I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We had such a wonderful day full of family and fun. I will make sure to share details with you very soon. At the moment, we are on the road once more headed for our new home. Please keep our travels and moving process in your prayers!

Two years ago we spent Christmas with my family in Kansas, their previous home. It was also the year that Michael was baptized, and the first time the cousins were together since they were born. It was such an exciting experience, and it definitely ignited the desire to make sure Maile and Michael (and any future littles) grow up close so that they can be the best of friends.



I'm biased, and I love spending Christmas with my family, but I have a feeling upcoming years may get more and more complicated and it won't always be the same. But, like many say, home is where the heart is-- and that's what I always make sure to keep in mind.

2010 was the year we spent Christmas with Clark's family. We always tend to do Thanksgiving with them, Christmas with mine. This was because my family has always been the farthest away and Christmas is ALWAYS the time of year we have the most time to go somewhere.

But, in 2010, my family was about the same distance from us as Clark's... so we switched it up. Thanksgiving was with my parents, and Christmas was with his.


Their traditions weren't quite what I was used to, but it was so much fun to spend it with them. I think we've finally decided that after a little recovery time, holidays will be switched every other year. How do you divide holidays with your families?

When Clark and I were first married, my parents were stationed in Germany. It was like a fairy tale getting to spend our first two Christmases overseas in a place where Christmas is taken very seriously.


Now whenever Christmas time comes around, we can't help but miss it. We always think of the Christmas markets, the hot apfelwein, and all the glorious food. Some day we hope to take Michael to experience it, because it's house most of our Christmas traditions began.

Do you have somewhere you visit every year for Christmas, or have visited and it always makes you think of the holidays?

The holidays were really a time of tradition for my family, and still are. Christmas always involved the Advent Wreath, lots of singing, and lots of baking. One of my favorite memories is the picture above from 2006. It was the Christmas my sister and my now brother-in-law were first engaged, my great uncle was visiting, and was actually around the time Clark and I started dating.

This time of year I start to miss them all more and more. Living far from my family isn't easy at all. I'm thankful that in Phoenix we will be closer to my sister and her family, and my parents can come from the opposite direction and we can all sort of meet in the middle if we want to. But since we are moving over Christmas, we will be stopping at my parents' for the holiday and you can bet we will all be singing Christmas carols.

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

I've always loved tea parties, as you can see. When I was little I was definitely the little girl who had her dolls and stuffed animals gathered around to join her. I do believe there is photographic evidence of my dad in this (or one very much like this) hat as part of my tea party, too. I mean... if you were invited to my tea party... you just couldn't say no. When I was seven I had a tea party birthday party for my friends and their dolls. Not joking.

Part of me really wants to have a Mad Hatter Tear Party for my 25th birthday... but we shall see. What was your favorite thing to do when you were little?

When I was little-little, I had two favorite foods: Corn on the cob, and chili. I was really excited when I came across this picture while visiting my parents in Iowa (see one, two, three posts).

I think I'm around two or three in this picture. Michael doesn't look a thing like me, does he?


These are still two of my favorite foods.

Summer 2010, camping.

Michael's favorite food (outside the every day things like cheese and fruit) is chili. He gets SO excited when I tell him that's what's for dinner. I have yet to introduce him to corn on the cob, but if he loves it as much as I do-- you can bet we will make a special dinner with the two of them!

In case you missed 20 things about Michael on his 2nd Birthday, make sure to check it out!

Last Saturday was Michael's birthday. Though this may not qualify as a true "TBT"... I HAD to go ahead and share a picture of his outstanding cake.

My friend Allison from Bailey Family Bakery invited me over to help decorate it! I was so excited to work under her tutilage. Though I made the actual cakes (Bottom Layer: Chocolate Fudge with a Chocolate Buttercream/Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumbles filling; Top Layer: Funfetti with Buttercream filling), I only did what she assigned me to do for the cake decorating, haha.

So, when you look at the picture-- remember that I dyed/made/rolled out the blue fondant for the top layer, the "borders", and the yellow polka-dots for the bottom layer. Everything else was Allison's magic.


Michael couldn't keep his eyes off of it, either.


We brought it to our friends' wedding rehearsal since it on the same day. They were wonderful enough to share the spotlight with our little two year old.

Two years old... still weird.

An in-depth look at Michael's birthday celebration(s) will be posted next week!

When I turned sixteen, I had these wonderful thoughts of all it would entail. Things like a prince charming, an outstanding party, and changes in my life that were all going to be for the better. After all, the big birthdays were: 13, 16, 18, and 21... right? What more could life have to offer?

In the end, I had two very small get togethers with two different groups of friends. They involved some laid back food, homemade cake, and a game or movie. My visions of a black & white party with Michael Buble singing and me dancing in a red dress soon faded away, and I realized that "big birthdays" weren't always like movies or MTV Shows (which I wasn't supposed to be watching...).

Now I look back and I'm truly thankful for my close friends and homemade birthday cakes. Many people aren't so lucky. While I still enjoy my birthday being a big deal, I don't look back on my "big birthdays" with disappointment.

Here's to many more birthdays! What is your favorite birthday memory?

Visiting my parents in Pella brought back a lot of memories of Holland, MI. We lived there while my dad attended seminary when I was in kindergarten and first grade.

Holland has so many fond memories. Probably because I was so young, and because I have one amazing thing that has lasted me thus far in my life from it-- my bestie, Serena.

In order for you to understand the beauty of Pella, which is to come in some pictures, I thought I'd "throwback" today to Holland.


My sisters and I (can you guess who is who?) during Tulip Time in Holland, MI. I'm guessing this is around 1996, since my little sister looks around two in the picture. Yes... we are dressed in dutch costumes. At least we didn't have to wear wooden shoes (those came later for many...).

Oh, and the title? From where we lived we were close to the center of town. During tulip time the we could hear, "Put your little foot, put your little foot, put your little foot right there." It still gets stuck in my head... 17-18 years later.

Just for an experience, check this video out.

My family is full of history nuts. Probably because we were instilled with a love for it when we were very little. Anywhere we lived, we'd be taking road trips to any historical site possible. Lighthouses to battlefields to national parks, we've definitely seen it all. Don't even get me started with when my parents were living in Germany.

This picture comes to you from, I think, 1998 or 1999. Couldn't you tell? We were on a family trip to Gettysburg with some amazing family friends (the ones behind the camera, Tony and Bev).

The one standing on the pillar with the rockin' glasses, blue shirt, Tevas, and camera... that'd be me. I love this picture of my family because it's pretty much classic of everyone. The other rarity is that my older sister looks as though she was still taller than me at this point. (Love ya, KK!) My little sister looks like she's about to get in trouble. And my parents are just adorable. Even though my mom is a little overshadowed, she also has the classic camera hanging around her neck. If anyone wonders where we ladies get our love for taking pictures... blame her.

Please share links for your #TBTs!

Two weeks ago Michael and I made a five-hour trek with our puppy to visit the in-laws in good 'ole Fayetteville. Overall we had a wonderful time, but I think I learned I never want to drive that far by myself with a demanding toddler and a car-crazy dog. We got to enjoy the Fourth of July, Pop's Birthday, and some time at the beach. Just in case this picture and the others from Monday weren't enough for you, here are some more!

 Happy Fourth of July! This truly is one of my favorite holidays. I think it started the first year we livecd on a military base, and the fireworks/celebration was beyond compare. It's still one of my fondest memories, and I hope to introduce Michael to that sort of tradition some day.

Last year I posted a bunch of pictures, and it was so hard to pick one that was my favorite, but I think this is still it. Michael waving the flag so enthusiastically. It's hard for me to believe this was JUST a year ago! Where does time go? How did he get so big so fast?

Remember that this is the Home of the Free, Because of the Brave. 

Last week I was MIA in the blogosphere. Why? Because we took a spontaneous trip to Charleston, SC. It's the closest beach to us.

We were supposed to go in July. I was so excited because we were going to have a "real" vacation. But, as always, the real world trickled its way into my fairy-tale planning and I kept realizing that we just weren't going to be able to do it. The morning after Clark and I had this discussion, we loaded up the car and drove down.

Yeah. We're not good at paying attention to the real world much. Oops.

We had SO. MUCH. FUN.

The best part? Michael loved it. He wasn't exactly happy with the long car rides or the car rides around town, but whenever we got to our destination-- he was beyond thrilled. The pictures speak for themselves.

BTW, just so you are aware-- this is barely a glimpse at all the fun we had.
DAY ONE




DAY TWO










DAY THREE

One of my favorite pictures of Clark and me is this one from Summer 2009, after he graduated from USMC Boot Camp and we had enjoyed his ten days leave together. The zebra print dress that I'm wearing was my roommate's (who was living with me while Clark was gone), and since that summer I've been searching for a dress similar to it. It's funny. I never liked animal print UNTIL this dress. I'm still not a huge fan, if I'm being honest.

I stumbled upon this one on Sears.com and was SO excited... until I realized they were sold out of my size. Ah, well. Some day (while I'm young) I hope to find a Zebra-print maxi dress like this one.

Do you have any old clothing items you wish you could revive, or a piece of clothing that got away from you that you wish you could find?

OK... this was only two weeks ago. But I've been struggling to post as of late so I thought this would be the way to go for throw-back-thursday, since that's when my slacking started.

Having hubby home is always wonderful, but he made sure my birthday was extra special. After my morning Bible study where some wonderful women gave me well wishes and sang to me, Clark piled us in the car and wouldn't give me a clue as to what we were doing. He actually made it seem like he didn't have a plan. Michael fell asleep so I told him we could just do something quick for fast food if he wanted, not knowing what his plans were. He said we could just drive for a while and let Michael sleep, so he took us up on the parkway.

We talked and just hung out and enjoyed the drive while Michael slept. At one point I suggested we turn around since Michael's nap was only going to last for so long, but Clark said we could loop around (which I knew we couldn't unless we took a really long time).

As Michael woke up, we pulled off to a spot on the parkway to have a fabulous picnic (which Clark had planned, obviously) and when I began to take pictures he whipped out a brand new Nikon 1500 for me to use instead of our point and shoot camera. It was SUCH a surprise. Apparently he had a lot of people pool in to get it, since that definitely wasn't within the budget I gave him for my birthday.

The day continued with more driving on the parkway and picture taking, and once we were home Mama got even more time to be a shutterbug.


The evening ended with my homemade cake falling to pieces (literally) and Clark having to run out and get a grocery-store-cake. But it didn't ruin anything. He even bought champagne to toast me.

Yep. I'm pretty blessed with one AMAZING hubby. And I had one OUTSTANDING birthday. Now, be prepared for some recipes and fabulous pictures to come!

Last night I was flipping through pictures trying to figure out what I wanted to do for #TBT. Not really having any old, old ones currently available, I focused in on the past six years. Going pre-Michael always seems to do the trick for me. I already feel like one of those people who can barely remember life pre-baby. That's normal, right? I have a hard time remembering how small Michael was at one point... but that's a different story.

So, I was flipping through travel pictures. When my parents were stationed in Germany it was one of the greatest periods of time. We all got to take advantage and travel. Not that this wouldn't have happened eventually, but having the option to go over when I was young and experience some of the world was such a blessing.

I wanted to find a picture from when we visited Versailles. It was my favorite part of Paris. I found a couple. This one was my favorite.

In the "Hall of Mirrors"
However, as I went through pictures. I noticed something. Can you see the similarities in the following?




For those of you who didn't figure it out, I'm referring to my curly locks.

I know. How vain can one get?

Lately my hair has been frizzy and limp and lifeless and all I've been wanting is my curly hair back. I know it was the pregnancy hormones (well, I'm hoping) and there's the possibility of the curls returning once I stop nursing... but part of me just wants to take matters into my own hands.

OK... I'm off the hair tangent. Have a #TBT (or a post-pregnancy-hair-story)? Please share!