Cyclone victory!

This afternoon we went to the ISU women's basketball game with Richard.

The national anthem brought the crowd to their feet and then the game began.

The score was low and tied much of the game.

By the end of the first half, however, the game was tied at 24 with less than 30 seconds to go. The pressure was on! Jamie pointed out the students sitting in the student section were all mimicking the opposing coach's actions. Not sure if the copycatting added any pressure, but it sure was funny to watch.

A successful last moment drive to the basket put the Cyclones ahead by two as the buzzer sounded. Eurphoria erupted and the crowd leaped to their feet in celebration and the teams filed out to their separate lockerooms.

Just one row below us we spied Jenny and Pete, their son Max and Jenny's mom Jane. We haven't seen them for a little while so it was really fun to catch up. Out of all the 14K seats in the place - how cool they were in the row in front of ours!

We enjoyed the timeout festivities on the court throughout the game.

Nearing the end of the second half, the Cyclones were gaining a nice lead over Michigan's Wolverines.

In the end, the Cyclones managed to lengthen their lead and pulled off a nice win.

A stop with Richard at Culver's for hot chocolate and ice cream was the perfect end to a great afternoon. Thanks again for a good time, Richard! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the game.

Cookies for Kosovo

Wanna know what happens when four Christmas-lovin' and cookie-bakin' women get together in one kitchen for a whole Saturday? We make dozens and dozens upon dozens of Christmas cookies, dipped preztels, fudge, brittle, puppy chow, caramel, and snacks for our families...And the best part is a large bunch of those cookies will be sent to a special soldier in Kosovo to share with his troop and the people in Kosovo he's teaching.

Two tables covered with ingredients for the Christmas bake-off lasted through much of the day.

Mack was usually underfoot, begging for handouts and snatching up anything accidently dropped. He's better than any vaccuum and ten times as efficient.

The cement on the front porch provided a wonderful cooler...

...as well as a great place to break apart the caramels which cooled too hard to cut. And who said a hammer isn't a kitchen tool? Any tool can be the right tool when used the right way: as a sledge-hammer to shatter caramel.

By the end of the day we were tired and the pile of goodies was deep. We're already planning ahead for next year!

A tree with a story

Our Christmas tree tells the story of our life together, the joys we've shared, friends and family we love, adventures we've taken, and hopes and dreams we hold dear.

It all started with the snowman ornaments I gave Jamie our first Christmas together when we were barely dating. Every year his mom makes his chocolate birthday cake from scratch and bakes it in a snowman pan. It's always delicious and really cute. Since snowmen seem to be the annual birthday theme, the ornaments only seemed appropriate.

Then came the Christmas after Jamie'd proposed and we were buried in wedding plans. This cute little ornament was a fun find the day after Christmas that year and reminded me of all the joy and anticipation when Jamie asked me to marry him.

This special ornament is the last ornament Grandma Betty gave us. She gave each of us grandchildren an ornament every Christmas. Aunt Kathy was super kind and helped Grandma search high and low for an ornament with "2006" on it - the year we were going to marry but since it was 2005, none were to be found. In the end, she and Grandma wrote the year and Grandma signed it.

This ornament graced the top of our wedding cake instead of a traditional cake topper. It was meant to be!

These ornaments we picked up on trips as married folks. This is what we do. Travel and collect Christmas ornaments. We don't collect coffee mugs on our trips. Just Christmas ornaments. It makes for a full and fabulous tree. And every year when we decorate the tree, we get to relive all the trips and adventures we've taken together.

Several cool ornaments are handmade gifts from friends and family. Each one is precious because of all the time and love.

Sometimes we spot ornaments too cute to pass up and have to add them to the collection. The glass goldfish swam on our tree a couple years before the Shubunkins ever swam in our family room. Wonder how long the barn, rooster and windmill will roost in the branches before they're on our future acreage?

So when you look at our Christmas tree, you see the story of our lives together. And if I may say so myself, it's a beautiful life. Praise God!

Love affair with a Christmas tree

The cat is smitten. Tonight the last of the ornaments went up on the Christmas tree in the front window. Casper was beside himself in joy as boxes were opened (the cat law of boxes: no open boxes should go unexplored)...

...the lights on the tree were lit (all the twinkling creates a warm cozy place to curl up)...

and ornaments were hung (fun toys swing and look pretty).

[note: this is what happens when a cat gets too curious and then too close.]

And finally Casper voiced his concern that the photo-taking had gone on long enough and needed to stop.

So I went back to hanging ornaments until he fell fast asleep. After all, Christmas tree inspection and quality control is tough work for a cat and requires a lot of beauty sleep.

The end. Good night!

You know it's been a good night when...

• A complete stranger taps you on the shoulder on the way to dinner just to say, "I just had to tell you, you are very beautiful." (totally made my night!)
• You laugh so hard during dinner, you pull a muscle in your cheek. (Um, yeah. I didn't know that could happen either - but now I do. Ouch! Now it hurts to smile - amazing!)
• Carrot Top crashes your dinner party and poses for photos. (Only in Las Vegas, Baby!)
• Your husband looks over at you during dinner and gives you such a smile that your heart flutters and you can't help but fall deeper in love all over again. (Thank you Heavenly Father for the man I married.)
• You get to feast at a fantastic restaurant with great friends and the good times roll. (Such cheesecake! Oh my! - New mantra: Always save room for dessert.)
• The shuttle ride from the restaurant back to the hotel is even more fun than dinner as everyone laughs at all the jokes and new inside jokes are invented. (With comradery like this, next year's Iowa State Fair is gonna be good.)
• Your feet don't hurt after wearing your favorite high heels all night. (And they're so cute too!)
• You get to sleep in the next morning and start the day on your own time - no agenda and no worries. (Yeah - this is the life! Gotta love a little vacation here and there.)

This week we were in Las Vegas for a convention and managed a little time for fun here and there. Get ready for lots of great photos!

Seeing red and luvin it

At long last, we've put up the tree and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house. Yippee! Hallelujah! Let it snow! (on Christmas Eve. That's plenty early for snow, thank you very much.)

We've been collecting red ornaments and trimmings for this particular tree since we were married, but haven't been able to put them up until this year.

Why, you ask? Well, it was because we didn't have a base for the tree (it's artificial, thus the specific need for the base - and don't get me started on the real tree vs. artificial debate. That's been done and since the cat thinks tree water is delicious we've opted for artificial for now. We're not against real trees. We love them! Just not in our house for now.) and trees with no base don't stand well. In fact, they don't stand at all. They might hover near vertical for a brief moment, but then we found out they come crashing down and it's just best to wait to set them up until you have a solid base to support the center pole from all sides. Who knew, right?

So this year is exciting because it's the first time these red ornaments have been out of their boxes and on display. And we're loving them! The whole tree is gorgeous. And when it's lit up, the red glow fills the room and we love it all the more.

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to go bake cookies. Nuthin' better than munchin on fresh Christmas cookies by the Christmas tree when it's cold outside and warm and toasy inside.