Christmas: Part 2 continued....

Now to continue on with my Christmas postings. I had to take a break from the last one....

Friday, December 26: Returned back to the mall and shopped a little more. In the evening, we all (minus Jen and Dave) went over to Jesse's parents house and had another delicious meal. I see a pattern here..... Anyway, we ate, played games and enjoyed each others company by the fire. I am SO GLAD that our families are friends and that we can all spend time together when we are home.


Dad and his three girls. Love you Dad!!

Saturday, December 27: Say goodbye to the Armstrongs :( Maybe the next time I see them, they will greet me with baby Ava in their arms!! We spent the evening with friends at the Buskohl's home (thanks for hosting Nancy-it was delicious!!). It was a fun night and also sweet as we all prayed for Tom and Angie, who will be going to China for 2 years to do missions work. Maybe the next time we see each other there will be little ones crawling around??




From the left: Tom and Angie, Philip and Beth, Jesse and I, and Philip and Becca.


Jesse has remained close with these childhood friends. They have a great time whenever they're together!

Sunday, December 28: Jesse and I, along with his parents, drive to southwest Iowa to spend some time with his grandma and other relatives. We hadn't seen some of them since our wedding so it was nice to see them again. It was a long drive, but I think it made Grandma Sothman's day so it was worth it :)


Our pretty drive :)


A cute picture of Jesse and his grandma.


The Brasses with Grandma Sothman.

Monday, December 29: Went to lunch and shopped with Jen. Jesse and I spent the night at my parents and we played games all night and laughed until the early morning hours. Another pattern during this trip...I don't recall (except for the last night) going to bed before midnight.

Tuesday, December 30: Honestly, the only thing I remember about this day was that we had pizza from the OP with Jesse's parents. It was yummy and something Jesse really wanted while we were home. We continued our game playing with them! :)

Wednesday, December 31: Jesse went in to have his root canal. Took a long time and it was painful. He recovered well though. My mom made another wonderful meal and we played games, laughed and counted down to 2009!

Thursday, January 1: Woke up earlier than I wanted, due to the Outback Bowl game-Iowa vs. South Carolina. It was WELL WORTH it though...


Jesse's parents came over and we all cheered the Hawks onto victory!!


Jess and I sportin' our Iowa apparel :)


Saying our goodbyes to Jim and Deb. :(

Friday, January 2: Woke up at 4:00am and my dad drove us to the airport. Arrived in N.C. around noon.

Well, that was our trip in a nutshell! We had so much fun and loved being home with our families. We miss them already and can't wait to see them again...Love you all!!