Christmas w/Dad

My Dad called me yesterday and said he was heading to Florida for a friend's wedding on Friday so he wouldn't be around for Christmas. So last night we met for supper. It was good to see him and to be honest we probably talked more than we would have if would have been the whole family together. So I was glad he called and that we got together. I hope you have a good time in Florida Dad! Btw, he isn't going to the IA game as I am sure many of you are wondering! :)

Me, Dad (blinded by the bright flash!), & Kyle

Wendi & I

Sisters & Snow Day!

Friday (the 19th) Iowa Central closed because there was a snow storm (we got 8+ inches during the night!) so that means I got the day off work, which was AWESOME! So all us girls & Geoff decided to go to Ames to hang out for the day. We ate at Hickory Park for lunch, went shopping, and sang Christmas carols the whole way home! It is so fun to have all of us together again! Stef & I had the idea to stop at Mom's house on the way home to "Christmas Carol"! So we did and she loved it...she even cried! But those of you who know my Mom, you know she's a "crier"! So we expected it! It was fun!

Geoff had the idea at lunch to see what a dill pickle would taste like with sugar on it...

In it goes...

Not good! (I could've told him that!)

Since it was close to Stef's bday, she got free dessert!

Wendi & Mindi trying to feed each other their dessert!

Geoff cracks me up...he carried around this giant tub of cheese balls all around Sam's Club and then decided he didn't want to buy them! (I like his "Country Boy" sweatshirt!)

Happy Birthday Stef!

My sister Stefanie & her husband flew home last Sunday and my other sister Wendi flew home on Monday (both will be home for a few weeks (or more!) for Christmas), which happened to be Stef's 30th birthday! So we had a small family get-together to celebrate Stef's birthday! Mom made soup & sandwiches and we had our favorite birthday cake, Oreo Ice Cream Cake! It was a fun evening!

We always have to take some sister pictures when we're together!

Wendi, Stef, & I

Don't you just love Stef's shirt?!? I hope I look that good when I turn 30!

Stef & her 30 candles!
Geoff & his HUGE piece of ice cream cake!
Dad, Stef, and our cousin Toni!

Mom and her 4 girls!

Stef & a few of her gifts

Geoff & Stef...luv these guys!!
My cousin's lil boy, Randy!

Christmas at Our House

Just thought I would share some pictures of the Christmas decor at our house. For some reason this year I didn't get everything out near as early as I usually do. But it's done now, and you can't help but be in the "Christmas Spirit"!

This is in our kitchen behind the sink.

Our "main" Christmas tree....glowing so pretty at night!

Here's a brighter picture so you can see the color scheme we used!

This is on top of our entertainment center. I got the "Joy" last year at a craft show.

In previous years I didn't have lights and greenery around my nativity scene and I don't know why, because now that I did it, I LOVE it!

And a brighter picture....this is one of my favorite Christmas things!

In the words of Kyle: "Why isn't this our "main" Christmas tree in the living room upstairs?" I told him that I thought it goes better in the basement with the rest of the Hawkeye stuff!

I hope everyone has had a nice start to their December. I'm getting anxious for these next two weeks to get over with. I have about two weeks off over Christmas and Stef & Wendi come home on the 15th! So much to look forward to!!

Long Weekend

We went to Poky for Thanksgiving Day this year. We wanted a Des Moines paper to look at all the ad's for "Black Friday", we stopped at about 10 gas stations in three counties on the way to Mom & Dad B's and no one had one! I couldn't believe it. So we had to settle with just the Fort Dodge paper, which was ok. And come to find out (we didn't figure this out till Sunday tho) we had one waiting on our front step, but bought one, not knowing we had one!

It was a nice relaxing day. We had a great dinner with turkey, ham, and all the fixings! The tradition at the Bangert house is to look at the all the ads, make our "wish lists" and plan our shopping expedition for the next day. It's always fun to see what's on a sale and what everyone wants to get. It seems like that stores open earlier and earlier every year. We were at Younkers Friday morning at 4am!! I couldn't believe it! Sorry...I'm jumping ahead!

Kyle had to work on Friday so we left Poky at a good time and Wendi was going to stop over one more time before she left on Friday. It was good to see her, Mom & Dunae came too. They spent Thanksgiving day in Waterloo with Duane's daughter. Sharon & Melanie stayed with us since we were getting up so early to shop, save some drive time in the morning!

Mom B with our Thanksgiving Turkey! She's a GREAT cook!

This was Abby almost all day long...she was always begging for something. I guess we should have taught her better!

Friday we shopped from 4am and didn't get home from Des Moines till after 5pm!! It was a long day, but we got lots accomplished and $aved some too! And when we got home Kyle was there (he worked all day) and wanted to shop a little so him & I went back out to a few stores here in FD!!! I think my favorite buy of the day is the digital picture frame I got from Wal-Mart. I just need to put some pictures together on a memory card and get it going. I've wanted one since last year when I saw Stef & Geoff's and loved it!

Saturday I got our Christmas decorations out and decorated and worked in the house all day. It always puts me in a good mood to have all the Christmas stuff out. I can't believe that it's already December! 2009 will be here before we know it!

Sunday we went to church and did our weekly grocery shopping and a few returns from Friday "buys"! We had lunch with the Bangerts at our all time favorite place...Sports Page, it's a classic! And then we went home and Kyle took a nap and I read the book "Twilight" (Wendi & my friend, Kim, got me started on this series)! I finished it in the early evening and couldn't wait till Monday to get the 2nd, "New Moon", one from Kim so I went to the bookstore and bought it and got a good start! You just can't put it down...they're so good!

Vikings won and Orgeon State lost, so it was a good weekend sports wise. We needed Oregon State to lose for the Hawkeyes to make a better bowl game! We're hoping for the Outback Bowl in Tampa! We'll find out Sunday!!

Here is a pic we snapped over the long weekend, in between our Christmas pictures! Thanks again Wendi for taking them! I hope to finish our cards and get them in the mail to you all this week!

Thanksgiving With Grandma

Wendi and I went to lunch with Grandma Freund on Wednesday since we wouldn't be seeing her on Thanksgiving Day. We went to Tea Thyme at Sadies, one of my favorites! Their food is AMAZING!! I've never been disappointed with what I've ordered! It was good to see Grandma....here are a few pics!

We all decided to wear green that day...not on purpose either!

Desert Time! Mmmm Puff Pastry!

Grampo

So you'll just have to imagine a picture for this post. Yesterday when I was cleaning out the pictures on my camera I accidentally deleted the one of me & Grampo. I was so bummed. But yesterday we met for lunch because he is leaving on Friday to go to Florida for the winter. Wendi just bought a one way ticket and will be driving him back. So it worked out pretty good. It was good to see him one last time and if things work out ok, looks like I will be visiting him quite a bit this winter!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!! We're headed to Mom & Dad B's in Poky tomorrow!

Wendi's Home!

My younger sister, Wendi, is home for the week from college (Florida). It has been so good to see her. Since we won't be spending Thanksgiving together I took a couple days off work to spend time with her, it's been nice. Can't wait till she's home longer for Christmas break!

Abby was pretty excited to see her too!

Sisterly Love!!

Iowa vs. Minnesota

Saturday we headed to the Iowa Hawkeye game at Minnesota. It was the last regular season game this year and so of course since it was so close we couldn't miss it! And boy was it a great game...Hawks won 55-0!!!!!! Nice way to end the season!

We went to Poky to drop off Abby at Kyle's parents house (Thanks for watching her Mom & Dad B....and Travis too!) And since we were in the area we wanted to stop and show off all our Iowa gear to Grandma & Grandpa DeWall. They were quite excited to see Kyle's shoes too! I don't get what all the hype is about...lol?!?!? When we went back out to our car there was about 2-3 inches of snow on it! It was coming down fast & hard and it was SUPER windy! So we decided we better get on the road just in case we have to take it slow (it's a rare occassion for Kyle to drive slow!). We got past Humboldt and there wasn't a sight of snow....so that was good!

We stopped at the Medford Outlet Mall on the way up for a little shopping. Didn't really get too much, wasn't in the shopping mood (it's a rare occassion for me NOT to be in a shopping mood!). There were a TON of Iowa fans on I-35 on the way up...it was fun honking & waving the whole way there!

When we got to Minneaplis we stopped at a friend's house (he comes down to all the IA games) who was having a tailgate party and said hi to everyone, got our tickets, and then decided to head downtown to figure out where things were and meet up with Libby.

We met Libby & her bf, Adam, at Applebees downtown for a late lunch/early supper and a few drinks! It was SSSOOO great to catch up with them and hear all the exciting news going on in their lives! Libby and I grew up together and we have always been close....when we go for a while without seeing eachother, when we do see eachother it's like we haven't even missed a beat! So good to see them...hope to see them around Christmas time!!

Kyle, Abby & I with Grandpa & Grandma DeWall

I bet Minnesota "welcomed" a TON of IA fans that day!!

Kyle & I at Applebees

Adam & Libby....luv u guys!!

Twin Cousins!! (or so we always thought when we were younger!)

The Hawks taking over the Metrodome...one last time!

Giant flag for the National Anthem
This is Don (my friend Sara's Dad) saying, "That's another Hawkeye" and then everyone else shouted "First Down! Notice Kyle on the side of the picture yelling!!
If you look close you can see "Flyod of Rosedale" the trophey for the winning team! And it's staying in Iowa City...once again!

I took this picture for Stefanie & Geoff. This kid was sitting next to me and I thought he had a striking resemblance to Geoff (my brother-in-law). What do you guys think?
Check out that score!!
If you look closely you can see that there cops on BIG horses! This was right downtown about 2 blocks away from the dome! I waved and they didn't wave back...I don't think they were too amused with us Iowa fans!!

Iowa vs. Purdue

We got up extra early for the game for multiple reasons: 1) Younkers opened early and we wanted to shop before we went to tailgate! 2) We didn't know how full the parking lot would be after the Hawks' huge win last weekend. 3) The weather wasn't the best. And it was a good thing we left early, Kyle couldn't drive his usual lighening speed...every bridge we went over, we fish-tailed! Kinda scary! But we made it there in one piece, had time to shop, and got our parking spot for tailgating! And it was a great day....we won!!! Here's a recap of the game:

One week after the Hawkeyes defeated Penn State on a last second field goal, Purdue failed to beat the us on a last second Hail Mary and boy was I nervous that one of those Purdue guys was going to catch that pass. But the 22-17 win over Purdue did not come easy and it was not too pretty.

Since we have won 4 of our last 5 games we have a good chance of heading to Tampa for the Outback Bowl! We would love to be able to be somewhere warm for New Years! To get there though the Hawks have to beat Minnesota next weekend in the Metrodome and we will be there cheering them on! Can't wait to see our cousin Libby too!!

Oh and for the record, Kyle wore his homemade Hawkeye velcro shoes and got lots of great comments on them!! And he even said they were comfortable!!

We finally made a Hawkeye fleece blanket! Kept us nice & warm at the game!

I took this while we were waiting in line to pay for our tailgating spot. Notice how the flag poles are tilted so far....it was WINDY!

Tailgating!! Erica, Conley, Vahn, Sara, & MeSara & I before we went to our seats! So sad that it's the last home game of the year.

Me & Kyle

Notice the band on the scoreboard, they spelled out "HAWKS"!

Captains - Some of the best IA players!

Shonn Greene after his 75 yard touch down run!

This picture is for my Mom. She always "happens" to call us on Saturday mornings when we're either tailgating or on our way. She said we were nuts to be out in the cold and I told her that we had tents with sides and fires to keep us warm. And she said "how do you put up a tent on asphalt?" So I took this picture on the walk back to our tailgate spot after the game to show her that we are kind of in the woods while we tailgate! Notice the line of cars to get out!