Merry Christmas...

Technically I'm posting this a little late, but hoping all had a Merry Christmas!



We love displaying holiday cards we receive from our friends and family so we can enjoy them throughout the holiday season. This year I decided to try making a card wreath that I saw on Shutterfly. I just didn't realize how many pictures I would be trying to fit onto the wreath! Because we had so many, I only used the photos we received and not all of the cards. And it's still growing as we received cards in the mail today. Mine really looks nothing like theirs and it's a little crooked, but it's still my favorite way we've displayed them so far.

Merry Christmas from some Iowa elves...

This is so much fun...and addictive!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Brecken's 1st Birthday Party II

We had the second of Brecken's parties over Thanksgiving weekend. Our niece Jacelyn was also turning one so we had a double celebration with Jim's family. It was another fun party! I don't think it's possible for a first birthday party to not be fun, is it?! In attendance were Great Grandpa Don, Great Grandma Eileen, Grandpa Darrell, Grandma Berta, Aunt Amy, Uncle Zac, Jacelyn, Aunt Katie, Uncle Dan, Britany, Trevor, Uncle Andy, Great Uncle Don, Great Aunt Margaret, Laura, Great Uncle Jeff, Great Aunt Cindy, Josh, Jared, Emily, and of course all of us. Great Aunt Sally, Great Uncle Gene, and Sarah were unable to attend because of the nasty flu bug.

Aunt Amy and Grandma Berta made three Twinkie cakes, one large one and two smaller butterflies for the girls. Yum! I wasn't about to compete with them on the cake making...they are the masters! Brecken is definitely a more messy eater than her cousin...apparently Zac and Amy have been working on manners more than we have!

She got many nice gifts including the cutest little cupcake ornament that Great Grandma Eileen painted. Thanks to all who made the day special!

So Long to the So Long Couch

We said goodbye to our extra long (8.5 ft) couch tonight. I know it seems ridiculous, but it was somewhat hard for me to part with it because it's one of the few physical reminders I have of my grandparents. We really wanted to keep it, but we are going to repurpose our front living room and we just don't have the room to store it for "someday." This couch belonged to my Grandpa and Grandma Evans and I'm guessing was purchased in the 1960s or 70s. It eventually became their basement couch. When my grandpa passed away, it became the basement couch at my mom's. When I got my first apartment at college, it moved to Ames and then to two more of my college apartments. When Jim and I moved into our apartment after graduation, it was our only piece of furniture and since moving to our house, it has been in our front living room, covered, but still in great shape. It's such a great couch, comfy, and long enough to seat many and sleep the tall. We gave it away for free and the guy who came to get it seemed to appreciate its "beauty" and size. ;) They brought a mini van to pick it up so obviously they couldn't close the back door and the couch hung out of the back as they hauled it. Shortly after they left, our phone rings and it's my brother on his cell phone..."Uh, I could be mistaken, but I think I'm following Grandma's old couch down the highway!" HA HA! We got a good laugh out of that one. And I think it was a sign that it was okay to "let it go."