Holiday Update (Beware--it's long!)

After taking a long hiatus from blogging, i have so many blog ideas. We have had so much going on since my last post over a week ago.
This year, we spent Christmas away from Kansas for the first time ever (that I know of). My family drove out here to spend the holiday with Matt and I. I really appreciated this because Matt had to work every day this past week and I would have been so lonely without my family. On the same note, I hope that Matt working Christmas wasn't too hard and lonely on him. It's a hard time of year to have to work so much!
Tuesday, I got home from work and errands and baked, baked, and baked some more. I made ginger snaps, peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses, and apple pie, butterscotch oatmeal cookies, chex mix and chex Muddy Buddies. My family got here right as I finished up. I know they had to battle snow and high winds to get here. The odd thing is that Denver didn't get more than a few flurries here and there, even though we were in an 80% chance for snow.
Wednesday, my mom and I stole the Highlander and went shopping. We went to Cherry Creek mall because it was a little tamer than the other one I went to. (Less kids running around and no adults on roller skate shoes.) I finished up my shopping for the most part.
We got home and made our Christmas Eve tradition meal: chili and cinamon rolls. I'm not sure how or when this became our traditional meal. I got to use all of my new china and crystal, and the table looked great! I was so proud.
When Matt got home, we opened presents. It was really late when we went to bed and I had to get up early before church to start get the turkey in the oven. Luckily, my mom got up and helped me with that one. I was so tired that I took the turkey out of the fridge and looked at it and thought "What am I supposed to do with you?" Mom took over and rubbed it down with sage and oil and butter. It turned out beautiful and delicious.
We managed to get Christmas dinner on the table after church in plenty of time for Matt to eat before heading off to work. This was somewhat of a challenge because I was trying to combine both ours and Matt's family traditions, which meant turkey and Honey Baked ham, adding green bean casserole and making corn, rolls, mashed potatoes and fresh veggies. Matt was the only one to have a piece of the apple pie. He ate like a champ! :)
I took a nap, then my dad and brother and the dogs and I went for a walk through Cherry Creek State Park. The lake was frozen and Brennan walked out on the water! Dad and I were scared for various reasons. He couldn't watch!
Friday was sad because everyone was leaving. Matt went to work and my family left in the midafternoon. The house felt so empty after that so I put the dogs in the kennel and went for a drive. I passed the dealer where we bought the Highlander and saw Matt's old car on the lot. It looks good, but I couldn't see a price on it. I didn't want to drive in to the dealer to check, so it will remain a mystery. Still, I miss that car and it wasn't even mine!
I found a few bargains at some stores but wasn't in the mood for shopping so I went back home and slept and slept and slept. I slept so much I scared myself. Saturday, Matt had to work AGAIN so he could have the 2nd of January off. I took the dogs to the dog park after he left. Pongo had a blast but Perdi had to stay on the leash because the big dogs would scare her and she would run off. When we were alone, I let her off and she chased Pongo all around. She came back when I called her, which is a great sign for such a little puppy. After that, the dogs got to go to Petsmart and get some treats since we were running low. What spoiled dogs we have!
Sunday, we planed to go skiing, but Matt was so tired and we thought it best that we all just rest that day. We did end up going to the dog park again, and this time Perdi spent most of the time off leash. She and Pongo played chase through the bushes by the river and had a grand old time! They were so tired when we got home, which gave me a chance to make some more turkey noodle soup. (Matt didn't get any the first time.) I must say, the second batch was much better. It is a great way to use up leftover turkey! All you need is chicken broth, cut up turkey meat, carrots, celery and a bit of basil, bay leaves and parsely. Throw it all in a crock pot and let it simmer as long as you like. I added some large egg noodles and it was fabulous. I love love love turkey or chicken noodle soup though. It has always been a favorite of mine.

I can't believe how fast 2008 has gone. This has been one of the most exciting years to date.
This year:
-We got married
-We honeymooned in St. Lucia
-We moved to Colorado
-I fell in the Arkansas river a couple times
-We started this blog
-We spent many weekends camping in the mountains
-We both started new jobs
-We brought a second beagle into our house
-I got accepted to grad school at Purdue
-We learned to ski
-We bought a new SUV
-We had SO MANY wonderful visits from friends and family and look forward to many more.

What a busy and wonderful year! We look forward to continuing to keep you all up to date on our lives on Mountain Millards for years to come. With any luck, the upcoming years will be as wonderfully exciting as this past year has been and we will have great stories to share. If I don't get another post up before 2009, I hope you all have a wonderful new year! We will see some of you soon!