The Hopleaf

We met up with Michelle and Joel at The Hopleaf in Andersonville. That's odd, it looks like I snapped a photo after Michelle took a bite of food. That never happens! Tim - we're hitting this place up when you get back. :)

Mama's Got a New Pair of Shoes!

I bought myself some new shoes! Aren't they pretty!!

Mom's Photos of Christmas

My mom emailed me the photos I took on her camera. Merry Christmas everyone!

Don't forget the treats!

We put out fruit, cookies and milk. I brought the Reindeer Food from Chicago, cause you don't want to forget about them! They're the ones doing all the work!

Christmas Eve Service

Christmas Eve Service was lots of fun. Angie opened up the service with a flute solo. Gavin and Max played the Kristal Bells, along with all the other munchkins. We sang lots of Christmas carols and sang Silent Night, accapella, while each holding a candle. I feel the Christmas spirit most at the end of those services, when the lights are dimmed, we're all standing in one big circle, holding our candles up high and singing "Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace".

Santa is Norweigan

We made Kumla at dad's on Sunday. That, along with the homemade Lefsa, made us so full we just sat around and moaned for at least an hour. Or at least, that's what I did.
Norweigan food requires a lot of butter.

Ankeny Christian Church

Sunday morning we went to church at Ankeny Christian Church, which is the church I grew up in. Max now plays in Kristal Bells (which is about the cutest thing in the world). Afterwards, he fell asleep in my arms and I held him through the rest of the church service. :)
I would have taken photos of Gavin, but he was playing in the nursery the whole time.

Christmas at Mom's

We spent Saturday celebrating Christmas at my mom's house. I don't have many photos because my camera battery died, but I will post more once my mom emails them to me. We had a wonderful feast (prepared by my mom), read the Christmas story out of Luke, and watched all the kids open presents. It was great having Courtney with us this year!

Frasca's

Last night, my team celebrated Christmas at Frasca's in Lakeview. We drank so much champagne (and Lindsey downed a few beers), snacked on warm olives and brie, feasted on gourmet pizzas and polished it all off with pistachio and chocolate gellato and carrot cake tiramasu. Bon appetite!
We did out gift exchange, which was so much fun!
Merry Christmas, everyone!