Thanksgiving

For thanksgiving my parents and my sister and her family came to Kansas to spend it with us and see our home for the first time. It was so much fun to be able to see our 18 month old niece Zenobia and spend time with my family. My sister and Zo arrived a couple of days before the rest of the clan, so I took her to the plaza and we went to the melting pot for cheese and chocolate fondue. When my mom and dad and Eugene arrived we attempted to go to the zoo but my car was having problems and brian had to spend most of the day working on it. Instead we went to the mall and ate Jack Stack BBQ. Thanksgiving of course was filled with lots of food and games. We enjoyed dessert with my cousins Matt & Sheila and there two kids, my aunt Shirley and Shawn as well. My sister and her family left on Friday but my parents were able to stay till Tuesday. We had fun with them as we played the new wii they got us for Christmas, got our Christmas tree and decorations set up in our house, and took them to the New Dinner Theatre Restaurant. Oh, and I forgot my mom saw her first 3D movie as we all went to see The Christmas Carol. It was so much fun to have my family here, not to mention all the help my mom and dad gave us with the garage and trying to fix things with Brian. Love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

These pictures are not actually the Thanksgiving Dinner- my sister took those pictures on her camera. This was an enchilada dinner the night that my whole family was here. We used our special candles- the green ones you can see as they represent the first dinner with family.

Brian and I gave Zenobia her Christmas present because we wanted to watch her open it!

Mom and I decorating the tree. It looks so festive in our home now!

Our cats, Pumba and Timone. Hopefully they don't knock down the tree. This is the first tree they have had in the house.

Halloween

Our first pumpkin carvings! Brian and I had talked about carving pumpkins the whole month of October. Then suddenly it was October 30th and late at night. We decided to go for a pumpkin scavenger hunt. We stopped at 3 grocery stores and there were like 5 pumpkins left, all of which were rotten and ugly! We drove by Whole Foods and saw a bunch of pumpkins... but it was too late and the store was closed. So, we decided that I would go in the morning and get some. Good thing I went early because people were already buying all the pumpkins at Whole Foods. Brian had to work, so my friend Lacole came over and we carved pumpkins together. It was fun. I didn't know how many trick-or-treaters to expect so I got a bunch of candy. Probably not the best idea since we only had 15 and lots of candy left over. But the first set of tric-or-treaters that came to the door were 4 girls and one girl said, "Wow, you have peppermint patties? No one ever has those, and they are my favorite!" With that one simple comment I felt pleased and that I did my "treater" duty.

Brian got home late from work then we went to Shannon and Jon's house right down the road and watched silly zombie movies.

Move In Pictures!

Ahhhh, and 5 months later a new post arrives! Well, what happened was I took a vacation to Washington to visit my family and when I got back I couldn't find my camera cord to hook up to the computer. Well, finally when I was cleaning for Thanksgiving I found it. Where was it? In the mix with the computer cords right by the computer. You think Brian or I would have found it... yeah right.

Here are our move in pictures. We could take possession of the house at 8 am, and of course I wanted to be right on time. Brian of course was a little grumpy because he wanted to sleep in. No way! Our first house and we will be there on time! We actually got there a little early, and we obeyed the rule and waited right until 8.

We had lots of help moving in! Brian's mom and dad helped a lot! Jon and Shannon, Nate, and DJ also helped out. It was fun unpacking all of our wedding presents and we have been using them like crazy! Fun Stuff!

The guys had the tough job of carrying and unloading packages while us ladies had a ball opening all of our wedding gifts and setting the kitchen up!

Nate was our official First Guest!!!! (That means he rang the doorbell)

Brian and I quickly became craiglist junkies right after moving in. We wanted to find a table that could be small and then expanded and a china hutch. We found them together on craigslist from a nice elderly couple. They are definitly antiques, we found a sales tag in the drawer when the couple got the table and they got it at an antique store in the 60's. They go perfectly in our house!
And hold our new china perfectly!

Our first meal on our new table! Brian asks why we have to eat at the table in stead of downsairs where our 50 inch TV is. Well, I guess sometimes it is just a girl thing. We take turns.

SPECIAL DINNER
For our couple shower before our wedding my sister gave Brian and I a basket full of candles. Each pair of candles is a different color and are to be used on certain special occasions. This pair of candles you see is to be used in the first night of our new home. Well, technically it wasn't our first night, I wanted to get settled in and be able to make a nice dinner for Brian and I . So it was probably the first or second weed after we moved in. Brian even came with a beautiful bouquet of roses. It was a scrumptious and beautiful dinner!

Soon to Be Home!

Ok, well we put an offer on this Half Duplex and they accepted! Wahooo! We do have inspections this Wed. so if everything goes well we will be moving in about a month! I hope! Last time i put pictures of the house we wanted it just didn't work out. Cross your fingers. hehe. Here are the pictures of what it looks like.

It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and garage! It has a living room and in the basement also has a little family room. There is a deck on the upple level and a small yard. We both cannot wait to move in!

One of the extra bedrooms, the one downstairs.

The second bedroom upstairs. At least we know we can fit a baby in the house! lol

Master Bedroom

4th of July

Our First Fourth of July!

Brian and I drove to Victoria, Minnesota (right by Minneapolis) to spend the 4th with his side of the family. His Uncle Mark and Aunt Chris live there with their kids Annie and Nick. I think there were about 16 of us in all. It was the first time I met one of his Aunts and Uncle and one of his cousins and her family. It was a very relaxing weekend, I didn't have to worry about school work or work (well lets just say i opted not to do any school work). On Friday I went with Brian's cousin Tara and her husband and Brian's other cousin Annie to the Mall of America. It was huge! We had fun window shopping and looking at the amusement park. Yes, they had like 3 roller coaster and some that even went upside down. While we were out shopping, the rest of the family went to a couple of museums and St. Paul's Cathedral. On Saturday we went on a Lake Cruise on Lake Minnetonka. It was really neat, we ate dinner and gathered with hundreds of other boats to watch the fireworks. It was a spectacular show. One firework even made a smiley face. It was lots of fun to get to know Brian's side of the family better.

This is where we had the boat cruise. There were big and beautiful homes on the lake. They were mansions... some owned by the Twins Owner, Inventors, and much more!
Waiting to board for our boat cruise. There was a train depot and pretty flowers to gaze at. Grandpa and Grandma Pottorff
Our Boat!!!

Brian, Mom, & Dad- Just taking off on our cruise!

Brian's Cousins: Tara and Tony and their daughters Mia (left) and Olivia (right)

Aunt Chris, Uncle Mark & their son Nick

Cousin Annie & Uncle Robin (Aunt Tacy's husband. I think Tacy was smart and avoided the camera! :)

It was an amazing sunset!

Mike was able to capture some great shots of the fireworks. All those lights you see by the water are boats. There were sooooooo many it was crazy. Good thing we had a big boat so we could push our way to the shore! lol