Christmas at the Bangert’s

The weekend before Thanksgiving I decided to get our Christmas decor out. Yes, I know it’s early, but there is just so much and I wanted to be able to enjoy it longer! And I also knew our Thanksgiving weekend was jam packed! So without further ado, here is our humble abode all cheery for Christmas!

Welcome to our home…please come on in!

These are a few of the things you’ll see when you first come in the door!

 Here is a sneak peak (reflection) of our tree!

And this is what you’ll see upon entering the living room!

My favorite nativity set!

And here is our tree!! 

I decided to go “green” for Christmas this year!

          

I updated our curtains to match the “pops” of green in the living room! Only problem is that to the left  of the bay window there is a single window that I forgot to get a panel for and they are all out! :(

I even added a few little things to the guest room!

      

This is our “light-less” Christmas tree in the office. For some reason this was the year that all our strands of Christmas lights decided to die! So you all know what I’ll be doing after Christmas (clearance Christmas light shopping)! ;)

I added some greenery and beading around the office windows! The office is also where I display my snowman collection!

Abby got something new for Christmas this year…a cute little shirt and some new food and water bowls!!

 

Another tree in the office! Right now we have 6 trees up…including little ones like this! And I still haven’t got our 3rd big tree up yet. Kyle says I have to though because it’s usually decked out with Hawkeye ornaments in the basement!      

And that concludes the Christmas tour of the Bangert home! Hope you enjoyed it and come back soon!

Sunday

So this will be my last post from Thanksgiving weekend! Since we were out late with friends Saturday night Kyle let me sleep in. Little did I know though….HE’S CRAZY!!!

I was woke up by this picture message on my phone!!! He wasn’t kiddening when he said he wanted to run to Badger!! It is over 7 miles there…and then you gotta come back too!! So I bundled up and hopped on my bike and met up with him. I think he was around mile 11 or so by the time I got to him. It was SO cold & windy…I don’t know how he did it!! He’s a trooper that’s for sure!! I brought him all kinds of things…kleenex, chap stick, water, and ME (for encouragement)!! I cheered him on the rest of the way  home!! He did it, ran almost 15 miles – his longest!! Way to go Babe!! 

We got home and Kyle needed warmth RIGHT away! So he cleaned up a bit and cuddled up on the couch and took a nap! I decided to get our Black Friday purchases put away. They had been piled up in the living room since Friday night when I dropped them there! A few of things were new cookware and a bunch of bulk items from Sam’s Club. And I found out my cupboards were full and didn’t really have space for these new things. So what did I do….

Emptied them ALL out and started from scratch!! I threw out expired food (canned & boxed items…I found some from 2005!), organized food by type and how often we use it, and then put everything back!! I wish I would have got a picture of my kitchen with all my empty cupboards and food everywhere…but I didn’t! So here is the after shots!!

I stored extra things in this lower cupboard…it’s pretty much like our pantry. Along with my cookware and other pots & pans!

This is an old wall oven that we use for storage. I put drink items in here along with baggies, saran wrap, and tin foil!

These are both upper cupboards that are quite high. I decided to use one for our vitamins and protein powder…it all fit perfect! I designated the other one as the snack cupboard putting pretzels, crackers, popcorn, bars, beef jerky, etc up there! Worked out great!!

And this is our main cupboard. It’s in the corner above our sink. So I put things in here we use most liked canned goods, baking items, peanut butter, spices, jello, pasta, etc! The only food cupboard I didn’t photograph is our cereal cupboard. It’s pretty self organizing because you really can’t mess up boxes!! I didn’t have to do some re-arranging though because I bought 2 HUGE boxes at Sam’s Club and had to get them to fit!  

And after all that organizing I was wore out, so I decided to join Kyle on the couch for a nap as well!! We finished off our Sunday with a trip to the grocery store and then called it a night. My Thanksgiving break was defiantly fun, but went too quick! Now it’s on to Christmas!!

Saturday Night

After breakfast at Mindi’s on Saturday I headed back to Fort Dodge to meet up with Sara, Vahn, and Emma. They had an appointment at Sears to get family Christmas pictures taken. I think each time I see Emma she is doing something new and I love her more each time. She is just so cute & squeezable!!! :) I mean come on, you can’t deny those cute little cheeks! Oh and check it out, she has a tooth…see it???

After pictures at Sears we took Emma to see Santa. When we walked up to him she was latched on to me tight, but ended up being ok with sitting on his lap! So cute!!!

After hanging out with the Schumacher’s I headed home and when Kyle got off work we headed to Mom & Dad B’s house for Thanksgiving pizza!! Mom B’s homemade pizza is super yummy!! After supper we played a couple rounds ‘Up the River’…always fun times around the table with the Bangerts! I left my camera in the car though so I didn’t get any pictures. :(

When we got back to town our friends Mel & Robbeye invited us out for a margarita at Tres Amigos so we decided to stop by! We always have a good time with them! Wendi and her friend from high school, Kelsey, stopped by too!

 

Kyle and Robbeye! 

I love these beautiful girls!!

Neighbors & Friends!!! 

Jake stopped by too! It is always good to see him! (I don’t think either one of them were ready for the picture!)

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Since we spent Thanksgiving day with Mom we had breakfast on Saturday with Grandma at Mindi’s house. Mindi and Stef made a great meal. We had Monte Cristo’s with raspberry syrup, apple cinnamon muffins, clementines, french toast, and juice! I had never had a monte cristo before and I was quite surprised, it was really good!

 

Backing up a day, I spent the day Friday shopping, shopping, and more shopping! Mom B and Laura spent the night Thursday  night and we all got up and were to the mall by 3:45am Friday! We split our lists and covered lots of ground in little time! Kyle and I went to Younkers and then headed across the street to Target by 4:45am to stand in line for the 5am opening time! The line was half way to Wal-Mart! But we both got a free reusable shopping bag! We “cleaned up” at Target and then had to get one quick thing at RadioShack and then headed home! Kyle had to work at 8am so he got a little shut eye before he had to go in.

Mom B and Laura finished up at Sears and Wal-Mart and met me at the house and we headed south to do some more damage in Des Moines! We shopped all day and didn’t get home till after 6…14+ hours of shopping!! Wow!! It was super fun though and we had lots of fun! I even went shopping more when we got back to Fort Dodge. We actually lost power and Kyle was still at work, so what else would I do, but shop?!?! lol

Ok, back to Saturday. We had some good conversation around breakfast and played the Wii. Stef and Geoff had to get back to Omaha and I had to be back to FD by 1pm so everyone headed out. It is so nice that Stef and Geoff are so close now, just a few good hours and they’re home! Keep Stef in your prayers, she is still on the hunt for a job!

Happy Thanks-Mas…???

Mindi and I got back to her house with just enough time to shower up and make our things for Thanksgiving dinner. Kyle and Abby met up with us and we all headed to Mom and Duane’s house for dinner. And  boy did they have quite the spread complete with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, cheesy potatoes, corn, stuffing, sweet potatoes, strawberry pretzel salad, fruit salad, homemade rolls, and a whole spread of pies!!

Maya loves pie! She is just too cute and quite entertaining!  

I think Mom was happy to have everyone at their house. All four of us girls were there with our guys and then also Duane’s daughters and their families were also there. It was definitely a house full! I think it was 20 total!

I think everyone got plenty to eat! After dinner we spent the afternoon visiting, watching football, and scouring the ads! A little while later we did our gift exchange because Mom and Duane won’t be around for Christmas. They are leaving for South Padre Island early this year. So hence the title…Thanksgiving & Christmas = Thanksmas! :)

     

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for this guy! 

The whole family!

Sister Time in Omaha

The week of Thanksgiving was filled with sister time! Wendi flew home from Florida on Monday. That night we went out to Sports Page for supper with her, Mindi, Grandma, Kyle, and I. They have BOGO burgers on Monday nights!
I worked a full day on Tuesday and then that night Wendi, Mindi, and I headed over to Omaha to Stef & Geoff’s new downtown loft! We spent the evening chatting, checking out their very trendy, cool loft, and watching the Biggest Loser. Stef also made us a delicious pizza! She is such a great host!
Wednesday Stef and I woke up early when Geoff went to work and went to the gym in her building for a sister sweat session! I have a to say I am a tad jealous that she has a gym just a few steps out her door! So cool! We came back to her loft and she made us yummy breakfast burritos! After breakfast (and Wendi finally getting out of bed!) we hit the town for a some shopping and sight seeing! Stef showed us a few neighborhoods where her and Geoff think they would like to eventually buy a place, including one on the lake!! We went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch and got WAY too much food. Afterwards everyone was ready for some chill time so went back to the loft and got a Netflix and relaxed!  (Don’t watch Management w/Jennifer Aniston…it’s HORRIBLE!!)
That evening we volunteered at Stef & Geoff’s church for a Thanksgiving dinner that was open to the public. It really puts things into perspective and makes you realize how fortunate you are for what you have been blessed with. I think we were all glad to be able to help!

After volunteering we went to the Old Market to The Dubliner. They had live music that night, it was fun! I think we were all quite tired though from our long, fun filled day!  
       
We called it an early night and headed back to Stef & Geoff’s place. Thursday morning Mindi and I got up early to head back to her place to get our dishes ready Thanksgiving dinner. Stef, Geoff, and Wendi came later.
For Tte rest of our Thanksgiving…stay tuned!