PIZZA PANTS & BABY MYTHS

This weekend was a ton of fun. Our friends Rachel and Sam came to visit from Peoria, IL. We really didn't do too much...but they are the type of friends that you can just hang out with and and do nothing and love every minute of it.

Over the last 10 years Rachel's mom, Rella, has made most of us the awesome pajama pants we are all sporting in the picture. Mine have a golf theme, Rachel's have a pizza theme and Sam's have a football theme. Jon decided to act sad in all the pictures because he does not have pair of the most comfortable pants ever!!





Rachel and sam are expecting their first baby in July and so we did some baby furniture shopping and laughed a lot about all of the myths that people have come up with to determine your babies sex without ultrasound. We decided to put a few of them to the test and then see which ones hold true when they get their ultrasound in mid-February.
The majority of our highly scientific research pointed towards girl - although the hold the wedding ring on a string over the baby test to see how it spins was inconclusive!!




Thanks for coming guys - we miss you already!!

WHICH ONE? Vote on your favorite.......

So, I need some help. I have the honor of being in Nicole and Grant's http://grantandnicole.blogspot.com wedding this year and Nicole is totally practical and is letting the bridesmaids pick their own dress style out of a list of options. I have narrowed it down to two, but cant' decide. I figured I should let people vote on which one they like the best for some input!

Here is Dress #1:

Here is Dress #2

Vote on which one you like the best to the right! Both will be in the brown color, I just couldn't find a picture of one of the styles in brown.

House Updates

We have been getting a few requests from family and friends that know we have been busy with home improvement to post a few new pictures of our house updates. We haven't taken any updated pictures of the inside since we painted etc., but I just took a few updated pictures of the outside, so I figured I would share them with everyone. The big changes are the new windows and door. Updated pictures of the inside to come soon in a future post!

Notice that all of our snow melted as of today! It was 45 and there are just a few patches of snow in our yard now.

Rocking around the Christmas Tree with the Meenderings

We left my parents house on Sunday night and made a late night drive to the Meendering's to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Sam, Nick and Ava were home and we also had the extra special treat of spending the holiday with Grandma Merrill and Aunt Cindy, who were nice enough to drive to visit us from the black hills. Here are some pictures from our few days of fun as a family.

Four generations...


Ava opening presents...


Nick and Ava taking a cat nap...

Playing games...

Uncle Jon & Ava - Checkout Ava's first ponytail!


Ava favorite saying to Grandpa Meendering "NO NO NO"

Jingle Bells with the Gee's

We got to spend 2 fun filled days with the Gee Family on Saturday and Sunday. Both of my sisters and their families were home so my parents condo was filled to the max. We had a great time playing with the kids and enjoyed a day with my grandma Gee and my uncle Larry. Here are some pictures of the highlights. Unfortunately I don't have all the pictures from everyone yet, so I will upload more when I get them from my parents and sisters.

My mom and Ali playing with her favorite new game "perfection" and her new Dora mermaid.........


George having fun with uncle Jon.......


Rita and I posing with her new blanket from her Great Aunt Rita...


All the kids playing a very LONG game of littlest pet shop monopoly... (check out Sophie's sequence cheerleading outfit!)

What a Wonderful Thanksgiving

The Meendering family came to Omaha to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. It worked out great because Randy and Sue live in Huron SD and Sam, Nick and Ava live in Cedar Rapids IA, so we could meet in the middle and no one had to have a terribly long drive. This was especially good for Sam and Nick because their drive to Omaha was quite an adventure. Ava got sick a few times on the drive and a drive that normally takes 4 hours took about 7!

Once everyone got to Omaha we had a great time. We relaxed and ate a lot of great food on thanksgiving day. The girls went out shopping on Friday and the boys did a few house projects. We also took in a UNO hockey game. We really enjoyed having everyone at our house and it was sad to see everyone go! We are already looking forward to Christmas.

Here is everyone posing for a family picture .....

GO DUCKS

We had a great Saturday night watching the Ducks beat Arizona State! As we watched the game on TV we kept reminiscing about all of our fond memories of Duck Football games with our friends. We were thinking of you guys at the game and wish we were there with you! National Championship here we come!!

Here are a few great memories.
Our first UO football game together Fall 2002.....

Checking out Autzen Stadium when the Meendering Family came for our Masters degree graduation Spring 2004.....

Watching a game with mom and dad Gee Fall 2005.....

Inside the Ducks Locker Room with Sam, Nick, and Ava the day before a Duck Football game Fall 2006.......

On the field after the game with Sam and Nick Fall 2006......

Operation New Windows

Mom and Dad Meendering came down last weekend and helped install new windows in our house. I was really freaked out about just taking out our windows and having a big hole in our house, but jon ensured me that it would go smoothly. It took a full day of hard work, but we got 6 of the 7 windows installed. Our house still had the original single pane windows from when it was built in 1930 with counter weights in the walls. They were difficult to open and many panes had small cracks. We figured it would be a good investment to put in new windows before winter, plus I was not a big fan of the old aluminum storm window from the exterior of our house, so the new windows were a great update. Here are a few pictures of our hard work.

Before......



During......


After.....

Minneapolis to Omaha

This past weekend the Moran family came to Omaha for a visit. It was so nice having them in town. Seeing Julie, Joe and the kids is always a joy. We only wish they could have stayed longer. Surprisingly our little house handled the increased occupancy very well.

The highlights of the trip were the Henry Doorly Zoo, Playing in Elmwood Park and enjoying meals around the new table from Mom & Dad Gee. The table formerly graced the dining room of Grandpa and Grandma Stassen. It was one of their wedding presents. Mom and Dad did a great job refinishing it for us - thanks!































Quote of the trip: "shoe string tackle-like his shoes were untied"-Harry Moran

HOBO DAYS

We went back to Brookings, SD last weekend for HOBO DAYS (homecoming at South Dakota State University; the university I went to for my undergraduate degree). My sisters came home too and all the kids. Connor, Julia, Alison and Jen surprised me with great birthday desserts on Friday night. On Saturday we went to the parade and football game and carved pumpkins. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend!

Playing with my god daughter Sophie....

Everyone enjoying the Hobo Day Parade.......

Rita and Sophie opening candy at the parade.....

Jon taking care of George.....

Carving pumpkins....