Christmas Recap

We had a very St. Louis Christmas this year. Here's the recap:
- 8 people, 3 dogs in a 3BR/2BA townhouse
- Christmas Eve at Debbie & Steve's
- Christmas day, no showers, lots of fun, and even a few drinking games
- Christmas dinner: Honeybaked ham, casseroles and cheesecake
- Casseroles: green bean casserole, potato casserole, sweet potato casserole
- LOVED casseroles!
- All the dogs got along for the most part
- We discovered Zoey is quite jealous when we pet other dogs, or even when they are near us
- Day after Christmas we drove to Cole Camp, MO., to see Mike's dad new headstone...
- ...And visit with Rhonda and her family. My parents also drove over from KC to visit with us.
- Mike spoiled me with gifts, which was a surprise because he's unemployed.
- My favorites are the Bose player/speaker thing for my iphone/ipod and my diamond hoops!
- I gave Mike lots of clothes. Just what he wanted...really, it's truly what he wanted

And now we are looking forward to New Year's Eve in St. Louis. We'll be celebrating with a few friends that are in from out of town and some of our STL folks. Should be a great time!

Before - After

As many of you know, we are living with the MIL (mother-in-law). To pass the time I've taken to redo'ing parts of her house. I think I mentioned that in my last post, right?! Anyway, here is a before/after photo of the dining. Quite an improvement, right?! Man, I wish we would have thought to do before/afters of everything.

So we thought we were done with home improving her at 2382 Hiddengarden Ct., and then the basement happened. Yeah, it rained a lot yesterday and apparently when there is a crack in the foundation it leaks inside...the basement...where there is carpet...and where Mike's sisters and their hubby's are to be sleeping this week. So we'll deal with the basement mess after Christmas, but looking on the positive side of things new carpet really will be nice down there ;)

Merry Christmas!

Yeah--it's time for my favorite holiday!!! Hopefully everyone received our Christmas card. In the move I lost our Christmas card list, but I think I was able to recreate without leaving too many people off. We will be staying in STL for the holidays. Mike's sisters (and their hubbies) are traveling in from Cinci and Boston so we will have a full house. Mike's mom's house is only a 3 bedroom place so it's already full with her, us, and Granny. Good thing she has a large basement.

Mike has worked very hard since we moved back to clean the basement and set it up with beds. It's very cozy down there now and his sisters will be (or should be) very happy when they arrive. We've also been doing a lot of work on his mom's house besides the basement. Since moving here in mid-October we've stripped wallpaper, painted (half bath, hallway, living room, AND the dining room), put in new doorhandles, hung new curtains, and installed 2" wood blinds. It's like a whole new place and his mom is really happy. We feel like it's the least we could do since we are living here for free. After Christmas we might tackle the kitchen, but that's a really big project.

We wish you all a very, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bad Blogger, Bad, Bad

I've been so bad at keeping up the blog since our relocation back to the Midwest! Getting ourselves back was all consuming for a while and now starting a new job is taking a lot of time as well. We are good and I promise to keep up with the blog better in the new year. I can't believe that Christmas is about a week away--time has flown since we've been back! We are looking forward to spending the holiday with Mike's family, but wish we had our house by now so my family could have possibly joined us as well. Maybe next year, right?! Cheers!