Our Christmas gift to each other this year was a romantic getaway to New York City for the weekend. We went Saturday night with our friends, Dawn and Jon. (Thanks to Jon's sister for letting us crash at her apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey!) We dropped our stuff off there and got on the bus to NYC! We got into the city around 8:30...walked around in Times Square...bought Gyros from a street vendor and then headed over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and go ice skating. It truly was a magical night. So Romantic! We skated from 11 to midnight. As we were skating, we were just reminiscing about all the amazing experiences we've shared over our 11 years of marriage...we really do feel so blessed! We are grateful for a wonderful marriage. After ice skating we warmed up with some peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks! Soooo Yummy! After 4 quick hours of sleep, we were up and at 'em Sunday morning! Off to see the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall! I have to say, every time the Rockettes lined up and kicked their legs...I cried! For 33 years I've only heard about them or seen them on t.v. and then, there they were...it was incredible! The show ended with a boy reading the story of Christ's birth right from Scripture and a beautiful live Nativity. After the show we had a nice brunch at the Marriot and then headed home to the kiddies! Merry Christmas to my Sweetheart, Quenton, I love you! Thank you for the amazing gift of time spent with you--in one of the most magical cities on earth!
Well, they didn't actually win, but we were cheering for them anyways! The final score was Navy 38, Army 3... Our very dear friends, Rob and Barb have a son, Tyler, at Westpoint so they invited us to go to the Army/Navy football game at the Raven's stadium in Baltimore, December 1st. We had so much fun! We were prepared for freezing cold but it ended up being a beautiful sunny winter day! We arrived early to see the cadets "march on". It was very cool to watch them all march in in perfect order. Then, there was so much more to see than just a football game. There were army helicopters and fighter jets, paratroopers that landed directly in the stadium...UNBELIEVABLE! The whole day was so patriotic! At half-time Lee Greenwood was there to sing, "Proud To Be An American". That song can bring tears to the eyes of any...well, me! After the game, we had dinner at Phillips Seafood Restaurant in the Inner Harbor. It was the perfect end to our fun day in Baltimore. Thanks again to Rob and Barb for treating us to such a special day with their amazing family. Their friendship is truly a gift from God.
Our trip to Wisconsin was nothing but wonderful! I'm still dreaming of all the fun we had and memories we made! We left on Friday (Nov. 16) and our first stop was Cleveland, Ohio to visit our special friends Brent and Debbie and their three kids. Thank you to them for their amazing hospitality! It's always nice to break up our long drive to the midwest with a fun stop at their house! Our kids are all the same ages so they have a lot of fun playing together! We spent all day Saturday there...Deb and I had a shopping day while the guys stayed home and watched football and the kids played. Then, on Sunday we were on the road again! When we arrived at my parents house, it was an emotional reunion! I was so happy to see them! When my older sister, Remick came, it wasn't any less emotional! I haven't seen her since last Christmas and this was the first time I met my new niece, Evyn Remick! She was born on October 10th! She's a beauty! We were able to spend time with my grampa and gramma Blaser on Monday, November 19th, which happened to be their SIXTY NINTH Wedding Anniversary! What a legacy! Happy Anniversary Grampa and Gramma Blaser! The kids love to go over to great g'ma's because she always has cookies! And, she's always "tickled" (to quote her) to see us too...she's so proud that Briar got her dark brown eyes! On Tuesday, we met my brother and his family in Wisconsin Dells. We stayed all together in a 3 bedroom suite at the Kalahari Resort. It's a huge indoor waterpark! Ryan and Cheryl have 4 kids, so it was such a special time for Eden and Truman and Briar to play with their cousins! We stayed there one night and then on Wednesday, Remick and her three girls met us up there and spent the day with us at the water park too! On Wednesday night, my little sister, Brook, came to my mom and dad's house from Milwaukee and stayed there all the way through Sunday. I can't even tell you how good it was to see her! I've missed her so so much! I really needed to just hug her...I think I hugged her like ONE MILLION times while we were there! She is definitely one of my best friends! Thanksgiving day was so relaxing. We just kinda hung out all day...Daddy took the kids sledding in the front yard, I helped my mom make the pies, we had a really special phone call with Q's family in Poland...and then, that afternoon we all went to Aunt Nancy's house for the Thanksgiving dinner! When we arrived, it was yet another "tear fest"--at least for me! I had been missing my family so much I just couldn't contain my emotions every time I saw someone new! Quenton prayed the most wonderful prayer of blessing on the food and the family and just for the meaning of Thanksgiving Day that we as American's have so much to be thankful for and that we really do have God to thank for blessing our nation. I thought this year was extra special, and the food was the best ever! Friday was our annual Blaser family bowling day! It's kinda become a tradition to go bowling the day after Thanksgiving! We had a great time as usual, and then we all went out for pizza afterwards at a really good local pizza place called Glass Nickle Pizza Co. We finished out our time in Sun Prairie with a birthday party for my niece, Dakota. She turned 13 on the 13th of November! Hard to believe the flower girl from our wedding is now a teenager!!!??? It was a great time! I had fun helping my sister make a great mexican-theme feast! Everything turned out so yummy! And, all the family was there so it was good to spend some time on our last day with all of them! Well, we had been staying up til about 2 am every morning playing cards with my parents so when we drove straight through on Sunday and got home at 3 o'clock in the morning, it wasn't any different than any other night for the past week! Just God's way of preparing us I guess! ;) And, Praise to Him for giving us a safe trip! Love you all!
