It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

I received these two iron trellis' from my parents for my birthday. Although I plan to plant flowering vines in the spring, I thought I would doctor them up a bit for the holidays. Because we live on a corner, this side of the house needed a little something. Don't they look great?

What I love more than wreathes are garland and white Christmas lights! Here is our entryway all lit up.

And our front door. We woke up to about an inch of snow this morning so I was glad to have finished up the outside decor last weekend. Just in time!

And I have been swamped with SnugglyBaby orders the past two months. I love sewing, but I'm glad I am finally catching up. Here is a dress that I just completed. The lady who ordered it has a two year old little girl that will look so cute in this dress, white tights, and black boots!

NTA (Northside Trappers Association)

If neighbors knew what we were doing, they would probably have PETA protesting in our front yard. Actually, we were looking out for our squirrel friends and thought they would like City Park much better than our yard. These squirrels have been bothering us since we moved here. I have opened up our bedroom blinds to see a squirrel running outside the screen, they have dug up bulbs in our garden, and in general are just pests. Andy borrowed this trap from his dad and within a few minutes got em! The secret weapon was a cracker covered with peanut butter and bird seed.


We then drove him across the river (we figured his chances of finding his way back were slim).

Here is the big release at City Park. There are lots of tall trees here, which I'm sure they will enjoy. See, we are very humane!

Once Andy unlocked the door, the squirrel ran and ran and never looked back!

We have done this about 7-8 times since Wednesday. Yes, we are officially starting the Northside Trappers Association. If anyone is having problems with squirrels, just let Andy know. He is getting very good at this!

Second Annual Fall Feast

Here are a few pictures from our fall dinner that we had last night. For a long time I decided that I wanted to have a fall dinner every year. I thought it would be a nice time to get together with family when they wouldn't have to be stressed about going four different places in one day and making sure everyone would be able to be together. We hosted 16 people between my family and Andy's mom's side of the family and had a lovely time visiting and of course eating!


Andy and I planned the menu which included beef tenderloin, German potato salad, sauerkraut w/ sausage, salad w/ peppercorn dressing, broccoli, and dinner rolls.

Thanks to Aunt Jo for the lovely appetizers, Carol for the pumpkin and pecan bars, and Desiree for the caramel sauce and apples. It is fair to say that nobody went home hungry!

Tyler and Dana who drove in from Chicago with Desiree. My dear friend Lindsay Larson also drove in from Minnesota so it was a treat to have them all stay with us for the weekend.

Analise and Aunt Jo being goofy!

Birthday!

So today I turn 26! My parents were able to stop through on Wednesday night so I was able to celebrate my birthday with them then. Thanks for the trellis'!
All week long the weatherman kept saying that Friday was going to be blustery, cold, windy, and miserable. After expecting all that, the weather turned out to be okay and it certainly didn't stop me from enjoying the day!

I worked until noon and then met Andy and his parents for a great lunch at Taste on Melrose. As Carol mentioned, she said that you know it is a great day when you have a glass of wine and chocolate cake at noon:).

For dinner, Andy took me to a restaurant I've been wanting to try in Kalona called Tuscan Moon. The ambiance was great, food was fabulous, and we just had a nice time. They have a great outdoor patio so it may be a place to check out again in the warmer months. Here is a picture of us with a piece of caramel cheesecake. (my second birthday dessert of the day!)

Tonight Desiree, Tyler, Dana, and Lindsay Larson are coming to visit for the weekend. The fun is certain to continue!

Halloween

I was just about to go up to bed, exhausted from a long week at work when I realized "WE HAVEN"T CARVED OUR PUMPKIN YET!" Andy grabbed the newspaper and knife, I grabbed the pumpkin from the front step and within minutes we had a design and were going to work.

Andy wanted a traditional pumpkin face and I wanted a cute smiling pumpkin, so we morphed our ideas together to come up with this little guy. I think we did a pretty good job!

We are going to have a NEPHEW!

Desiree and Lou had their ultrasound this afternoon and it was clear that they will be having a little BOY! Yeah!

I hope this baby is ready for all of the smothering, cuddling, and kissing we plan to do to him!!

NYC continued...

Saturday night we met up wiwth some of Kristin's friends for a fun dinner. The weather was beautiful and there were lots of people out and about which made for fun people watching. Actually I'm sure there are tons of people who are always out and about being NYC!

Yes, we did lots of eating! After checking out a Brooklyn flea market, walking through China Town and Little Italy, we refueled. To be fair, I posted a picture of each of us with food in our mouths:)

Sunday afternoon we spent stolling down block after block of cute boutiques and shops. We found some really cute baby and maternity shops as well so Desiree picked up a few fun things for her and the baby. Sunday evening we had our farmers market dinner. Here Des and Kristin are chopping the goods.
The first course was tomatoes with avocado and fresh mozz.

Next was spinach and wheat pasta with mushrooms and grated cheese with garlic bread.

For dessert, we had fruit salad with strawberries, apples, bananas, raspberries, and pomegranate. It was SO good, but way too much food!