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After our 3+ days in KC we headed down to West Plains to spend time with my parents. Along the way we stopped in Springfield to have lunch with my Aunt Shirley and cousins Chris and Carrie at none other than Springfield Brew Co.
I was also able to sneak in a little time with my friend Mandi. We only had an hour together at Barnes & Noble but it was so great to see her…
We even got to see Jesse for a bit when he came to pick Mandi up…
Then we were on our way to West Plains to celebrate Christmas some more. My Aunt Dodo and Uncle Mike were visiting from Kentucky so we were able to see them as well. The evening was great with time spent together and presents shared…although Lucas and I had way too many presents to open. :)
Lucas got a mandolin!
And I received many wonderful gifts as well. One of my favorites was from my Aunt and Uncle…a picture of me and my Grandpa, my mom’s dad. I don’t have many pictures of him or with him because he died when I was young. All the more reason to love this picture…
The next day my Aunt and Uncle headed back home and we spent part of the afternoon at the conservation center. But first my mom had to get ready to go…and no it wasn’t even cold! :)
While we were with my parents we celebrated New Year’s Eve with them. I ended up setting up my new Wii and Wii Fit so we were well entertained. We had a lovely dinner of appetizers…
And then we enjoyed the Wii..
It was one of the best New Year’s Eve celebrations I’ve ever had. Although I think April, our family dog, had a little too much fun…
Happy New Year!
The next night we enjoyed our final dinner together…
And then it was time to say goodbye…
It was a great visit home to Missouri although it was too short to do much else other than see our family. After the 19 hour drive back home we are settled back into life in Princeton.
-Shannon
After our long drive home we arrived in Kansas City, MO around noon on Christmas Day. We spent the day catching up and playing Wii but Lucas and I were in bed by 5:30 that night and didn’t wake up until 9:00am the next day! Todd & Angie, Lucas’ brother and sister-in-law, were down in Joplin with Angie’s family so we spent the next few days with Lucas’ parents and grandparents.
The day after Christmas we made a trip up to St. Joseph to possibly eat at a restaurant to celebrate Lucas’ birthday. Along the way we spent some time at a local park. It had been very cold in Missouri but on this day it was in the mid 60’s!
During our time in St. Joe we found out the restaurant wasn’t open anymore so we ended up driving all the way over to Wabash BBQ. Even though it was too much driving the food was worth it. Plus Lucas was able to pick up some BBQ sauce as well.
We were also able to meet up with our friend Jeff as he drove through town on his way back to Chicago. And what better place to meet than Taco Bell…
Finally on Sunday Todd & Angie were back so we were able to celebrate more of Christmas with the opening of presents…
Lucas’ favorite ornament…
Angie enjoyed her presents…
Lucas loved opening his presents as well…
Dad…
Grandma & Grandpa..
Mom…
Lucas with his favorite BBQ sauce…
And more presents…
And my big present…
Then we enjoyed a wonderful meal…Lucas helped out but Bonnie was really the chef..
And then we had the biggest news of Christmas…Todd & Angie are having a baby!!! We are so excited for them and Lucas and I will now be an Aunt and Uncle! Congratulations!
-Shannon
For the past few years while being in Vancouver we would come home to Missouri for 3-4 weeks. We would be home around the 15th of December and stay through the New Year. However, after spending this past summer at home in Missouri we didn’t feel the need to make quite as long of a trip home for Christmas. That and my job at the church had me leading a Christmas Eve service. So this year we patiently waited around our apartment for Christmas Eve to come so we could begin our long drive back to Missouri. Yes we drove because finding a flight late on Christmas Eve that doesn’t have a layover in Cleveland for 11 hours or doesn’t cost $800 a person is almost nonexistent. :)
As you saw, we spent Christmas Eve Eve in NYC and woke up nice and late on Christmas Eve. We packed up our bags and our cat and headed to the church for a lovely Christmas Eve service. At 6:45pm we were on the road…19 hours later we were in Kansas City. Thankfully we didn’t run into any weather besides a little rain in Pennsylvania and we only stopped to fill up with gas and grab some food. And we tried to be extra nice to each person who was working at these places because hello it’s the middle of the night on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.
Our trip was rather uneventful except for one little thing. First a little back story…as Christmas was approaching I kept noticing little gifts from Lucas for me under the tree (he would tell me he was wrapping stuff up around the house). I was getting pretty excited but didn’t know what any of it could be.
As we were driving home Christmas Eve was rapidly coming to an end and Christmas Day was on it’s way. At midnight we both wished each other Merry Christmas and then Lucas proceeded to have me pull over the car so he could give me one of my presents. We stopped in western Pennsylvania at a random exit with nothing but an old motel. We pulled in the parking lot and Lucas got a gift out of the trunk for me. I didn’t recognize this gift at all and I told him I just wanted to open a small gift…nothing big. We got back in the car and I opened this…
I couldn’t believe it!!! My very own Wii!!!
Now let me explain a little…about a month before Christmas I mentioned that someday I would like a Wii and Wii Fit. I really wanted the Wii Fit but obviously you have to have a Wii for that to work. I knew it was too much to ask for at Christmas but Lucas and I still talked it over. After that we never talked about it again and I just figured it would be something I would save up for in the New Year.
Along the way Lucas found out that we’ve been paying too much to Princeton each month so he got a refund check back from them. He only deposited part of it and took the rest to buy me a Wii! I couldn’t believe how sneaky he was and I really couldn’t belive that he surprised me like this…what a guy! I am one spoiled girl but believe me when I say most Christmases aren’t like that with gifts to each other. But I’ll take a little spoiling every once in awhile.
And my other gifts from under the tree…he did, in fact, wrap up stuff from around the house.
-Shannon
P.S. Christmas isn’t over…more posts to come.
First of all let me say I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without posting. Obviously while we were home in Missouri I wasn’t really thinking about posting but since we’ve been back I don’t really know what I’ve been doing. But now that I think of it we’ve only been home for 5 days so I guess I should cut myself a break. Still there are things to blog about so here goes…
On December 23rd we decided to head into the city to celebrate Christmas NYC style. We took the train into the city late afternoon so we could enjoy all the lights. Our first stop was Macy’s…
We found a big Christmas tree at the library…
Onto Grand Central Station…I’d never stuck my head inside so we peeked in and found out why…
…because it’s full of people!
Next on our agenda was dinner at the Comfort Diner. I found this place on-line and it looked like a great little place and it was! It was a little out of way but that made it feel all the more like real NYC.
More lights at Saks…
And then to the coup de grace…
The Rockefeller Center Tree! I’ve waited my whole life to see it! Lucas thought it wasn’t as big as he expected but I LOVED it!
More windows at Bergdorf Goodman…these were artsy windows…
We spotted an awesome Santa car. It was covered in all things Christmas and Santa was driving it! You can see him if you look closely…
Ever since Lucas and I first visited NYC back in 2004 we’ve wanted to take a carriage ride through Central Park. Once we moved here we decided Christmas would be a great time to do just that.
After our lovely carriage ride we walked around the park just a bit…
And before heading home we had to make one more stop to see the tree again…this time from a different angle…
-Shannon
Even though we are now home in Missouri (and I already have stories about that), I thought I’d share some pictures from our Christmas Dinner we had with some friends in Princeton.
The whole event started because I wanted to use my Christmas Dishes!!! These are some dishes that I’m sure were the JC Penny special back in 1985 but I’ve always loved them. A few years ago my parent’s neighbor was getting rid of an entire set in a garage sale and my mom saw them and picked them up for me. Once the neighbor found out that I liked them she gave me other pieces from the set that she ran across.
We also had a ham we had bought and we knew we couldn’t eat it all so we thought we should share it with some friends. So I diligently set the table…
…and then the guests arrived…Anthony & Ali, on the left…Vivek & Jeanie, on the right…
After our meal was done we were sitting around talking and heard a bunch of sirens. We thought for sure that all our apartments were burning to the ground but instead it was a parade with Santa!
Anthony & Ali enjoyed the evening…
Jeanie & Vivek enjoyed the Winking Santa Mugs filled with hot chocolate…
It was a great evening with friends and the dishes were spectacular. :)
-Shannon
This past week I had the chance to see my sister, Megan! She lives in Boston, which is much closer now that we’re in New Jersey instead of Vancouver, but we had yet to see her since we moved here in September. However this week we were able to see her as she and her boyfriend, Ted, traveled from Boston down to Deleware to spend Christmas with his family.
On Thursday evening the pulled into Princeton after leaving Boston a day earlier than planned. There was supposed to be a big snow day coming on Friday so they thought they’d get out of town early. And it’s a good thing they did because Boston is still getting snow! So Thursday night we enjoyed a wonderful evening with them as we opened a few Christmas presents, drank some poinsettias (not the plant), and ate some yummy food.
Here are Megan and Ted…
And one of the sisters having a photo shoot…I won’t bore you with the dozen or so we took while we were being goofy. :)
It was so great to see my sister especially since the last time I saw her was in Missouri last Christmas. Hopefully we’ll see more of her in the New Year. Merry Christmas, Megan!
-Shannon
My friend Alysia tagged me to answer some questions about Christmas. And since I love Christmas I couldn’t pass. :)
The rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Fill out the questions below
3. Tag people at the end of your post.
4. Pass on the tag. Have FUN!!
1.Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate all the way, but we always have egg nog in the fridge because Lucas can’t get enough of it.
2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wraps them! Although a few times when I was growing up Santa would leave a few presents sitting out. But only if it was something big.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I actually like both. I think the white lights look a little classier but I love the old big bulb colored lights as well.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Actually I normally don’t…I don’t have any.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Thanksgiving weekend
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I don’t really know…I guess green bean casserole and my mom’s mashed potatoes. But those aren’t just for Christmas. My favorite Christmas food is my mom’s sugar cookies!
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: Every other year we would spend Christmas Eve at my Aunt & Uncle’s house and then drive home after an evening together. We only lived 30 minutes away and then they would visit on Christmas Day. During those Christmas Eve car rides home I would sit in the back seat of our station wagon and stare at the sky. I was mostly looking for Santa Claus but later in life I would sit and just think about what that night really means.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don’t think my parents have ever told me that Santa doesn’t exist. I can still hear the bell ring…
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Growing up we always opened a gift on Christmas Eve and it was normally pajamas!
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? With lots of lights and lots of ornaments. Our ornaments are a mix of nice ones, new ones, old ones, ugly ones…we put them all up.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? LOVE IT!!!! And I want some now! But hopefully we won’t run into too much of it on our 18 hour Christmas Eve drive home this year.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes and I have always wanted to take lessons.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I have loved a lot of my gifts. I can’t really think of one favorite.
14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Remembering the season of advent, of anticipation, of expectation…of Jesus’ birth.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Again, my mom’s sugar cookies
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Every year on Christmas Day dinner we all get a popper thing that we open and then we wear the paper crowns the rest of dinner. Oh and we always sing “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel. I don’t really know how that one got started but it’s one of our richest family traditions.
17. What tops your tree? A star.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I have to say I enjoy both! I love finding/making presents for other people but I also love getting them myself.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Oh Holy Night & O Come, O Come Emmanuel
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? YUM!
21. What do you want for Christmas? Only Santa knows that. :)
22. Do you attend an annual Christmas Party? No but we normally go to one and maybe host a dinner with some friends.
23. Do you dress up on Christmas or wear PJs? If we’re staying at the house that we wake up in then we just stay in our pajamas but if we’re traveling before opening presents then we might dress up.
24. Do you own a santa hat? YES and my little Christmas elf likes to wear it.
25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Lucas and for the past few years we’ve been lucky enough to see both families on Christmas Day. This year we’ll be pulling into KC on Christmas Day and then we’ll see my family a few days later! I can’t believe it’s only a week away!
If anyone else wants to share some Christmas memories/traditions then feel free to share!
-Shannon
This year it was so much fun to decorate for Christmas! The past few years in Vancouver we had to work with what we had, which wasn’t much. But this year I had all of my Christmas decorations that had been hiding out in my parent’s basement.
As I unpacked the boxes I felt like each thing I touched was a new and wonderful discovery! But I have to admit that I still just go crazy for the simple things like a Christmas tree and lights. So I’ll take you on a little tour around the place and then end with the TREE!
First we’ll start in the kitchen where I came up with not only putting lights under the cabinets but also some fun hangings…
In the bathroom I went with a colored light theme…
This is one of my favorite Christmas items especially because my parents have one and I loved it growing up! Back when we lived in Springfield, Lucas and I were walking downtown and saw this lovely in an antique store. We immediately rushed in and snatched it up. I’m so glad it made it through all the storage and moving. Now all I need to do is find some candles…
And a different turny thing…
My “new” old santa mugs! If you come over to visit I promise to serve you a nice cup of hot chocolate in these…
And the plate we will leave out for Santa as Lucas has for all these years…
I also put lights on top of the bookcase and then Lucas thought we could put one of our nativities up there as well…
Finally on to the trees! This year we have 3 of them!!! First our smallest little tree used to be in my bedroom growing up. I had all kinds of little bity ornaments for it but this year we classed it up by giving it a makeover. It now lights up our dining room…
As I’m writing this I realize I have no pictures of my next largest tree (or smallest depending on how you look at it). It is in our bedroom and it’s our colorful tree with colored lights and simple colored balls. I will have to update you later but I can’t wait another second to share our Christmas tree so here goes…
We have the stockings hung nearby…and yes I made these our first year of marriage when we had no Christmas decorations. I think they’re kind of ridiculous but Lucas will probably never let me get new ones…
And a few ornaments…new and old…
One from Lucas’ childhood…
And one from my childhood…and yes I kind of have a femullet…
We even had some old ornaments that I think my PawPaw had…
Thankfully Paca likes it as well…
We actually found this tree down in our storage unit in the basement. We figured the people who lived here before us just left it so we thought we’d see if we could make it work. And it did work! However, not five minutes after we had fully decorated it our friend James stopped by and we invited him in to show him our tree. He loved it and said that he had actually come by to have us let him in our storage unit because they had their Christmas tree in there. (Do you see where this is going?) We had set up James and Nicole’s tree! James was completely gracious and let us keep the thing because he said they got it for a good price. So he went out and bought a new one (which we offered to pay for) and to pay them back we had them over for dinner. Although I think I should throw some “free hot chocolate for the rest of the Christmas season” in as well. :)
-Shannon
I’m glad that I have finally been able to decorate for Christmas and I can’t believe I’ve waited a week to talk about it! Believe me when I say I had all of my decorations up the day after Thanksgiving. It has been glorious! And I find that since it’s the Christmas season I spend more time listening to Christmas music and less time watching tv. This year I added Sara Groves’ O Holy Night album and Rosie Thomas’ A Very Rosie Christmas album to my collection and I love them both!
So now onto the Christmas decorations! I realized I have way too many decorations when Lucas brought up all my boxes…
I had my work cut out for me to find a place for everything. But I thought I would start with the outside and work my way in so for this post we’ll head outside to see what all the neighbors can see. First of all I had to decorate our poor little trees. They are starting to look like Charlie Brown Christmas trees and I’m not sure the balls helped them out…
The view with all our lights on…now keep in mind we had enough lights to cover our house back in Springfield and I had to stop Lucas from going a little Clark Griswold on it…
Thankfully our upstairs neighbors, James & Nicole, have the Christmas spirit as well. I think we have the nicest column on the block…
Soon enough we’ll continue to the tour indoors…
-Shannon
*Oh and to get us all in the Christmas spirit I’ve added snow to the blog!!!
Lately I haven’t been doing too many crafty things, but this week that changed. First, I started my free on-line class called Stories in Hand. The class is meant to help you remember stories from life and learn to write them down with all the great details. Even though it isn’t a scrapbooking class we spent the first few days making our Stories in Hand binders and a smaller notebook to keep with you for story ideas…
It’s pretty neat because the woman who is teaching it normally does digital scrapbooking stuff so she prepares all these pages that then you can just print out. That is how I made the covers and filled my book. Now we’re in the process of collecting stories and writing down a few of them as well. It helps me to take time each day to spend some time writing and collecting my thoughts…
I actually meant to mention the class on here earlier so that some of you crafty friends of mine could do this as well. But I kind of forgot and then I realized they had closed the class! However, the class is through Jessica Sprague so keep your eyes peeled for other classes if you want.
In other news…Christmas Cards! That’s right I’m already thinking about Christmas Cards. :) Actually a blog that I read got me thinking about Christmas cards because she designed a Christmas Card set that I quickly fell in love with. I debated weither using the set would be considered “hand-made” enough for me, but with a few of my own touches I think I’ll be able to make these cards into one-of-a-kind-Shannon-cards. Yesterday I received my fantastic Chrismas Card Kit…
As you can see it comes with lots of fun extra stuff like small thank you cards, CD/DVD mailers, gift tags, Christmas letter paper and envelopes…
And in case you want this for yourself, you can find it here. I’ve already started working to assemble my cards and to add a few special touches. Sometimes I need some new inspiration to kick start my craftiness and this week I’ve had just what I needed.
-Shannon
