Christmas Snapshots

This year was a special Christmas. Since moving to Nebraska, the time I get to spend at home with my family is something that I cherish, even more than I did before. Our whole family {cousins, aunts and uncles included} had not been all together since our wedding. And even then, we were still missing Pat, my cousin Kelley's husband who was deployed overseas. And Ryder, who was not born yet! So, like I said, this year was special.

We arrived in Orlando on Wednesday afternoon. We left Nebraska at 2 am on Tuesday morning, after taking a short 2 hour nap. Monday night, we played volleyball at a local gym with Andrew's family until late-- call us crazy, but you can't beat spending time with family, and it was totally worth it! 

The first day we drove 16+ hours to Birmingham, Alabama. My cousin and her husband live there, and they were very nice to let us stay at their place for the night. The second day of driving was much easier, only 8 hours. Thank you for all who prayed for safe travels. We are thankful for God's protection as we drove, especially after not getting much sleep. :)

 Ryder, the cutest little Christmas Elf. :)

 Andrew got his banjo out one night to play for my aunts dad. {pictured} he loves the banjo, and always wants Andrew to play. Ryder was fascinated by it. I think we got a future banjo player in the works! 

We spend Christmas eve with my Dad's side of the family. This is always a highlight, and as I said before, this year being together was extra special. 

 Kelley, Ryder and Pat. 

Aren't they adorable?!

 The Dan Knuth Family

 All the grand kids...and the great-grand child. :)

 My Family.

 Brothers

 Ryder was so funny to watch open gifts. Usually he cared more about the paper and the box, but there were a few toys that caught his attention.

 Andrew, Kori, Katie, Andrew. :)

 We played this game at the end of the night for a bonus Christmas present-- $42! It got pretty competitive, and we laughed a whole lot! 

Gramps 

 Katie and Kelley were the final 2. 

 and Katie won. :)

Christmas morning is always spent at my Mom's side of the family. But first we get up and have a family gift exchange. Having Andrew here to share it with us this year was totally awesome. My mom surprised us with an early anniversary gift, a scrapbook from when we were born to our honeymoon. I wish you could all see it because it is just amazing. 

Gabby got a silver name tag for her collar from Tiffany's.

.....if you thought I was serious, please flick yourself in the ear...

After our family gift exchange we go over to my grandma's for our traditional Christmas breakfast. 

The boys spent most of the morning shooting oranges with bb guns...boys.

Fulmer Family

Grandma and the grand kids... and great grand son, Hayden.

Can I just say, that this man is absolutely amazing?! I am so thankful for him! And I loved being able to spend our first Christmas together. :)

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 

and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, 

Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Plans

Shortly after we got married, Andrew brought up the idea of moving to Florida for the winter. At the time, we were talking about it more hypothetically, or jokingly. Seriously, but not seriously. More like a far off dream or fantasy. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend the frigid Nebraska winter months, in warm sunny Florida?!

Every now and then we would talk about it, and somewhere in those few times we talked about it, it went from "that would be so cool" to "yeah, we're definitely doing this!" And since then God has opened doors, arranged opportunities and provided necessities that we needed to make it all possible. We both will have jobs, we will have our own house that is not too far from my parents and best of all, we will get to spend at least 2 and a half wonderful months with my family, which is totally awesome.
Though, we are DEFINITELY going to miss our family up here. But, winter is a great time for a trip to Florida... right, family?!?! :)

{we'll think of all you northerners as we lay on the beach, and soak up the sun...hmm was that mean? :)}

So, now the crazy the packing has begun. We're not taking ALL of our things, but we are taking most of our clothes. Florida weather is so crazy. It could be 40 degrees one week and 80 the next. Thus, the need for variety in our wardrobe. 

We'd appreciate prayers for safety as we drive. It's going to be quite the trip :)

Florida, here we come! 

Snow Day

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen it snow. I've been snow skiing a number of times, so I've been in snow a lot. But actually SEE the white stuff fall from the sky? That's been a rare occurrence in my life. Saturday morning, it started snowing. I felt like a kid on Christmas, as I sat at the window watching the snow slowly cover the ground. I would try and get something done, but I'd always end up back at whatever window was closets to me. :) 

 It was the perfect day to stay inside, sip hot chocolate, and do some fun winter-y baking with my husband. :)

 Making Apple Cake. Andrew got to chop up all the apples. Doing anything in the kitchen is much more fun when you get to do it together. :)

 Once the snow stopped, we went out to enjoy the winter wonderland. It totally feels like Christmas now. Just like they describe in all the Christmas songs! I've always listened to those songs while it was 80 degrees and sunny outside, now I know what they're talking about. :)

It was most definitely one of my favorite days ever. Snow is truly one of God's most beautiful creations.  

Asher David

 I have a nephew! And just look at his precious little face!

Born November 30th

at 10:35 am. 

7 Lbs

 Now I have a November birthday buddy in the Wissmann Family! 

Congratulations, Josiah and Abi 

and, big sister, Joanna!

27 years

Happy 27th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

I am so grateful for the wonderful example of a God honoring, loving marriage that has been set by my awesome parents. I pray that Andrew and I can follow in your footsteps and enjoy the same bliss for 27 years! 

I love you! 

Apartment Tour

Many of you have been asking for pictures of our now home. Well here it is-- our humble abode.

Our Kitchen- complete with awesome kitchen aid mixer, krueig coffee maker, and, my husbands 2nd love, the vitamix. :)

Our living room

While I was in Florida, JoAnn fabrics was having a huge sale on their christmas decorations. Christmas is my favvvvvorite time of year, so I bought the Joy and Noel wood cut outs because they were so cute, AND 65% off... Couldn't resist! And I put them out already, just for fun. :)

oh and ps. Those roses, are the roses Andrew gave me the night he proposed. :)

Reminders of that awesome March day. :)

Our Bathroom

And Lastly, our bedroom. 

Although, it's nothing glamours, it is ours. Newlywed budgets are tight, yo! But we are so thankful for how God has blessed us in our first months of marriage. :)

Help??

Hello my beautiful readers! I hope you've all had a glorious day today. I've got a little favor to ask of you! Remember, Ryder?! Well, he's been entered into a Pretty Babies contest on facebook and we need YOUR help to help him win! I'm not sure on all the details, but I know if he wins, he gets a gift card to babies R us! And we all know baby's {and mommy's} love that! So If you could just click this like right here to vote.

VOTE HERE!

If you have facebook, all you do is click the link, and LIKE the photo. Don't like the album, you must like Ryder's photo for the vote to count. He is photo #4, it is the photo identical to the one on this post.

If you don't have facebook, don't worry about it! Thanks for reading my blog anyways! :)

Let your light shine

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works 

and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my little {bigger} brother, Bryce!

I love you, Brother! 

 "He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and 

awesome things which your eyes have seen."

Deuteronomy 10:21

Beef and Barley

My poor hubs has not been feeling 100% lately, plus it's been crazy cold...perrrrfect soup weather. So, I went on Pinterest {which has become my favorite place for recipes, if you're not on it, you should check it out!} and found this little gem of a recipe for beef and barley soup. I'd say it was a hit, because Andrew had 3 huge bowls of it! 

I changed the recipe slightly to cater to my husband's liking. I added more meat, more barley, doubled the carrots, celery and potatoes, added peas and omitted the mushrooms. Okay.. maybe taking out the mushrooms was for me. I despise those slimy little things. But really the rest was for Andrew :) He likes really hearty soup {less broth, more substance} and this recipe is definitely a keeper. 

ps. Check out our super adorable new plates I got from TJ Maxx for 4 dollars! They make perfect little charger plates for some added cuteness! I just love them! :)

Ingredients

450 g (1 lb) Striploin or Ribeye Steak, trimmed excess fat, cubed (about 1 ½-inch pieces)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Large Yellow Onion, diced
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Pack (200g) Crimini Mushrooms, quartered
2 Carrots, peeled and diced
3 Ribs Celery, diced
2 Medium Potatoes, diced
1 Bay Leaf
½ Cup Barley
6 to 7 Cups of Beef Stock
Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over high heat. Brown the beef cubed in batches, and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium-high and melt the butter. Add the onion and garlic, and stirring frequently until it is golden brown. Mix in the mushroom, carrot, celery, potatoes, bay leaf, with a little salt and pepper. Continue to stir the vegetable mixture with a wooden spoon, for about 10 to 12 minutes. Then add the beef and 6 cups of beef stock and the barley.

Bring the soup to a boil, remove any impurities, and reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 1-½ hours. Remove the bay leaf and thin the soup with beef stock, if necessary. Season the soup with salt and pepper and serve warm with some chopped parsley.

Enjoy! :)

The most precious baby boy

Meet Ryder. The most adorable baby boy in the world, and the first grandchild in the Knuth family. A couple of weeks ago I got to spend a whole week with him and my cousin Kelley in Orlando. It was too short, but I'm so glad I got to spend that time with them. My camera hardly ever stopped clicking, he just looked so cute ALL the time! :)

 Harley Man

 Ryder and Great-Uncle Brad {My Dad}

 While I was there, he learned to sit up all by himself. It was so neat to watch him learn to support himself and learn what he could and couldn't do while he was sitting up.

Bath Time! 

 We took him to a pumpkin patch one day to try and get some pictures. Have you ever tried to get a 5 month old to look at a camera after you've just set them on hay surrounded by all kinds of new things!?! haha It's definitely much harder than people make it look. He was fascinated by the hay, and the pumpkins and by some of his facial expressions, let us know that he was annoyed that we were trying to make him stop playing with them. The pictures are still adorable, even if we couldn't really get him to look at us! ha :)

 

 "ooooh what's this stuff?!"

Sleepy boy 

 I love that smile! I cannot wait for Christmas! :)

Ps. Today happens to be his 6 month Birthday! Happy Birthday, Ryder Man!