Happy Times

This Thanksgiving proved to be a whirlwind. We traveled back to Iowa and my parents and my family descended upon the Bowers' home for 4 days. I'm eternally grateful to my sister for letting us stay and for being an excellent hostess. Add to that, she just redid a large portion of her home and it looks amazing! It was like staying at a 5 star hotel!!! Thank you again Jen!

We managed to cram in a lot in 4 days. Thursday was obviously Thanksgiving. We were at my sisters and Tony's Father and Brother also came over to celebrate with us. It was an amazing meal and a fun time. We ended the night playing a game called Boulderdash. It's a hoot and Taylor and Kaylee had never played so it was fun watching them bluff their way through it.

Friday the family went bowling but everyone was nice enough to let Chris and I sneak off for a bit to see the movie Lincoln. Wow, was that movie good! I rarely say this but it was worth all the money we paid to go see it. I highly recommend it! Friday afternoon Chris, Jackson and I headed to Iowa City to meet up with Chris' sister who was in town for the Iowa game. Chris hadn't seen her or her family for three years and it had been longer than that for me. His nieces have grown like weeds and have really grown in to polite, well-adjusted young ladies. We had a great time with all of them, even though it was way too short.

Saturday was our traditional Wenndt Family Christmas, always the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had a great turn out and it was wonderful to see everyone. It's hard to cram in a year's worth of catch up in such a short amount of time but we did our best and enjoyed our time with everyone. Jackson was on cloud nine meeting some cousins he doesn't remember meeting a few years back. He played nice with everyone and it brought back memories of when Mike and I played with our cousins at those Christmases. Time marches on...

We arrived back in WI on Saturday night. Sunday was all Christmas at our house. The tree went up along with decorations and we even began some Christmas baking (one of my favorite past times at Christmas).

It's nice to have the seasons shift. Christmas and the New Year bring out the best in people and for a month out of the year it seems most people are happy and polite. I'll relish it but keep my distance from the malls and shopping complexes, all civility seems to evaporate near those places.

(prepare for pictures, there's a lot of them)

 

Chris' nieces and Jackson at dinner.

 

Chris and his Sister.

 

Chris and I post-5 miles Turkey Day run with our PJ clad boy.

Thanksgiving night - the family lies its way through the game Boulderdash.

Larry displays his traditional mountain of Cool-Whip.

Thanksgiving Day wouldn't be right without it.

Chris and Jackson take a break from football and tackling to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner.

Here's what caused Jackson's tomato face in the picture above. He would skip all meals and bedtime if he could just keep playing football.

A great photo of my parents, Jackson and Tay at the Family Christmas.

I blame Grandpa for inciting this craziness...

I just like this photo of my Hubby.

: )

Jackson donning his new Iowa Hawkeye hat. We do our best to represent in Wisconsin but Jackson is also a Badger fan. I haven't caved and gotten him anything Badger just yet.

Jackson at the Family Christmas with Santa Clause.

This picture shows just how much he has shot up and thinned out recently. That explains the non-stop appetite of late. 

Betty Crocker herself hosted Thanksgiving for us.

Jen shows off her beautiful table setting. Oh how far we have come from the days of paper plates and plastic cutlery. Grandma would be so proud of us!!!!

  : )

Jen and I at the family Christmas.

 

Kaylee laying her way through Boulderdash and trying not to give away the answer with her smiles. I don't think she's succeeding...

Chris and Jackson playing football on Thanksgiving Day, enjoying the 60+ degree day in Iowa before it turned bitterly cold the next day.

 

The Syring Family pitching in to get the table and food ready.

 

Chris and I on our impromptu date to see the movie Lincoln. I have always had a subtle interest in Lincoln (read a memoir and biography) and Chris loves history so this movie was perfect for BOTH of us (rarity). It was an excellent movie!!!