Laura's debut on the blog

We celebrated a birthday party in Lawrence with Todd's family this weekend. December is the perfect month for Todd's mom, Laura, to have her birthday. It is most fitting because she loves Christmas, especially decorating the house with her Santa collection AND she loves cold weather, including the snow. So here is the Heitshusen/Ashley gang: John, Scott, Mike, Todd, Holly, Laura, Ava and myself. We asked Mike to stand closer to Todd, you know, to make the picture more even...but he refused.

Todd's Gram made a DELICIOUS Italian dinner. Spaghetti, home-made sauce (or some would say smooth sauce), meatballs and Italian sausage. Amazing, simply amazing. Not pictured is the ceasar salad, which I had the heavy responsibility for bringing. I went out on a ledge with the ceasar idea because I really wanted to showcase my cooking skills. :-)



Seated around the dinner table is Todd's Gram, the Heitshusens, Ashleys and Pattersons (Todd's aunt and uncle). Hmmm, but where are Todd and Ava?

There he is! Todd can hardly EVER refuse the self-portrait. Although I am not exactly sure what he is doing with his right hand...

And here is Ava! Ava was actually standing against the wall during the "family at the dinner table" picture. And then Todd tracked her down in the kitchen later on for this adorable pic.

Laura, your wish is granted - your debut on the blog! I hope you are excited to have a post devoted to you!! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

This past Saturday we went to St. Micheal's Church and bought our very first real Christmas tree from the Boy Scouts. We had our own little boy scout to show us around the lot. And because it was our first time, he explained the difference between the firs, the spruces and everything else. He was so adorable, I can't recall a single thing he said about the trees. Even though I cannot recall the difference between a fir and a spruce, I can tell you this -- those Christmas trees were not PLANTED at the church, although the they were propped up against the post...it can REALLY be deceiving.


A Christmas tree lot can be kind of intimidating if you've never been before. Or at least as the person who needs to make important decisions about buying the tree...like a tree taller than 7 feet would not fit in our living room, stuff like that. It didn't take long before we set our eyes on this beauty. In just a few moments, the little boy scout had this guy sitting on top of the hefty ole civic. And yes, Todd was a little embarassed to be taking home the tree on the roof of our "off-roading", "sturdy", "mans-man", silver civic.

My husband is so strong. He carried the Christmas tree into our house all by himself. :-)

It's a little trickier than you would think to get the tree to stand up tall. I have a great amount of appreciation for my parents and all the years they did this. I just remember being impatient as I was DYING to adorn the tree with lights and hand-crafted ornaments from when I was two. Isn't it crazy how you see things different as an adult?

Although not too terribly exciting at this point, stay tuned for the tree trimming!!! We're ready for the lights, garland and ornaments. Tis the season!

I'm Stuffed

Our first Thanksgiving together. Todd and I took the backseat in the 4-runner as my cousin, Liz, took shotgun and my dad sat at the wheel. We hit the road last Wednesday around twelve and nine short hours later, we arrived in Indianapolis. Todd's first Thanksgiving with my extended family. Todd's first experience with Buckeyes (that is, fresh from my Aunt Anita's freezer), first experience with a CRAZY house-full of relatives (which we love!) and his first experience with...


...my grandma's noodles, which are infamous. To say they are amazing, mouth-watering and delicious are understatements. Needless to say, I love them and this year, Todd did too. He loved them THIRDS-worth. Not just seconds, but thirds. We were all impressed. So our Thankgiving holiday consisted of a little of this......

A whole lot of this....

And of course, we had to leave the couch and the buffet line at some point...therefore, a little of this...

Such a fun Thanksgiving with all the Indiana folks. Lots of games, laughing, movies, conversations and yummy, yummy, yummy food. Todd and I made a pact on our way home: we're never eating again.