Christmas (times 4)

We just returned from a week-long trip to Tulsa. It was so nice to see family, but it's always nice to get back to your own home with all your own stuff. We had lots and lots of Christmas - 4 Christmases, in fact. Below are some fun pictures from all our celebrations!

John's mom reading Lisa's Christmas card - announcing that she is coming back to Tulsa for awhile!

Super-cute Gabe!

My mom, at Christmas number 3.

Christmas morning.

Nothing says "Christmas" like a little family Rock Band playing. That's my mom, rocking the bass.

John's mom on vocals.

The Adams Cousins Christmas Get-together

Yes, that's a real gun. We are from Oklahoma, ya know.

Me with my childhood friend, Tulley, drinking at some creepy bar with the locals.

At my Dad's Christmas celebration. "Wrastling" as we call it in Oklahoma.

4 Years and Counting!

Today is our fourth anniversary. It's so cliche, but these last four years have really flown. (Or I should say three years, since the first one seemed to drag on forever!) We really aren't doing anything special for the big day, which is bad because we should probably cherish these special days a lot more than we do, but since it's only a week till Christmas, our thoughts are elsewhere these days, and it's sort of inconvenient that it falls in the middle of the week. Anyway, here's to four great years, and many more to come!

Christmas is Coming

Ten more days until the big day! December has really flown by - we still aren't done with our shopping. In honor of the final countdown, here's a little photo snack:

2nd Annual Cookie Exchange

My fun brunch club (minus Erica) came over for our second annual cookie exchange! Lots of sugar was had by all, and everyone's cookies were delicious! John is happy for the leftovers, that's for sure!

The goods

The group

Un-Pretty City

Last night my friend Rebecca and I went to an event called Pretty City. It was supposed to be a beauty product fair with fun demonstrations, lots of samples, and free coupons. Instead, however, it was sort of a dud. There were way too many people there to get to any of the free stuff, and the music was so loud you could barely hear each other. The highlights were definitely the girls dancing on the stripper pole and the ladies getting their facial hair waxed right out in the open. They did have free drinks, though. So that was a plus.

I am always trying to find fun free/cheap things to do in the city. I'm glad I went, but I know that this is an event to skip next year.

The "interesting" crowd.

Rebecca and me, sad that we didn't score any cool swag.

Christkindl Market

Last night we went to the German Christkindl Market in our neighborhood for some beer, glogg (nasty warm mulled wine), and merriment. There were lots of booths of different German things to buy, and there was live music, because nothing says "Christmas" like an 80's hair metal cover band! The people-watching was fantastic!

It's a blustery 18 degrees outside, so we're busy trying to stay warm and get all our Christmas shopping done. It's crazy that Christmas is in less than 3 weeks! We are really looking forward to going home and enjoying the holiday with our families. Until then, however, there's lots of shopping left to do!

The priest from the local Catholic parish singing a Cheap Trick song. Quite
possibly the highlight of the evening. That's how we roll in Lincoln Square.

Kristen and me enjoying (more like barely tolerating) our glogg.

Fat.

Yep - that's us. We are still feeling pretty gross from Thanksgiving, although we both have been pretty good about the gym this week! This is always such a busy time - not only is work totally crazy (people fight over lots of visitation this time of year), but there's so much going on with the holidays. The good news: I've made it two evenings without my Blackberry going off. That's a feat!

Otherwise, we're doing a pretty good job maintaining the status quo. We have some fun holiday plans this weekend -- a German holiday fest in our neighborhood (expect a post on that), and a Christmas carol concert. It's also been pretty snowy this week. Although I always look forward to winter weather, I must say that I'm not loving it so far this year.

Anyway, we promise to have some interesting things to post about soon. We've just had an incredibly busy fall, leaving us little time to post, or even do anything worth posting about. More to come ...