Couples Retreat

This past weekend, Jake and I went on a Couple's Retreat with our Church to Michigan. There were 16 of us total and we stayed in two cabins. We had a great time reconnecting with our spouse, and enjoying the company of other young couples.

Jake helped lead the worship for the few sessions that we had. Notice the lovely lodge decor in the background:)

It was such a nice relaxing place, tucked back in the woods, fire crackling, and snow falling all weekend. This was Jake and my favorite spot to sit all weekend.Saturday afternoon, Jake and I and another couple went out and played in the 2 feet of snow!!! We hadn't even got 3 feet away from the house and the guys were already covered in snow.

Jake and Jameson covered in snow.... Allison and I soon looked like this too:) After we came in from the snow, we got into our swimsuits and got into their outdoor hot tub. What a difference:) And crazy us... we got out and made snow angels in the snow and jumped back in the hot tub... I will never do that again! My skin was burning!

We were blessed to have Ronnie, a friend from church, come and cook for us. He made some great Italian food! We all ate around a huge table and sat forever just talking. 
Just an example of how relaxing the cabin was:)
We were so thankful for the chance to get away together and reconnect. God is so good in giving us little retreats from the craziness of life.

Making Memories

Well, I know this took me a long time to post but here's our pictures from Christmas Break! We had such a good time in Iowa with our family and friends. What a blessing it was to be able to come back for 2 weeks! It flew by!

The first day we were back, Jake went to work bright and early and I hit the sledding hill with Rebekah, Elizabeth, Dad and Mom!  

I love this picture. Making memories:)

On Christmas Eve Day when went to Eldon, Ia where Jake's Grandparents live. Eldon is a small town in Iowa but it is popular because it is the town where the American Gothic house still stands! So of course, Jake and I had to go visit the new American Gothic visitor's center.

 I sure married into a sweet and loving family! We had a great time in Eldon.

After driving home from Eldon, Jake and I jumped into our car and drove to Marshalltown to go see my grandparents. Chas took this picture of Grandma and I. This is a picture I will Cherish!

Christmas Eve, Matt, Shannon, Jake and I all slept over at my parents house. The girls decided to wake us all up early Christmas morning:)

My mom found these hilarious pajama pants that look like jeans! Matt and Jake loved them.

This was Jake's number one favorite present.... Shannon knit him a penguin!!! She is amazing!

Here's the girls with their shirts that Jake and I got them. They say, "Somebody in Chicago loves me." 

We also had a Christmas with Max, Rita, Sarah, and PJ. It was so great being together! We had a wonderful time! Sorry I don't have any pictures of us:(

And last but not least, over the Christmas break, we were able to hang out with our old college group, Ethos! It was so fun seeing everyone!

I love Christmas!!!

Well we've done quite a bit lately for the Christmas season.  We've had a lot of fun having people over and everything. Tonight, we had Josh, Laura and Charity over for a "Family Christmas." 

I made the traditional ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and rolls. Here's a picture of us eating... ;)

We also gave gifts to eachother. I got a new journal and Jake got an "office" trivia game, we'll be playing that a lot for the next few months;)

On Sunday, we had our usual crowd over for dinner, but this week we had a Christmas party! We had 12 people show up! Here's some of the crowd:) We had  a blast doing the $5 gift exchange game. 

For supper, I made Chili and "glorified" potato soup. And for dessert: Chocolate chunk cookies, sugar cookies, dipped pretzels and dipped ritz crackers and peanut butter. Almost everything was gone after the party. You can really tell they are a bunch of starving college students:)

On Saturday, Jake and I had to make all the treats for our Christmas party. Jake really wanted to help and had this amazing idea of making our own double pan so the chocolate doesn't burn. Notice the zip tie. What a smart husband:)

Here's Jake making the dipped ritz crackers and peanut butter. He did a great job! They turned out beautiful!

Jake caught in the act... eating his quadruple decker!!!!

The beautiful dessert Jake made:)

Laura and I at the Grand Luxe on our double date with the guys:)

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Jake and I decorated our Christmas tree last night. We had so much fun. We turned up the Christmas Music and just enjoyed the cheerful spirit!

Putting on the star for the first time:)

Josh and Laura came and helped:)

Ahhh relaxation.... Christmas music, lights off, Christmas tree on, City lights on, coffee and the best of all Jake....

Our Tree!

Here's our Nativity set that Ann gave us! We love it! 

oops there's a snowflake ornament in the middle sorry!

Winter Wonderland

Jake and I had a wonderful time in Iowa for Thanksgiving. It was so good to see our family and friends. It was a weekend packed with food and fun! One night while we were at Matt and Shannon's house, it snowed! So we went out and played in it!

It was REALLY great to see Shannon. I've missed her so much!

Elliot, Matt and Shannon's dog, loved the snow! 

On Sunday, me and the girls went out and made a snowman and snow angels before we left.

They worked so hard on it:)

We didn't have any twigs to make his arms so Bekah hid behind Frosty to make his arms for the pictures:) 

Our finished project :)

What a fun weekend!

Haircut!

While I was in Iowa I decided to cut my hair and donate it to Locks of Love. I wanted to donate it in honor of Jessie. She is a friend of mine that has a brain tumor.

Here's the first cut.

There's all my hair! Hopefully it will make a beautiful wig :)

And here's the finished product!

After the haircut, I went and surprised Jessie to show her what I did in honor of her. It was perfect timing because she had just started losing her hair.

Michigan Lights Parade

Last weekend, Jake and I went to the Lighting of Michigan Ave. with Josh and Laura. It was a very fun night! There were a ton of people there!

The parade was great! It started with Mickey Mouse lighting all of Michigan and ended with Santa and Fireworks! And most of the music the whole night was live!

Here's a pic of the fireworks over the river. We had a perfect view :)