Christmas--Way Way Way Overdue!

This is ridiculously overdue, especially as I know just how many of you were waiting with baited breath for this! :) On the upside, now it's getting me REALLY excited for this coming Christmas! (Which has snuck up so quickly this year--I feel like it was just summer!) These are from Christmas 2010, yes, 11 months ago, when we were fortunate enough to make it home and see both families and friends! I love that Bob and I both have our families in North Idaho--its so great to get to visit them both each time we're home, and we love the beautiful inland Northwest so much... every time we're home we get more excited for when we can live there permanently someday...

There aren't too many things we have to hit while we're home for Christmas, but we always love the lights on the boardwalk, so we headed there with Bob's folks and enjoyed them all!

We also usually do a puzzle or two and this trip was no exception! This picture is an extra nice memory now as this is Bob's Grandma Zellma who passed away this spring.

Thanks Carolyn, for this lovely zebra Snuggy! I know Cristy has strong feelings for such casual wear, but I find it delightfully cozy!

Ron's birthday is just before Christmas and here he is opening his present!

Carolyn in her finest Christmas vest

Bob, Lilo, his Dad (Ron), Grandma Zellma, and his Mom (Carolyn) on Christmas Eve at his Aunt Helen and Uncle John's place

And me too :)

Here's the whole tree for those of you wishing for it ;)

We had a great time playing cards there, with even Ron and Bob playing!

Lilo loved the whole trip as usual since she got plenty of attention!

Unfortunately, she did suffer through some awesome antlers but was a good sport as always!

Closeup of her awesome antlers

Our last Christmas picture as a couple without kids! We were pretty excited this whole Christmas season thinking about the fun of Christmas with kids in the future!

Can you see the bald eagle here? Top of the tree. :) We drove out around the lake to check out the eagles and they didn't disappoint! It was really cold so we bundled up and brought some delicious hot chocolate which made it a bit warmer.

Better view of an eagle

It was a beautiful day despite the temps!

More of beautiful Lake Coeur d'Alene!

We were lucky enough to enjoy some time with our dear friends the Poteets, who make every trip home so much more exciting!

We spent a delightful New Year's Eve with them and made some awesome treats to enjoy, including the always delicious pretzel/Rolo/M&M treats! We ran out of Rolos and used marshmallows for the last ones which were pretty yummy too!

I also always love spinach artichoke dip, and this was so tasty much was gone before I even took a pic!

Can't go wrong with cinnamon pull-aparts!

Oh yeah, and all this stuff too! Mandy's pretty psyched for it!

Thanks Mans, for this awesome scarf!

Since she has the same one, we thought we'd take a twinsies pic but it was MIA, so luckily mine was long enough we could both wear it. Totally practical too! ;)

This is where we often find Lilo when we're in the basement at Bob's folks' house, so we moved her bed there

She has a pretty hard life, as you can see!

We had a nice Christmas visit with my family at Paul and Leslie's house with my brother's and their families, Mom and John, and Grandma

We enjoyed some beautiful snow while we were home

Lilo likes to be festive

Christmas morning at the Samperts

Looking good in our pj's

Now more pics with my fam

Unfortunately, my Grandma Mueller passed away just before Christmas, so we extended our trip a bit and flew to Billings instead of flying home, so we could attend her funeral. It was so sad to lose her, but a great blessing to see my Dad's whole side of the family that we see so rarely! Many of whom Bob still hadn't ever met even, which was special, and neat to share our news in person that Johnny was on the way.

Here are my brothers, Sandy, Bob, and Mom and John at Grandma's funeral

Better late than never--hope you enjoyed this very tardy post and I hope you're all having a great fall and have fun plans for Turkey Day and Christmas! We'll be here for Thanksgiving and I'm on call, so we're planning to go out this year--I hear the Little America Hotel has an awesome Thanksgiving dinner! We will be home for Christmas though, and are looking forward to seeing all of you Idaho friends there! My little brother apparently asked my other 2 brothers if we were bringing Johnny, so for any of you who may have had that same question, Yes, Johnny and Lilo are both coming with us! :)

I'll post more Johnny pics next since he's so darn cute and I'm behind on that too!