Christmas Again

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone again. It may make me sound old, but it seems like it comes faster each year.

Christmas was a little bittersweet this year. Not only did it occur mere days after my Grandfather's funeral, but everything was so hectic and frazzled that I didn't feel like I could really enjoy the holiday. But time with friends and family should always be cherished.

My family did our traditional Christmas Eve gift exchange at our house this year. I made oyster stew in honor of Grandpa (though I didn't eat any of it - YUCK) and potato soup (which I ate lots of). We had lots of delicious other snacks, too. And of course, there were lots of presents.

Pretty tree and pretty presents.

Eating.

Daddy told the Nativity story before we opened presents.

Present time! Salem slapped some duct tape on her present, just like Grandpa used to.

Go Broncos!

On Christmas Day we had a big dinner at my parents' house, with meat, potatoes, and all the trimmings. Plus some delicious desserts. Then some of us went to see Les Miserables, which was pretty awesome. Anne Hathaway = awesome. Really.

A few very short days after Christmas we were on our way back to Kansas to have Christmas with Matt's family. First, we stopped in El Dorado to see Grandma. Like so many times before, we watched football together, visited about life and family, and ate a delicious meal cooked by my grandmother. But this was the first such occasion without Grandpa, which made the experience bittersweet. It was tough to leave and make our way down to Matt's folks' house, but we were also excited to enjoy time with his family. 

After our family's little gift exchange, we made our plans to wake early in the morning to head down to Oklahoma City for our Christmas celebration with extended family. Sadly, Matt's uncle got ridiculously sick, resulting in the entire event being cancelled. We tried to salvage the day by meeting a cousin at Olive Garden, but the rest of the time was spent watching football and relaxing.

Our last day of our little Christmas trip, was supposed to include a fun gathering of our friends and their beautiful children, but we had some cancellations on that day, too. At least we were still able to see our buddies Dac and Alisha and their new baby, Reid. Baby and friend time was fun! And I was able to give little Reid his Christmas present.

It was a little monster I made! I made one for Ruby (John and Anna's kiddo), too, and I was told she liked it when she opened it at home.

And then, on the first day of the new year, we finally headed home and tried to settle down into normalcy. But, while I can't deny that this holiday season was funky, sad, and stressful, it was also great to see family and friends. 

Kansas Christmas

One of the greatest things about having two families to celebrate holidays with is that Christmas is twice as long. Since I tend to get a little blue after holidays and big events, I loved that I had a second Christmas to look forward to this year. Last week, we made our way to Kansas to celebrate with Matt's family.

On our way to good ol' AC, we stopped to visit some very good friends of ours. We've been friends for years, so it doesn't take long to settle into our hanging-out routine. Here are Matt and John, looking at something funny online, just like they always do.

Same old, same old - wait, what's that baby doing there?!!

Yep, we've added a new addition to our little friend-family! In November, John and Anna had a baby girl: Ruby Rose. We were very excited to meet the little one and hang out with old friends. It's funny that the visit was completely different, yet exactly the same.

Look at the happy family!

Little Ruby Rose.

After a fun visit, we were off again. We still had Christmas to celebrate!

Christmas tree!

We had a family gift exchange on New Year's Eve before heading off to a crazy NYE party! We got to visit MORE of our great friends, and welcome the New Year together.

Unfortunately, one of our group had to head home a little early and we didn't get to see her before she left. Fortunately, some awesome person invented Skype. The five/six of us played games and acted silly, which is pretty normal for us.

The boys dancing, skyping, and playing Settlers.

Finally, "Christmas Day" was here... again. We spent time with extended family who we don't see very often. Games were played, the kiddos opened presents, and LOTS of food was eaten. It was another great holiday.

Fun Christmas/New Year's!

And then it was time to head home. Matt went back to work this week and I started my student teaching. But we are about to leave our quiet life behind for the weekend as we embark upon a very exciting adventure. If we survive (just kidding... I hope), we will have lots of fun things to post next week. So keep your eye out...

Arkalalah Madness

I don't fully understand why I love the crazy town-wide festival that takes place in Ark City, Kansas every October, but love it I do. I'm sure it has something to do with the deliciously fatty food that seems never-ending. Or maybe it's the numerous silly events, like the races and egg-toss competitions, the high school band shows, or the ridiculous coronation of the "Queen Alalah." (Yup, you read that right.)

But I think what really makes me look forward to this crazy event is the idea of spending a weekend hanging out with family and amazing friends.

I am not a native Ark Cityan (Ark Cityite?), so it was rather late in my life that I first experienced the awesomeness/ridiculousness that is Arkalalah. When Matt first took me to his hometown for this festival, I was a little skeptical. Observing the coronation of Queen Alalah as one of my first Arkalalah events further convinced me that this was some weird Kansas thing that I would never understand. But as I watched an entire town (and many surrounding towns) come together to celebrate traditions and old-fashioned family fun, I kind of started to get it.

Plus, the fair food really is spectacular.

This year, Matt's high school class was gathering for their ten-year reunion. Most classes choose to host the reunions during Arkalalah, since so many people return to town for the festival anyway. The idea of seeing old classmates stimulated a mild curiosity in Matt, but we pretty much just used the reunion as an excuse to enjoy eating way too much food while visiting with family and friends.

We flew out after work on Thursday, and we were prepared to take in the fair early Friday morning. I enjoyed delicious chili, a chocolate banana on a stick, and ROASTED CORN!

I developed a little bit of an obsession with roasted corn on this trip. This is the first of two trips to a corn booth. Considering I was I little more reserved with my eating this time round, that's pretty crazy.

But as I mentioned above, the real purpose of this trip was to visit family and friends. We spent the day chatting, catching up, and walking around the festival.

Our awesome friends, Dac and Alisha, and Matt. This will be the album cover when they decide to start a band.

Fire! Me and one of the nieces.

We spent a large part of the weekend hanging out with some of our closest friends. Matt has remained very (oddly) close to a group of guys he knew in high school, and the addition of wives has not diminished their love for each other. In fact, the wives' club has developed our own close friendships. Unfortunately, one of the couples is currently in Virginia (you may remember Tarl and Joy from here) and they were unable to attend the reunion. It was the perfect occasion for a group-wide skype!

Tarl.

The group.

The boys. Probably laughing at some boy joke.

Saturday in Ark City brought far too many people for my comfort. But we braved the crowds to take in the annual parade. One of our nieces is in her first year on the flag team, so we had to cheer her on in the parade and at the flag competition after.

Walking in the street. The sidewalks are lined with chairs of those preparing to watch the parade.

Look! It's our niece!

Ark City's flag team put on an awesome show!

Finally, it was time for the "main event." The boys prepared for the reunion by looking through old yearbooks:

While the ladies got prettied up and talked about baby stuff (John and Anna are expecting their first child any day now!).

Anna's belly.

Then we were off to the awkwardness that is a high-school reunion.

Disappointed in the beer selection. They've really become beer snobs in their old age.

Me and Alisha. I was very glad to have my friends there!

Conversation time.

Having fun?

Chatting with Bri. I actually know her, so that was cool.

Us.

I love this picture for many reasons. Mostly because it has two of my favorite ladies in it. But also because John is dancing like an idiot in the background (on purpose, of course).

Old roomies.

The wives were ready to leave while the men were still talking.

In the end, the reunion was a little weird, but the guys seemed to enjoy themselves.

So another Arkalalah has come and gone. I enjoyed the food (though we didn't imbibe quite as much as we have in years past) and the silly events (go band!) and the cool people, who I miss already.