Christmas Recap

What a wonderful holiday it's been - can't believe we have to go back to work tomorrow! :(  We kicked off the Christmas season with a Christmas party at Caroline's house - yummy food, jingle juice and good friends always = a good time!

Caroline, me & Emily Ann

Then, the week before Christmas I headed to Dallas to see my family early since it was a Nebraska Christmas this year.  Tim wasn't able to get as much time off of work, so I was flying solo for the week.  It was a relaxing week and I got to see lots of friends and family.  One thing I was especially looking forward to was meeting this little guy for the first time -

Pam with Forrest Benjamin Taylor

Ross and Sally have been two of my best friends for so long and Forrest was born in October.  I couldn't wait to just hold him - look at those precious eyes!

We had a great night just hanging out and catching up (missed Lauren & Patrick and Chris and Kristine!)

Linds, me, Forrest & Pam

I also got to see my mom and Allen's new apartment (so great!) and hang with Crew (who ended up getting very sick on Christmas...boo):

My sister Katie taught me to play a new game:

So fun!!  It's very simple once you learn the rules - the point is to get rid of all of the marbles on your side before your opponent does.  When we were in Nebraska, my father-in-law, Dan got the game for us and Shae and I played WAYY too many games.

The Thursday before Christmas Tim and I both flew to Omaha to spend a whirlwind Christmas with his side of the family.  One bad note - I did lose my wallet in the St. Louis airport - I got everything cancelled in time, so no major loss other than a little bit of cash and the painful time it took to go replace my license.  Here's a quick map of our stops:  flew into Omaha, stayed in Palmyra, visited Lincoln & Beatrice, stayed in Kearney and then flew back out of Omaha!

Friday morning we did a little last minute Christmas shopping and had a delicious lunch at Misty's in Lincoln with Dan and Shae.  Friday night Tim and I went to our friend Brandt and Amy's house - it was my first time to meet their little girl, Chloe (the last time I saw Amy was on her due date - the girl was out tailgating..that's some real Husker love).

Tim & Chloe

Saturday (Christmas Eve) started with something strange landing in the back yard....



One of Tim's very good family friends (who is also Brandt's uncle), Mike, has a helicopter and he landed in the backyard!  So crazy!  It was pretty cool to watch.  We then did a little family present opening at Dan & Teresa's before heading to Beatrice to celebrate with Teresa's side of the family. 

Bella enjoying her new doggy bed

One thing we definitely did PLENTY of was eat!  Teresa's family made 4 different kinds of soups (Tim brought his chili) and we had sandwiches and desserts.

Shae and Tim in Beatrice

That evening, we headed to Mike & Cathy's house for Christmas Eve dinner - they make their beef stroganoff every year and again it did not disappoint.


Teresa loves her AU koozie!

 On Christmas morning we rode with Tim's grandparents out to Kearney, NE to visit Tim's mom and step dad (Mike & Jody).  My sister-in-law, Amber and her fiance John also made the trip.

John & Amber

Mike and Jody own a kitchen store in Kearney - so they have all the best gear.  They're the ones that have gotten us hooked on Wustof knives (which they gave us for Christmas 2 yrs ago).  Mike makes a mean prime rib which we had for Christmas dinner. 

Christmas Dinner

Poor Jody was a trooper - she slipped on the ice earlier in the month and broke her leg in multiple places.  She had to have surgery and is not allowed to bear any weight on her leg right now - you can see it propped up in the chair above.

We opened gifts and played lots of games - center, left right (dice game), dominoes and pitch (card game). 

Grandpa reading us a story from his men's coffee group - not something I think I can tell on the blog, but funny  :)

Tim & I - Christmas 2011

Grandma, Grandpa, Amber & John

The whole group - Tim and I missed the red memo

After a send-off of biscuits and gravy and french toast, we headed back to Palmyra on Monday afternoon for a little bit more family time before we left.  We flew back to Birmingham on Tuesday morning and have been trying to catch-up ever since!  Hope you had a great Christmas!