Belated Holiday Post

Christmas 2008!
A bit belated, but fun nonetheless! Michael and I had a ball hosting our first married Christmas and were blessed to have our families and several friends in town for the activities! It was a week of non-stop eating, drinking, laughing, stories and games. We are blessed to have such fun families and we had a ball!

My brother Saeth came in from California. Here are the guys on Christmas day:

We opened gifts for several hours on Christmas morning (after a delicious breakfast spread prepared by my dear husband)...


Nicholas served as the present-distributor, while our dads kept an eye on things!The Wii was the "hit gift". Here is Stephanie guiding Nicholas as he masters the snow-boarding game. Later on, mom took a turn on the slopes, shredding some powder...

Later, we Gronbergs/Luetgers embarked on our first ever Jello contest. It's a long-standing Kolell family tradition in which everyone makes a secret jello recipe...then votes for his/her favorite. It's highly competitive (run by a former Secret Service agent--no joke) and lots of fun.

Here we are with the trophy. Cousin Kelly won. None of the "newbies" stood a chance!Christmas Day eve was the annual white elephant exchange. Hilarity ensued. Especially when I opened Kevin's "cleverest" gift yet...

Michael was quite fond of the "grill" he recieved. (in case you're wondering, yes, he wore the same outfit for about 48 hours straight! And loved every minute of it! haha)There was, of course, tons of eating. But that's just par for this course...

Even Oggy got into the holiday spirit. Well, sort of.

Later in the week, we had another party, with some extended family and old friends, which was great fun.

We met the new baby...

And got a good chuckle at one of the not-so-new babies carefully consuming his chocolate cookie.

Merry Christmas!

The Wedding, Segment II: Flower Girl Olivia

Ok. Back to my "write about one element of the wedding so that I remember it" series. Reminder: this is to sustain my memory and will likely bore you! :)

College roommate Staci's just-turned-3 daughter Olivia served as our flower girl!


Staci and I were roommates for 4 years and had a ball in college.

When planning for the wedding, I knew immediately what Olivia should wear! You see, about 26 years ago, I was in a wedding (yes, the scowly girl with the funny hair)...

This little eyelet dress from Montgomery Ward's was sitting in my mom's basement! She had saved it all those years! So we dug it out, sent it to Olivia… …and had lots of fun emailing pics of her in it. Staci had it altered slightly and added a brown bow to match the wedding party (the groomsmen wore brown tuxedos).

We first got to see Olivia at our party on Thursday night before the wedding. She arrived decked out in a cute, girly outfit...but soon found a mud puddle. So...we had to improvise and find her a new little "dress"……her new "uncle" Michael thought it was the nicest dress he'd ever seen. {wink, wink}

By the time the wedding day rolled around, Olivia was comfortable with everyone and ready to roll! She did a great job during photographs! This is she and Nicholas...

and she, her brother Isaac and Nichols getting their flowers. Nicholas doesn't look too impressed.

And giving Michael a sweet hug!And while we were ticking down the final moments before the ceremony, she and Nicholas (nephew and ring bearer) were kept very focused with M&M's! They were cute. Olivia walked right down the aisle like she was supposed to. She captivated the guests.........and got QUITE the giggles when she delicately reached into her nose and picked it as she walked down the aisle!!

That is a story we'll always remember! I didn't actually see it happen, but heard about it later! She was the perfect flower girl and itwas great having her part of the day!!

What are you going to tell YOUR Valentine?

Aiden is Home! After a harrowing adventure...

Wow. Kim and Drew have had quite a week. Turns out Aiden's heart condition was much worse than suspected and he had to have heart surgery. There ordeal is on their blog.

Hug your healthy babes extra tight! Sheesh.

President Obama

Wow! I've been slacking on the postings! It's been busy...I started grad school last week (on Dad's b-day!) and work has been busy. It's odd to have to study on the weekends! :(

It's the first day of the next four years! How exciting.

It looks like little Aiden Cox is going to need to have his little 3 month-old heart fixed. He's likely going to need to go under general anesthesia, so his parents are a bit freaked out (can't blame them!) and I'm sure they would appreicate prayers.

More later!

Hip-hip HOORAY!

6 weeks...

...thousands of tiles...

...gallons of paint...

...and one exhausted husband later...

The Master Bath went from this....

To this!

Gone is the improvised shower door...

And in it's place, a tiled shower with a bona-fide door.

Sinks, mirrors, vanities, hardware, lightfixtures, wall color and towel bars have all been replaced

As has the BRASS! Whoo hoo!
This is the tub edge...

And this is one happy guy! GREAT work Michael!

Oggy is very proud of the work.

Thanks too, to our Dads who helped Michael SO much! Cutting tile, building walls, sheet-rocking, plumbing....aggg! Thanks!!

Why I Love KS: Part III

For as much as I tend to miss the lakes and other delightful parts of Minnesota, I have to say, nothing beats this on a January day:

Yep, almost 70 degrees! And thats in the shade! I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo, but there were people on the golf course behind our house! Ahh.

So...what to do on a lovely day such as that? Well, the dog lounged in the sun...

...and so did I. With a good book and a cup o' tea! Ahhh. Remind me of this come July!

Christmas and birthday posts to come! Oh, and it was back to the teens today :(