it's kinda like speed dating...only family...and christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I know...it's a little late. Nate had a show (Sons of the Republic) in Minneapolis last night so we're up even further North for a couple of days. I FINALLY got to see my best friends baby boy last night. He's such a sweetie, and really cute! We're going to eat dinner with them again tonight and hang out before we head back to Iowa tomorrow morning.

I can't believe Christmas has already come and passed. We had a really great holiday this year. Nate and I started by heading out to Sioux City to see his dad and step mom. Izzy and Bean loved to play with their puppy "cousin" Pidge. Little Bean is a brave one and appears to have no fear when it comes to dogs bigger than she is...which is pretty much all of them. Izzy's getting a little beat up from Bean playing with her, but she's being a very good big sister and is very calm about the whole thing. She's such a little lady.

While we were in Northwest Iowa we stopped up in Sibley to see some of the Dass family that we hadn't seen in a really long time. They didn't know we were coming so it was nice to surprise them. We only got to stay and catch up for a short time though because we then headed back down to Moville for the Rippke Christmas. I have pictures of all the families so when I get back to my own computer I'll upload all the pictures from Christmas. We always do a white elephant gift exchange with the Rippke's which is really fun. This year we played BINGO to determine the order and Nate and I ended up with a movie and some champagne. Date night! The Rippke Christmas was also a short one because after that we headed back to Sioux City to see Grandma Jo and spend time with the Irwin side (are you keeping up with all the families?) before we headed back to Ames to see some of my family and get ready for the next day, Christmas Eve. It was a lot of driving, but worth it to see everyone.

Since both of our parents live in Ames, Nate and I spend Christmas Eve with both sets. We also do a white elephant with my grandparents and cousins and all. It's one of our favorite traditions. After doing Christmas with my grandparents and Grace we headed over to Nate's for the rest of the night and then back to my parents to get some sleep before "Santa" came.
Santa was good to Nate and I this year. Everyone was. We had a great holiday. Busy, but great. And we ended up getting to see people and family we hadn't seen in a long time which is good since we don't know when the next time we'll be back up here is. 18 hours is a long drive.

We spent the night out at the cabin my dad built. It's pretty awesome. I also have pictures of it at home. I'll post them tomorrow night when I get back from MN. He did a really great job and it looks amazing. It wasn't finished before I left so this was the first time I'd seen it completed. We played a conversations game, and watched a really lame movie. Haha. It was a nice peaceful night away from everything. The land out there is so calming. We'll probably head back out there before we go back to TX.

Time is going really fast, but after we get home from MN we are done traveling. We're going to get together with some of our friends now that the holidays are over, and just relax and play with our new "toys" for the next week. Bean and Izzy are still getting along. They're so cute together. I can already see Bean growing...which I have to admit I'm kind of looking forward to just so she's not quite as small compared to Izzy. I'm sure my parents are not loving keeping their eye on them this couple days that we're gone. Bean just will not sleep in her kennel. She really needs to learn to quick though. Or at least stop the howling through out the night.

Hope the new year finds you well!