Christmas with Carolyn

We were delighted to once again host our parents in our little house here in KC: this time Carolyn Sullivan came out to celebrate an early Christmas with us. Tom unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute because his back went out, and we missed him a lot, but we're looking forward to seeing both of them again in the Spring.

We went shopping for maternity clothes while John was at work,

 enjoyed an incredible meal at Jack Stack's BBQ, one of the original BBQ places in Kansas City,

 

visited the Steamboat Arabia, a museum about a ship that sunk in the MO river in the 1800s, but was covered in mud, so all its merchandise and goods were perfectly preserved.

  

It was fascinating to see all the normal goods that were taken to the frontier towns. They had everything from keys, to boots, to beautiful British china, to tools... even French perfume!

 

Here's John with one of the huge paddle wheels.

 And we celebrated Christmas with hot spiced cider and cheesecake!

 John and his Mommy.

 We got Tom on Skype while we were opening our gifts... it was almost like he was there! Almost.

Carolyn, thanks so much for coming. We thoroughly enjoyed your visit, and made lots of fun memories!

After Carolyn left to go back to Washington, John had a full day off from work, with no other commitments, so we enjoyed a rare day at home, just the two of us, to celebrate the completion of his first semester at IHOPU, and to kick off the Christmas vacation. Our first surprise was to wake up to the first snowfall of the year. We haven't been around snow in quite a while, and it's a lovely feeling to wake up to a blanket of snow, knowing you don't have to set foot outside or go scrape your car if you don't want to!

 Winter Wonderland

 We made fabulous blueberry muffins for breakfast: thank you Cooks Illustrated, as always.

 I finished quilting a stocking for Baby... of course I can't stitch a name on the top yet, since we don't know if it's a him or a her.

We made crepes for dinner, and even got out the beautiful Christmas place mats Mrs. Barker made us for our wedding.

Thai Gingerbread House

A few years ago, John and I created a new Christmas tradition for our house: we design and build a gingerbread bread inspired by our travels or places we have lived. In 2009, we made a French farmhouse:

We obviously haven't been able to do this for the past two years in Thailand. The ingredients cost a fortune, we didn't have an oven, and anyway, it would have melted in the heat and invited all the ants in the neighborhood into our apartment (not to mention less pleasant critters).

So this year, we were super excited to continue our tradition, and decided create a traditional Thai house along the river. I designed the pattern, we went to the stores and bought our ingredients, and then spread the actual baking and construction over a week since John is so busy these days. Here's what we did:

 Baking the dough: we used up 1 1/3 cups molasses and 9 cups flour!

 John using his muscles to roll it out!

 

Decorating the ground

 Construction has begun!!

 Time for a milk and cheesecake break!

 Stay, candy cane! Stay!!

 Setting up the stilts

 Hoping the stilts will actually hold up the house...

Et voila!! A Thai Gingerbread house!! Isn't it cute? I especially like our coconut tree that is shorter than the house, and the stuff floating in the water. We still want to go to the store and get some candy crocodiles!

Thanksgiving with the Larsons

We were so blessed to host Dana's family's Thanksgiving gathering this year, here in KC! Our little house expanded from having 2 people to 6 people and a dog. We had a wonderful time with the Larsons (all except for Matt): we got to show them around our new area, play lots of games, enjoy good fellowship, and cook a HUGE COSTCO turkey. It's been a pretty lonely fall as we've been adjusting to our new life and making friends, and it felt SO GOOD to be surrounded by people who already knew and loved us and to catch up with them!!

Eric arrived on the Saturday before Thanksgiving after spending all night on a Greyhound bus from Chicago. We had a few days with him before the rest of the gang arrived from Colorado. My hard-working husband spent his break working extra early-morning hours at COSTCO, so most days he came home at 1:30 and took a nap, and then we could all hang out. Eric had a lot of homework to do, so he and I enjoyed some quiet days at home.

Then, on Tuesday night, Mom, Dad, Joel, AND Reepicheep arrived from Castle Rock, and the house exploded into a cocoon of happy noise, good eating, and general mayhem. :) It was lovely.

John and I had never cooked a turkey before, so John just picked one up from work, not realizing how massive COSTCO turkeys really are. When John brought this 23 pound turkey out of the kitchen to show it off, the dog literally yelped, ran under and table with his tail between his legs, and stood staring at it really suspiciously. Granted, the turkey is like 4 times bigger than Reep.

 Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner:

 It's hard to be a dog:

 

 A serious game of Nerds:

 Enjoying a sunset along the river:

 

My family has a funny obsession about taking pictures with statues. Here, Joel and I are conversing with Ben Franklin. On a side note, notice how I can't zip up my coat anymore, I can only button the top. It's cold being a pregnant lady in winter. 

 We found a cheese and import shop!

 Admiring the Christmas lights at the famous Kansas City Country Club Plaza:

 I am so grateful for my family and the special times we spend together!! In our modern age, it is such a blessing to have parents who still love each other, brothers who are growing up into great men, and a caring and devoted husband. Thank you, Lord Jesus!

Exploring KC

Thank you to all for your prayers. We are finally (sort of) settling into a routine. We are still both looking for jobs, but have some possibilities opening up in the next few weeks. John is really enjoying his classes and his time in the prayer room, and I am starting to get that second trimester energy a little.

Since we have such different schedules, we love getting to catch up on Saturdays, and sometimes get out of the house and explore Kansas City. Here are some pics from some of our outings.

 We discovered an amazing Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago in an area called City Market. We thought that was great, and THEN, we found the Bloom Baking Company. The guy outside was giving samples, so we tentatively tried one (we're not people to pass up free samples). And surprise surprise!! He studied in France and makes real French pastries. This is me with my Pain Au Chocolat! Only those who have been pregnant and had cravings for things that they cannot get in this country will understand my elation at that pain au chocolat!!

 We tried a Southern fast food chain: Church's Fried Chicken. It was pretty good.

 

A walk along the Missouri river, looking over to Kansas.

 

We were so excited to discover the Chinatown Market so close to home. It carries all the Asian products we've come to love, and it even smells authentic!!

 

John has been wanting Kimchi. I think he feels he aught to have pregnant cravings, too.

  

This afternoon, we enjoyed the fall sunshine by doing some yard work. I raked and John moved. The pictures give you two views of the yard: one from the house, and one toward the house. 

 

 One of the reasons John has been so busy is trying to sell our moving truck and buy me a car. After weeks of searching, testing, and hassles, we finally bought one!! My car's the Toyota on the left, and of course, the good ole' Volvo.

 

And finally, here's a photo update of the baby bump. 18 weeks!! The kid's having a growth spurt!

Our New House in Pictures

 

Well we are getting settled into our cute new house in Kansas City. We've been here almost three weeks, and I am happy to say, we are nearly moved in!! John is about to finish up his second week of classes at IHOPU, and I am at home, unpacking and taking naps (sounds a little unfair, doesn't it?) We'll both be looking for jobs here shortly, but we've enjoyed the time to get acquainted with our neighborhood and the surrounding area. So just so you will all be happy that you're happily settled in your own houses (or apartments), I will show you the mess and the order we've had at 322 Chelsea. Get ready for lots of pics. 

 

Finally got the truck unloaded!

  

We had dinner on our front porch, since the inside of the house looked like this:

 

 Our first COSTCO run

The Kitchen:

Before

 After

 Cute aprons

 First item in the fridge: Grandma's jam!

 The pantry, full of COSTCO items

 

Nikki and me, and books, books, books

 

My tea sets

 And another bookshelf

The Dining Room:

Before

After

 The first item on the wall: Nikki's cross-stitch

Here's the bright lime green couch I found for cheap on Craigslist.

The office:

 

Before

  

During

  

After

 

The Living Room:

The Bedroom:

 

Before

 

After. It felt so official to go buy our first mattress. We went to a furniture store and had lots of fun laying down on all the beds, analyzing their comfort level. We were so excited to get Grandma's wedding quilt back out.

 

Our little prayer corner

 Baby's room: it's not finished yet, but we've got 'til March.

 First load of laundry-- a HUGE upgrade from the bathtub! Gotta love Craigslist.

 

Our scary basement, full of boxes, the new laundry machines, and the cave.

Congratulations!! You've seen the Grand Tour of the House. Thanks for joining us!!