a good evening

The other night we made pizzas at my mom and step-dad's. It was fun. They turned out pretty good too.....
This is Noah's pizza...seriously the child wanted NOTHING on it.......This is Josh's pizza....he worked at the Tavern in high school can ya tell?

This is one of the pizzas Nick put together....he made this one and then the taco pizza....they were super good...nice work, babe.

Not much else to say...just wanted to share a fun experience :)

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a topic revisited

Recently I have been asked by a few people what my vendeta against Santa is. First of all, nothing.

Apparently more people read my blog that I realized....and the santa blog apparently has hit alot of nerves....

After re-reading the blog post, I realize I came across a little crass and I feel the need to explain things a little better and little more gently :)

Let me start by saying I do not want to debate. Let us raise our children. I do not intend to try and change your opinion if you think differently. I do not intend to shake my fist at you and say "you are wrong about this". I don't want this to become a huge topic for us. If you want to tease us LOVINGLY about it, that's fine... :) We aren't the only ones who aren't going to teach our kids to believe in Santa....nor will we be the last...I guess I've just been more vocal about it than others and that means I get to take the hits from those who disagree :)

Neither Nick nor I will ever tell another child that is not ours there is no Santa. We will teach our children not to run around exclaiming to other kids how there is no Santa. That is not our place....nor our responsibility.

In the topic of Santa....we intend to be honest. When our kids are old enough to raise the subject, we will answer truthfully....no, he does not exist, but there was a man like Santa a long time ago and he evolved into a story character. If they still want to pretend that there is a Santa Clause who lives in the North Pole with his elves...we aren't going to crush them completely (I mean seriously people, I get it...they're kids!), but neither are we going to pretend along with them and say "yes, Santa is bringing you presents tonight, but only if you are good".

We are going to teach Christ first...above the whole Santa thing. We would not have Christmas without Christ. He is the reason for our life. Without His sacrifice of becoming flesh so He could die for ME....there would be no point. It's not about having religion or simply recognizing that Christmas represent Jesus' birthday.....even Satan does that!(I can't remember what verse in scripture that comes from...someone help me out, please??) It's believing that Christ is our Savior and striving to live every day for Him. That is want we want to remember EVERY DAY, not just during Christmas time.

I also understand that there is a special "magic" feeling about Christmas time...I get the excitement for it too! I don't see anything wrong with that and I don't want it to be a somber time for my kids either......

This is getting harder and harder to explain :) I guess all I can say is we aren't being "scrooges", Nick and I love Christmas....I love everything about it....but this is how we want to teach our kids...and I understand that how we want to do it and how it actually pans out when the time comes may be 2 completely different things :) kids are wonderful that way. :)

Anyway....I don't know what else to say. I hope this makes a little more sense. I'm half to tears by now b/c I really want y'all to understand that I'm not trying to be mean or in your face about this at all...I was just venting in my last blog and came across rather badly and I am so sorry for that.

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what a merry CHRISTmas! :)

Merry Christmas! :) This Christmas has been one of the most quiet ones I've had in a long time!
Every year we do Christmas Eve with my mom and brothers and step-dad. This year was no different. We went to church, ate some food, played Spoons, exchanged gifts and then my brothers and Nick played Call of Duty on XBox for a while :) My step-brother Devon and his wife Shannon came and spent the evening with us as well. It was a good night and we had a great time!
Today my brothers, mom, step-dad, and nephew went to Storm Lake to be with my mom's side of the family. I was on call for work, so I had to stick around. Nick and I slept in this morning (which was wonderful!). We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon putting together baby stuff, playing with baby stuff, registering the baby stuff we had (for recalls), watched Ice Age 2, and just enjoyed one another's company. I had a hard time b/c I'm so used to a crazy Christmas with people everywhere...but it was nice just to spend the day with my husband :)
We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button later this afternoon....and then we had chinese for Christmas dinner ;)
All in all....while we had kind of a "lazy day", but it was good just to be together, talking, thanking the Lord for his birth and sacrifice...
We are so thankful and blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our life. We are looking forward to an interesting year :) and we are both curious and excited to see what the Lord is going to do in our life this year and how becoming parents is going to mold us (please bear with us as we go through such an overwhelming process....) :)
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your families....and even after today ends, I pray that we NEVER forget what today represents...the birth of our Savior--Jesus Christ--who gave an amazing sacrifice so that by his grace and mercy we can know Him. amen! :)

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What a weekend...

This weekend was busy and a blast! Nick's brother and his wife, Alan and Steph, came to the midwest from AZ for the week. So Friday night, they and Ardyce (Nick's mom) and Sara and Kyle (Nick's sister and her husband) came down to stay with us for the weekend.

Saturday afternoon Sara and Steph hosted a baby shower for me at Amber's house (thank you, Amber!). It was so much fun. Steph is super talented and creative, so every shower she's thrown is super unique and "professional" :) I was pretty excited about it. Given that the weather wasn't the best and Christmas being this week, I didn't think alot of people would be able to make it, but quite a few of you came and it was fun to see you! :) Thank you so much everyone for the wonderful gifts. I feel so blessed to have some pretty amazing women in my life :) Ashley, thank you for bringing the baby :)

Saturday night we did Christmas and just chilled out for the night.

Sunday afternoon we had lunch with Nick aunt and uncle and Grandma Jane. His cousin and his wife, Todd and Rachael, came into town from Souix Falls for the weekend so we got to spend some time with them as well. We spent the afternoon with them and then spent the rest of the evening back at our place. We had Casey's pizza (my FAVORITE) and watched Iron Man (which I have to recommend...it was pretty good).

Nick's family left for home in MN this morning at 7:30am and then we were able to spend some more time with Alan and Steph before we took them to Steph's aunts house this afternoon. They are spending the rest of the week with her family and they fly back to AZ on Thursday.

It was a busy weekend...but it was so fun to have everyone together and I'm thankful that it worked out!

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congratulations!!

I would like to EXCITEDLY announce that two of our favorite people, Tommy and Amber Flinn, are expecting a new addition to their family at the beginning of August! Unfortunately I don't have an updated picture of them for you, but their wedding picture is gorgeous :)
Anyway...Tommy and Amber...we are SO excited for you!! Thank you for letting us share in this new journey!! I can't wait to see how it turns out :) :)

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a favorite

So today as I was making a list for the week's meals...I once again went to the cupboard where all my cookbooks are. After thinking "which one should I check out this week?" I went for my never-failing Cooking Light Cookbook.
I bought this cookbook this last summer and I use it for almost every meal now. It has super yummy recipes...they are all easy...and it includes healthy substitutes. My favorite recipe to use it their waffle mix....I love waffles made from scratch...it's really easy...and you can do wheat, buttermilk, or "regular"....mmm....
Cooking Light also has a magazine that my mom subscribes to and gives to me when she's done :) This month was full of amazing desserts for Christmas and they weren't artery clogging, comatose inducing or fat filled :)
I hafta say, I am a major fan.
anyway...I love this cookbook...just wanted to share :)

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Christmas #1

Today we had Christmas at my dad and step-mom's.
All 3 of my brothers were able to come as well as our nephew, Noah. We had so much fun and yummy food :) The boys played XBox 360 most of the time....Noah decided that Uncle Nick and daddy were "cows" and he was the "farmer" so that game went on for a while...we watched a little bit of a movie and just sat around and talked...it was a great afternoon :)

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"In the army now"

So I tried to post this earlier, but the computer wasn't working, so hopefully we're a go now!

On Friday, December 5 we had the priviledge of watching our dear dear dear friend, Dave Lam become Police Officer Dave Lam!

Dave has an art degree from Iowa State, a nursing degree from Mercy College and is now officially a member of the Des Moines police force.

Dave, we are SO proud of you and so excited for you to start this new career!

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thankful

Last night Nick went to "daddy bootcamp" class at Mercy....it's a free class for new dad's where "veteran" dads bring in their babies and teach basics like soothing a baby, changing a diaper, swaddling, etc...so of course when I got to work last night I had to share this big of info with my coworkers....3 of them have kids and were all like "my husband would have died before doing something like that!". These statements had me thinking over the course of last night while I was working and again this afternoon.
I am so blessed. Nick is such an amazing man. It has been so much fun to see him get excited about learning baby basics and baby stuff....like when we were registering he had to play with and try out everything! He asks questions during our childbirthing classes. The other guys just kinda sit there, but Nick gets involved.....he did where the sympathy belly last week and it was super funny...his response to it was "I want to wear it for a whole day to get the real feel".
He has been so patient with me....through my emotional outbursts over rotten mango to my constant aching back....I couldn't ask for anyone to be more patient. I'm sure he does get frustrated at times, but he hasn't shown it yet. He is so good at reminding me that my limited mobility right now is only temporary.
Now I have to point in that he hasn't gotten more patient or caring since we found out we were pregnant. He has always been patient with me when I'm being difficult. He starts my car for me in the mornings....when we lived in the apartment, he would go out in the freezing cold to de-ice and de-snow my car. He folds laundry b/c he knows how much I dislike that chore. He cleans the house for me if I'm at work and won't have time. He keeps our cars tuned up and oils change. He vaccums. I don't. :) Despite all these "actions" he loves me. He prays with me. He seeks the council and friendship of other men of God. He is constantly seeking the Lord....he is so encouraging to me. He challenges me in my complacency. He is my husband and my best friend.
I am so thankful to have such an amazing man after God's heart!
Now, I'm not saying "my husband is better than yours". Most of the men I know are such neat men of God and Nick and I are so blessed to be surrounded with such amazing people.....most of the men we know would go to Daddy Bootcamp or clean the house or do the laundry....
I've just been thinking lately how thankful I am for my husband and how blessed I am. He's going to be an amazing dad and I can't wait to grow with him in that aspect as a parent.
thanks for reading my brag page :) Now i want to hear how amazing your spouse is! :)

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