a winter wonderland

Christmas Day was just lovely this past year.  Even though we had to spend the day with one less family member than usual, it still was enjoyable.  

I definitely miss the excitement I would feel the Eve of Christmas when I was a kid.  For now, this will have to do!  Waking up to my crazy brother wanting to see the gifts he got.   Watching my puppy wonder what in the world we are doing.  Seeing my sisters face when she gets something that she wanted.  Giving gifts to my mom who deserves so much.  Wishing my dad had gotten the day off, but being thankful for him being blessed to have a great job.  Just spending time with family.

 The day after Christmas we got an incredible snow storm that gave us the opportunity to have another day of "Christmas."  I love the peacefulness after a fresh snow fall.

a time to be thankful

 Our Thanksgiving this year was spent at our new home!  We could finally fit my entire dad's side of the family in our home and it did not seem crowded.  Our day was filled with joy and laughter.  

It was also filled with hunting a bird.  Yes, there is a brown cardinal that pecks at our windows during the day time.  My father thinks that he can be a sniper and shoot it, but he has failed numerous times. The cardinal is still knocking on our window every morning.

On my dad's side, ping pong is a big deal.  We had a tournament and the final contestants were my brother and father.  It got serious towards the end and everyone said it was the "best" ping pong game they had seen!

 The last day I was home we got to take my Grandma to the Fashion Mall.  We decided that she needed to start caring for herself!  I think we helped her just a bit.

the feast and fall

Recently, Lafayette had their Feast of the Hunters Moon Festival.  It draws quite a large crowd and people come from all over the states.  There were a lot of booths to look at and a lot of fires going.  It was a great way for the community to say goodbye to Summer and hello Fall!  

It was really cool to see so many people making their items by hand.  Just like in the old days.  A lot of people were making homemade chairs and knives.

Some people were really bothered by the smoke...and had to take their contacts out.  Yes, he is going to be a doctor one day.  Oh boy...

what a wonderful life we have

Family time is always so great.  I love being with this crazy bunch!  This past week we did the freedom run together as a family.  It was in Carmel and was 4.5 hot miles long!  At eight AM it was already in the ninties.  Yikes!  The parade was later on that day and we went to that together.  Again, super hot. 

 "The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." ~Erma Bombeck

 This past weekend, my siblings and I traveled to Chicago together to hang out with some of our family in Chicago.  I felt like a mother the whole time.  Not too much fun.  Trying to get my brother to have good manners and my sister to eat!  I am sure they thought I was crazy the whole time.  Number one reason why I should not have kids right now, I am NOT ready. 

It was my Great Uncle Wes' 70th birthday this weekend and we got celebrate it with him.  It was great to see all my mom's side of the family.

Update for me!  I got the 50 mm f/1.8 lens.  I love it.  I am so happy with this purchase.  My family and I are vacationing next week and this lens will be used a lot.