the pictures and story of the whole process, but we're at least ready to show off the finished (or nearly) finished product! Over Christmas break my Dad was here to help us install the ceiling. We also hired some expert help in the form of Michael's Dad, and our friend Jon (well, hired if you consider pizza dinner good pay). They spent all day helping, and then Michael and my Dad spent another whole day at it. Michael and finished up on Saturday, all that's left is to install some lighting in the hallway & bedroom. I thought I had pictures of the finished stuff, but apparently not. I'll keep looking for more!

christmas in austin

Michael and I were in Austin, MB from the afternoon of the 24th till the afternoon of the 26th, staying with his parents. We had a good time, it's always relaxing to spend time there. This year we tried something new: making a gingerbread house! I brought the already baked pieces along and put them together on the 24th in the evening.

On the 25th we had all the festivities: going to church, turkey dinner, and gifts. Here's the whole family hanging around, well exept for Mom is who taking the picture. (Stuart is anxiously waiting for the picture to be done to do you know what!)

We also decorated the gingerbread house. Here's a question for all of you out there: do you enjoy eating gingerbread houses? I don't personally like eating them, they're just fun to make. We actually ended up giving this one away. I thought was quite a masterpiece for a bunch of people who have never decorated a gingerbread house before!

And last, but not least we had a bit of fun with the quads in the snow...

merry christmas!

Hello all of you! Merry Christmas! For those of you whom I have lost track of and no longer have an address...here's our Christmas card, the electronic version. If you want the real thing next year, send a comment or an email with your mailing address in it! thanks!

our own little christmas

Well, this year we had our own little Christmas on December 23. It was very nice. I can hardly believe how much I enjoy just being at home without anything pressing to do. We're so busy, it's such a treat, well, more like a cause for celebration, when we get to sit on our own couch!

here's our tree:

and here's how our tree stayed standing:

If you look closely you will see the cord from the blinds is attached to our tree. Why you ask? Well, on December 14th we had our life group over for a Christmas potlcuk. Just as the first bunch of people was arriving, the tree fell over. I abandoned my door opening duties, and went to pick up the tree before water spilled everywhere (it didn't really work, but I tried). Michael had run out to get something and wasn't home, so I had to call "come in" and the first thing they saw was a living room floor strewn with ornaments. We all had a good laugh, they helped us figure out a way to get the tree to stay up (that where the blind cord comes in), and put the decorations back on.

I had a lot of fun wrapping Michael's gifts this year, he apparently likes big packages, so I obliged. Particularly with one gift he got, which was a memory card for his GPS, it's barely and inch square, but it was in a box that was 2 cubic feet big. It was full of crumpled up newspaper, felt like there was nothing in it, and Michael had to dig through it to find his treasure. After opening all our presents we had quite a mess but it was fun to throw at each other. (ok so that lasted about 30 seconds before Michael felt compelled to clean it up).

studying for finals...

Studying and eating go hand in hand right? Well, they probably shouldn't but in this particular shot they did. Michael took this and wanted to post it in order to embarrass me, but he'll probably not get around to it, and I'm not particularly embarrassed. He likes to make fun of my "toga." I tend to get a little cold when I study, but I've discovered that wrapping the blanket around me like a bath towel helps to keep the chills from setting in. I guess it does look a bit comical.

christmas with mom

well, I thought I'd just quickly share a few pictures of Christmas with my Mom when she was out (it was a little early, but we got out decorations and played Christmas music to get in the mood). we had a good time. I didn't do turkey for the three of us, so we had a cheese fondue instead, which was very tasty! We also watched Sound of Music, since Michael had never seen it. It was good, and I think he liked it. We watched the first half one night, and Michael was anxious to watch the second half. Thinking of movies, I still haven't had my annual dose of Princess Bride, I might have to do something about that...

this is me with a couple of my gifts. I also got a cookie scoop, flour sifter, and silicon loaf pan (now that I have a convection oven I can bake three loaves at once!) Thanks Mom & Dad!

here's Michael with his handheld GPS unit. (can you tell he likes it?) he takes it to work with him most days...not sure why, I don't think he could possible get lost, but he likes to see which route is shorter! Thanks again Mom & Dad!