Santa Baby

Merry Christmas, from Wisconsin!

Fisley

As a Christmas present for our baby, I ordered a fancy dog bed, advertised as indestructible for heavy chewers, complete with her name monogrammed on the top (so we don't get confused on whose bed it is, of course.)

Took her a day or two to warm up to it, but she found it a cozy alternative to the floor.

Not more than a week later, we found our new dog, "Fisley," in her bed when we came home from work.  "Indestructible" must not mean what I thought it did.  Or, our new habit of letting "Fisley" sleep on our couch made her dog bed a bit less attractive.

Alas, we sent the bed back to Fetchdog.com for a full refund.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

For those of you who haven't been to our new house yet, we have a vaulted 15 ft. ceiling in the family room.  I think before we even purchased the house, Kyle was dreaming of filling that room with a ginormous tree at Christmas time and boy did his dreams come true this year.

[Side Note: Holidays with Kyle's family are usually spent with his Mom's side of the clan, hosted at his Aunt Lori and Uncle Steve's place in Blair, Wisconsin.  They also have a vaulted ceiling and always have a huge and gorgeous tree decorated for the holidays ... so really, Kyle has had this dream for the last 10 years or so.]

We snuck out on Sunday morning after Thanksgiving, drove about 30 minutes West and cut down a beauty in Howard Lake, Minnesota.

Here we are searchin' ... note the Coach bag on my arm ... you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl ... ;)

This was Paisley's choice, but Kyle insisted on a 14 footer ...

 Here's the winner ... chopped ...

dragged ...

and thrown in the trailer.

If you're wondering, here's how you decorate a 14.5 foot Christmas tree ... with an 8 ft ladder.  Reminder for next year, put the topper on before the tree is up.  This one will have to go un-topped this year.

I fussed quite a bit about getting a tree this big, but I have to be honest, it really is gorgeous and has a special (and big) way of bringing the Christmas season to life.  Our Christmas list now includes ornaments as the tree is a bit sparse ... hint, hint...

Merry Christmas, from the Petersen Family.

The Mulhausen's in Minnesota

(classic, right?! the only family picture we got before the batteries in the camera died!)

Kyle and I hosted my side of the family for Thanksgiving this year.  We were grateful that all of the Mulhausen's made the trip!  My brother and sister-in-law even brought the warm weather with them from Austin, TX as we enjoyed 60 degrees for the holiday!

The meal turned out great ... much less stressful when you have a lot of helpers.  Sure, I picked out the recipes and prepped a few things the day before, but on Thanksgiving day, the whole family pitched in (well, almost the whole family, you know who you are...) - Kyle cooked the bird, Kathy and Jason took care of the herb biscuits, Kathy made her mom's mashed potatoes, my mom prepared the brussel sprouts and gravy and my Aunt Hedy set the table and poured the drinks.

 

Vaughn and Paisley were the entertainment of the weekend, as expected.  It doesn't get much cuter than these two.

I just can't explain how happy it made me to have my entire family under the same roof, celebrating the holiday together in our new home.  Those of you that have family spread across the country can probably relate, but having everyone in the same place doesn't happen too often these days, so no matter how crazy it gets, I love every minute.

Thanks to my family for making the trek to Independence, Minnesota!  I only wish the holidays came around more than once a year.