Our Life in iPhone Pics

Things are NOT settling down. It is about that time you usually recover from the holidays and things start to slow down. Well, they're not! I had a birthday, wedding countdowns are getting closer, and the house projects are taking up the weekends. We've been keeping busy with productive stuff, lazy stuff, and fun stuff!

February started with my birthday. February 2nd came with great presents and amazing meals:

Nakashima's with Dane and my family. Brode inhaled his rice!

The Melting Pot as a family birthday and valentine's dinner, just the 3 of us. Brode's first fondue experience and LOVED it.

One of my favorite birthday presents. Hand painted mug from Brode and Dane. I got clothes, gift cards, and best of all - LOTS of house stuff!

Brode has been keeping up with skating - both on the ice in the backyard and through his hockey program. We're sad to see it finish up this Wednesday.

We also found a fun afternoon to hit the sledding hill. This little boy can't get enough.

 Lastly, Brode has been busy with swimming lessons. He was begging me to get into sessions so we started again and he is doing great! This was on deep pool and water slide day.

Valentine's Day was next and we got more amazing gifts and ate to much candy. Dane and I received our toasting flutes for our wedding. Engraved with our names and Cinderella and Prince Charming! I also got beautiful roses from Dane.

We made the last minute decision to go to the Green Bay Gamblers game and it happened to be Teddy Bear Toss night. When the first goal was scored, 6,700+ bears were thrown on the ice to be donated to pediatric centers in the area. 

 Brode received a gift (read 'present' as: a wedding present that didn't wait until June) so we have been having fun playing in the basement (read 'we' as: the big boys).

House projects are taking place like crazy. A few small ones and a few big ones. We've finally got blinds, appliances, new stools, a few additional chairs, and the toys are slowly making their way over. We're almost ready for a house reveal!

Laundry Room BEFORE:

Laundry Room AFTER:

 Brode/Guest Bathroom BEFORE:

 Brode/Guest Bathroom AFTER:

Here is to a successful and busy month and to hopefully moving forward and having another 4 successful months until Wedding Day!

Holidays

After a week of traveling we enjoyed coming back to 16 inches of snow and getting ready for Christmas. It was chaotic, but fun! 

After a night with Matt's family and a night at my grandparents we celebrated Christmas morning at our house. 

Brode was VERY excited to find a new mouthguard in his stocking. 

 He was more excited to find this giant pile of presents. Last year he had strep throat and we barely got a smile at the bottom of the stairs. This year he jumped up and down "Santa came and brought 1,000 presents!", much more exciting.

We all got a lot of great presents! New ice skates, new home items, Fitbits, and Monorails! Brode was EXTREMELY disappointed when we were in Disney and he couldn't get the monorail. Little did he know Santa already had a plan and had it under the tree. He loves his monorail with Disney accessories.

 The rest of Christmas Day we had more family over and filled the house!

It was quite loud and crazy, but that is what makes it Christmas with family!

Disney Christmas 2012: Day 4 & 5

Day 4: Epcot

Day 4 we spent at Epcot. We relaxed at the hotel a bit longer, then went over to the Boardwalk for lunch. This life-size Gingerbread house was set-up in the lobby! They serve hot chocolate out of it - talk about festive.

We had lunch at the ESPN Zone (perfect place for the boys - there wasn't much talking going on) then walked over to EPCOT.

 Unfortunately I didn't get too many pictures as our camera died pretty early in the day.

We rode a few rides - Nemo and The Land were Brode's favorites. We then walked over to see the worlds.

 Brode especially liked the train in Germany. He saw it from pictures last year and couldn't wait to see it again.

 He also did the KidCot fun stops and colored his Duffy and got all of the countries flags stamped!

The rest of the day we visited Santa, ate dinner at the Germany restaurant and watched the fireworks. Brode made a quick entrance out not feeling well and the temperatures were dropping quickly.

Day 5: Animal Kingdom

 Our last day we went to the Animal Kingdom! We started the day with the Safari. This was Brode's favorite of the whole trip I think.

 (It was chilly early)

 After the safari we went out to Rafiki's plant watch and Brode explored.

Dinorama was next, finally hitting the rides and the shows. Brode loved the giant play land.

 (Trace Adkins)

 While in the Animal Kingdom we saw the Lion King show....

 ... and Bugs Life "It's Tough To Be A Bug".

 Grandpa, Bryce, Dane and I went on Everest, the roller coaster, (3 times) and then we headed out for the day.

Grandpa and Grandma flew home to get ready for Christmas and we made our final stop at Downtown Disney. It was PACKED and it was pretty cold so we enjoyed dinner, ran threw the stores, then went back to pack up for the morning.

 (More cool Christmas details)

We ate dinner at T-Rex (like Rainforest Cafe just dinosaurs) and we sat in the Coral Reef room. Brode had a lot of fun looking at everything.

 (really loving dessert)

Early the next morning we were at the airport to fly home. Brode hung out with Bryce all the way home again....

It was a great trip but always seems to go to fast. Brode has already asked, "Next year, can we just skip Christmas and go back to Disney?".