The BEST Christmas

I think I said it about 100 times on Christmas, but I will say it again. I honestly think this was our best Christmas yet (minus Chip and Vanessa's absence before Christmas). We had so much fun spending quality time together making a gingerbread house, decorating cookies, watching movies, playing games, and hanging out with family!



On the 23rd we enjoyed our annual nice dinner out with my family. This year we started up at my mom's house for appetizers and drinks and then headed up Keltie's Restaurant in Westfield. It did not disappoint! After dinner we headed back to my mom's house for grasshoppers. Grasshoppers are a childhood favorite of mine that my grandma used to make me - blended ice cream and cream de menthe. Yes, my grandma gave me alcohol at the age of 12.

Justin, Charlie, and I decided to make a night of it and spend the night at mom's house. We had a fabulous slumber party.


The morning of the 24th, I helped my mom prepare lunch while Justin did manly things like change the furnace filters and fix the wireless internet. Michael and Emily arrived for presents and mimosas. We got some good loot - yoga mat, yoga towel, makeup, giftcards, and jewelry for me, and clothes and giftcards for Justin.

We also had some funny gifts.


Yes, Justin got some potatoes.

Of course, the dogs exchanged gifts.


Family picture time!


After we took pictures in front of the tree, the dogs wanted in on the fun as well!

How cute are they?!?!

For lunch we enjoyed a wonderful beef fondue meal. It was so much fun to cook the meat and veggies together in the fondue pot.

After a quick nap, Justin, my mom, and I raced off to church. First to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel where we were greeted with a full church, then to St. Maria Goretti. We arrived to Goretti 45 minutes early so we managed to get a seat there.

After church, Justin and I raced off to Clay City to see the nieces and nephews perform in the Christmas program. After the program, we opened presents with Justin's family (12 adults and 7 children - it was a full house!). Chip and Vanessa even made it out of DC safely. Then Justin and I drove home to Indy around 1am. It was a late night but such a great day!

On Christmas Day, Justin and I enjoyed a nice brunch of omelets, potatoes, and bacon while the mimosas were flowing once again. We exchanged gifts (more good stuff!) and drank more mimosas. My mom came over with Charlie, and next thing we knew another bottle of wine was gone! I had so much fun seeing my mom on Christmas day. Usually she is jetting off to Florida on Christmas, so it was wonderful to have her around!!


More treats for Charlie as well.


Mid afternoon Justin and I headed over to my dad's house (with a brief stop at Kendra's house!). We visited with the family at my dad's and played Apples to Apples late into the night.

So there you have it - the best Christmas yet!

All I Want For Christmas....

Is to meet Kendra (Wilkinson) Baskett!

I guess I will have to settle for getting my picture in front of her house!

Go Horse!

Fun times at the Colts Game on November 8!! What a great day!



I greatly enjoyed all the wonderful people watching during the game.

Visit to DC

Sorry for the absense...we've been busy! Time to play catch up! We spent a long weekend in Washington DC at the end of October visiting Chip and Vanessa and their beautiful new home!

We had a fun and busy weekend that began as soon as our plan landed on Thursday night! Dinner at Matchbox on Thursday night, a fun run around the Capitol on Friday afternoon, drinks at the swanky W Hotel with an awesome view of the White House followed by dinner at Founding Farms on Friday night.

On Saturday, Vanessa and I carved pumpkins, while the boys worked on projects around the house.

On Halloween night, we had tons of trick or treaters! We had some friends over and sat out on the porch handing out candy. We even ran out of candy - there were so many kids!


On Sunday, we went out to a local restaurant/bar and watched the Colts game!


Thanks to Vanessa for supporting the Colts (even though she comes from a Patriots-loving family)!

Anniversary Celebration

For our 3 year anniversary, Justin and I spent the day in southern Indiana. First, we had lunch in Bloomington and drove around IU's campus reminiscing about the old days. Then we went to Oliver Winery for some wine tasting followed by a bottle of wine and cheese and cracker outside. It was a wonderful fall day!





Then, we made a stop at Mallow Run Winery for yet another bottle of wine and some more cheese and crackers.


As if we hadn't done enough eating and drinking that day, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Eddie Merlot's (our favorite restaurant in Indy). Such a great anniversary!

Stock the Bar

Michael and Emily's "Stock the Bar" engagement party was a great time last weekend. I think they received enough alcohol to last quite awhile. I know I'd be happy to help take some of it off their hands! :-) Family and friends from all over attended, and we had a great time celebrating the upcoming wedding.

Family picture:

Mom and some members of the Bern Squad.

Michael and some friends.

Soon to be sister-in-laws!


Can't wait for the big day on May 1, 2010!

Suprise, It's Elvis!

The morning after the wedding my mom planned for Elvis to make an appearance and sing Happy 60th Birthday to her friend, Ann. He surprised her as we were eating breakfast that morning. First, the loud music came on the speakers and then Elvis came strolling in! Ann was shocked and wanted to crawl under the table. We got a good laugh!

As you can see from the pictures, this man didn't look exactly like Elvis, and he sure didn't sound like Elvis. Boy was it hilarious!!






I don't understand what people of that generation saw in him!

October Wedding

October weddings are the best (maybe I'm a little biased)!!

On Saturday night we attended the wedding of a long time family friend. He got married in Ohio on the campus of Xavier University. The ceremony was wonderful, and the 80-year priest was quite hilarious!

The new Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien!

Following the ceremony, we celebrated all night long at the reception!


Way too many drinks on our table. Note the lovely place cards using the cork of a wine bottle. Cute! I will say that is alot of bottles of wine though, considering there were 275 guests!


It was cold before the dancing started (I don't generally wear Justin's jacket).

The next wedding will be Michael and Emily's!


Congrats!

Little Miss Domestic

After a busy weekend of running in the Dick Lugar 10K on Saturday morning and going to the Kenney Chesney concert on Saturday night, a day of being domestic at home was much needed. Justin's parents gave us TONS of tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, green beans, cucumbers, and corn on the cob that was quickly going bad unless I did something with them asap. So I set out on Sunday morning to make tomato sauce, chicken tortilla soup, and freeze the green beans and corn. It was quite the day in the kitchen!

First up:
Chicken Tortilla Soup (in the crockpot)

My recipe:
2 large chicken breasts (put in frozen, but shred when they are cooked through)
2 can black beans undrained
1 large can green chilis
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chicken broth
1 cup salsa
corn (I used about 1.5 cups cut from the cob)
tomatoes, diced (I used about 3 large tomatoes)
minced garlic, onion powder, cumin, cilantro, salt, and pepper

Let simmer in crockpot all day and serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips on top!


Next:
Homemade Tomato Sauce

The chopped tomatoes ready to go:


I loosely followed the recipe found here, but I did everything x 4 and added a chopped onion and green pepper. I froze most of the tomato sauce for later, but saved some for Justin to make spaghetti while I am out of town this week.

Finally:
Corn and Green Beans

Before (there was more):


I blanched them in boiling water for 3-5 minutes and then transferred to ice water for the same amount of time. Then I cut the corn off the cob. I froze the corn and green beans in individual portions.

After:


Whew....quite a day in the kitchen!!

Go Colts!

Charlie is so excited that football season has begun! He's got his jersey on and is ready to cheer for the Colts as they have a great season!!