3 Days of Christmas!

Well, it's sad to say, but Christmas has come and gone yet again. Why does it always happen so fast? We had a wonderful Christmas this year! This year Brad's parents went to Phoenix to have Christmas with BJ and Jess, so Brad and I headed up north to spend Christmas with my family or should I say "families."

Friday we headed up around 11ish...the roads weren't too good leaving the cities but we made it (thanks to the good ole' Sonata)! We went to my dad's that night because it was my sister Cheyenne's 16th birthday, and yes, she did pass her driver's test that morning. Way to go Chey! We weren't really worried...she's been driving since she was 12, but that's what dirt roads are for, right! We went to dinner that night at Riverside then came home and opened all our presents. I say "all" because once my little sister Rainie got started, she couldn't stop! Everyone got some really great gifts, including the baby!

Saturday, we woke up early and just relaxed. We all watched the Vikings game together, and they actually won for a change. Later that afternoon, we headed on to the Versich Christmas Eve party and wow, was it a party! We had our famous dish "Baccalà." I couldn't get enough of it...baby must love salt and garlic! Later that night they pulled out the karaoke machine, I couldn't get my mom away from the mic...she must have sang about 10 songs, it was fun though. Eventually by about 9pm, I got everyone home safe. We opened more presents with my mom, Dave, Derek, Brad and me, we got spoiled as usual :) But we had a great time!

Sunday morning, we woke up and made it to 11am mass. This was surprising granted my brother Derek usually sleeps in until about 1 or 2. Then we got home and opened all our presents from Santa. Brad, me, and Derek must have been really good this year because we all got a lot of nice gifts from him!

After gift opening, we all took a much needed nap...the holidays sure wear you out! Later that afternoon, my mom and I made her famous shrimp alfredo dish in order to get ready for our new "Italian" Christmas theme at my Auntie Pam and Uncle Tim's house. We headed there around 4 to eat and open MORE presents. Our family goes a little overboard, but we do love it. We did our annual Secret Santa gift opening, then ended up watching home videos until 11pm! This was a late one for me and my Grandma Rose, but we made it :) I guess time flies when you are having fun!

Monday we just packed up and headed home....Christmas just goes by way too fast. We are truly blessed to have all our family, healthy and happy. We love you all!

PS: the first thing I did when I got home was purchase a new Christmas tree...on to next year!

Happy New Year everyone!



The fam!


Tazer is all tuckered out.






The "pets," as Gram would say.




The Marsh clan!








Derek and Misty.


Brad's new Uggs, Tom Brady style.




Cute one Madge.


My hubby.


Brother and sister!






Sisters!

"The Bump" 18 Weeks

Eating for Two

I really hope the phrase "Eating for Two" counts during pregnancy, because after this weekend, it felt like I was eating for five! Brad and I had a great weekend full of delicious dining.

Round 1: Friday night, we met my cousin Laura and her boyfriend Ryan at the Holidazzle parade in downtown Minneapolis. I was really looking forward to it because we don't get downtown too much these days so it was a little treat. (Side note: Laura and I showed up wearing the exact same hat and mittens, we got a kick out of that, can you tell we are related?) The parade was great! It wasn't too cold and the floats were all beautifully decorated with different themes and gorgeous lights. The parade lasted about a half an hour, then we had dinner at Zelo. It was soooo good. We started off with fried calamari then each of us ended up getting some sort of pasta dish. We all kept taking bites of each others because everything seriously tasted amazing! We are definitely going back. After dinner Laura and Ryan decided to stay out a little longer. I am sure Brad would have loved to as well, but it was 9:30 by this time and way past my bedtime. Those of you that know me know this is a very true statement! So Brad and I went home and got to bed at a decent hour. We are getting so old :)

Round 2: Saturday, we woke up bright and early. I ran some wedding errands with my friend MaKenzie that morning. We ended up eating lunch at the 1029 bar in Northeast Minneapolis. This bar is definitely a hole in the wall, but oh so wonderful! Believe it or not, they are known for....their lobster! For those of you who are familiar with Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, this bar had Guy Fieri visit two weeks ago and the episode will be airing in about 4 weeks. Mak and I just had to try the lobster so we got their famous lobster roll, the lobster mac & cheese and a side of french fries. We shared it all but the mac and cheese was by far our favorite. We mingled with the locals for awhile then headed home after that. I was so full I took a nice nap after :) The joys of being pregnant!

Round 3: Later that night, dinner was approaching and Brad and I had no plans so we went and met Brad's friend Riz, his wife Ashley and their little girl Addison for dinner at BD's Mongolian BBQ. At this place you basically make your own dish of stir fry and they cook it right in front of you. They also have a "build your own" burger bar as well. Brad must have been really hungry that night because he did both! Needless to say, we left that restaurant "stuffed" AGAIN.

Round 4: On Sunday, we met our friend's, Tina, Todd and their little girl Tatum, at Green Mill. We wanted to give Tatum her Christmas present and what better to do then meet for brunch! By this time, we were definitely hungry again. This brunch was amazing! They had pizza, pastas, salads, desserts, bacon, cheesy hashbrowns and much more! They also had a bloody mary bar option, but of course, I couldn't partake :(

After we got home I took yet another nap and Brad watched the Vikings. You'd think we would seriously be done eating by the end of this weekend, but no, we threw in a roast and potatoes for dinner. I promise we aren't like this all the time! But I guess if you are pregnant, you totally have a good excuse :)

We are really looking forward to spending time with family this next weekend at Christmas! Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year!

"The Bump" November 19, 2011

"The Bump" October 20, 2011

"The Bump" September 22nd, 2011

A Little About Us

Hello All!

Welcome to our new "family" blog. We decided to start a blog on our upcoming family. There will be a lot of moments coming up in life that we will want to jot down and remember and we thought it would be a nice way to share with friends and family as well as keep it for a diary, so to speak, for ourselves.

As most of you know, Brad and I got married on October 22nd, 2010 after a long, long, (can I repeat) LONG, history. It was one of the happiest days in life and we cherish all of you that were there to help us celebrate.

In mid September, we found out we were pregnant. It was very exciting news! It was so fun to tell the grandparents and all our friends and family. This will be the very first grandchild on my side and the 3rd grandchild on Brad's side. Brad's brother and sister-in-law (BJ and Jessica) have 2 adorable kids already, Brayden (2) and Brooklyn (2 weeks.)

Right now, I am 17 weeks along in the pregnancy. We are due May 21st, 2012. The first 3 months were very rough. I had horrible morning, noon and night sickness and had a hard time keeping things down. However, everyone tells me it's worth it in the end and finally these last two weeks I have been feeling much better. Thanks to everyone who had to listen to me complain :) Especially Brad, he's been really wonderful during the pregnancy so far helping out around the house, reading his baby books, and preparing for our next big step in life.

Currently Brad is still working at TCF Bank in Arden Hills. I recently just took a new job with a former colleague of mine from Thomson Reuters. He started his own web site business based out of Phoenix, AZ called Morris Web Marketing and I am his full-time designer. The best part of this job is I get to work from home. This will be huge with much needed flexibility after we have the baby. We are very fortunate!

Anyways, we are really looking forward to these next couple months (and years!) We hope you all enjoy :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far. Thanks for reading!

Ashley and Brad