MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Merry Christmas, All!

We've had a RELAXING and LOW-KEY week in Arkansas! Our daily activities have included puzzles, walks, reading, napping, EATING, golfing, fishing, experimenting with our new camera and playing with the baby. We've taken over 700 pictures since we arrived (most are of Quinton, of course).

We’ve watched a few movies at night – White Christmas (per Miller family tradition), Mamma Mia, Wall-E and 21 (yet to come tonight).

We visited Garvin Gardens on Monday night where there are hundreds of lights on display. It was a little chilly (even for us Minnesotans!)

It was a fun and exciting morning today - Quinton kept us all entertained as we tried to teach him how to open gifts. We all got so many great gifts and then enjoyed some more great food, golf (yup - it was 55 and sunny and its CHRISTMAS!), a game of cards and more food!

Tonight's agenda includes a movie and ice cream....

Here's a small sampling of our picture overload (as always, click to enlarge)...ENJOY!


The whole gang on Christmas Eve


Lights at Garvin Gardens


More at Garvin Gardens


Garvin Gardens and Quinton with his new blankie


Auntie D and Baby-Q and a shot of the baby we all adore...


Stockings

New big mitten with a built in ice scraper - perfect for MN!

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We Made It!

We made it to Arkansas last night!

Ryan golfed this morning - didn't have a great round but did have a great time! My dad caddied for him (his hand is still out of commission for actually playing). My mom and I ran errands and then picked Kelly up at the aiport. Our afternoon was spent wrapping gifts, putting together the high chair, playing with our new camera, hanging out and taking the new kayaks for a spin!

The house is all Christmassy and Meg, Dan and Quinton arrive tomorrow! Can't wait!

Favorite shot with the new camera...

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Winter Wednesday

Counting down to an Arkansas Christmas!

We’re leaving SO SOON! We’re both working a half-day Friday and then heading to the airport. I love being at the airport. I can’t pinpoint why (other than the obvious “yay we’re going somewhere” feeling). I love the people watching, the little shops with all the magazines and candy, walking around, having an excuse to do nothing but read and relax!

Shopping is done, laundry is done…we have to pack tonight. Our biggest challenge is getting everything there and back and only having to pay for one checked bag. I’ve told Ryan to limit his shoes – do you know how few size 15 shoes fit in a suitcase!?! J Luckily we sent most of the presents back with my parents at Thanksgiving.

It’s COLD here. Like the HIGH was below zero yesterday kind of cold. Remind me again why we live here!?!

I feel like I’ve mentally checked out already at work – I’m lacking any motivation and focus. But I’ve still got things to finish. Here’s hoping I can get them done so I can leave stress-free and not come back to a mess.



PS. My husband is amazing! For no particular reason (well, there are lots of reasons actually but I’m not saying it because of any one specific thing he’s done recently)…he just is. I’m lucky! :)

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Things I've Done...

Got this in an email and thought it was fun! I've X'ed the things I've done in my life...We'll see if I can get Ryan to fill it out for himself! :)

( ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school.
(x) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico

(X) Been to Florida
(x) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost - I'm lost right now!!!
( ) Gone to Washington, DC

(X) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
( ) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke NEVER

( ) Paid for a meal with coins only.
(x) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.
(x) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans

(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere.
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe

(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
(x) Been deep sea fishing

( ) Driven across the United States alone
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
(x) Gone snowmobiling
(x) Lived in more than one country

(X) Laid outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Ole Faithful Geyser
(x) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle

(x ) Been on a cruise
(x) Traveled by train
(x) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
( )Ridden on a San Francisco Trolley

(X) Been to Disneyland (World)
(X)Truly believe in the power of prayer!
( ) Been to the top of an active volcano and seen hot lava
( ) Been in a rain forest

(x) Seen whales in the ocean
( )Been to Niagara Falls
(x) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with dolphins

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We're Baaaaaaack!

We're still alive. I'm sure you were all wondering.

Here's the highlights from the last two weeks in no particular order:

- Ryan went to Kansas City for 5 days. He went to work in a branch of his company down there. The house was lonely without him but not nearly as scary as I expected. He also got to sneak in a quick visit to his sister's on the way down - Brenna was walking even better than when they were here.

- I was sick while he was gone - sore throat, lost my voice and am now stuffy and coughing. Stocked up on cough syrup and sudafed.

- Went to Ryan's 2nd cousin's birthday party. We got to see and catch up with lots of people that we don't get to see very often. It was tons of fun!

- Dinner and hanging out with friends - low key and fun!

- I made a big pan of Rice Chex Treats. And ate the whole thing (don't worry - not in one sitting!)

- Finished our Christmas shopping - yay! The majority was done before Thanksgiving and we sent the gifts home with my parents. We just have a few stragglers to take with us on the plane.

- That reminds me - we bought plane tickets to Arkansas! We had been planning on driving but found such a great deal on flights we couldn't resist. I'll admit I'm relieved! No worrying about road conditions in Iowa!

- We babysat for our friends' 9 month old last night - a good baby fix!

- We've been getting Christmas cards every day - so fun to get "real" mail!

- And the most exciting news...we bought ourselves a Christmas present! Normally, we don't exchange gifts but splurged this year on a Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera. Super, very, totally, completely fun and exciting! We are going to take some classes when we get back in January and can't wait to learn how to use all the features of our fun new toy. We're taking it with us to Christmas in Arkansas and I can guarantee we'll have plenty of pictures to share. Baby Quinton will be the perfect subject!

I'm sure we've been up to other things but those are the things that stand out.

We leave on Friday and can't wait!

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Thanksgiving

It was a successful Thanksgiving at the Bohlen house!

The Bohlens all arrived on Wednesday night and we had chili and hung out. Thursday morning Steve (Ryan's dad) made his specialty of french toast and sausage. He even made some using my gluten free bread - a rare treat!

Ryan, Stephanie, Jared and Val (his mom) went for a walk while Steve and I watched the turkey and waited for Brenna to wake up.



My parents and sister Kelly arrived around 1 and we all caught up.

The food was done at 4 and we all sat down for a delicious meal - turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, gluten free stuffing, corn, jello, bread. YUM! After dinner we had pie - gluten free pumpkin and gluten free apple. The apple won out and we're left with lots of pumpkin.





We only had one minor mishap while cooking: Ryan and I were buttering the turkey and when he went to push it back in he pushed the roasting pan and not the oven rack. The turkey and pan dumped off the back of the oven rack. Out of instinct, Ryan reached in to save the turkey and ended up burning his arm. The turkey came out of the whole ordeal unharmed and delicious!



I ended up going to bed at 8:15 that night - I was exhausted after all the cooking and prepping!

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Friday Ryan and I both worked. I had a very rough day! ;) It started out with a team breakfast and then I unpacked and settled into my new cube. I left around 12:15 to meet my parents at Caribou. Ryan was done at 12:45 and came back for lunch with his family.

Ryan's family had spent the morning at various thrift stores and we then spent the afternoon at Mall of America checking out Nordstrom Rack and DSW.

Friday night was leftovers and poker - a happy crew all around!

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Saturday Ryan and I lucked out and got to bring Brenna into bed with us for 45 minutes before everyone else got up. She's tons of fun and doings lots of new things everyday! She knows a few words in sign language - most often she signs "please". It's so darn cute you can't not give her what she wants! :)



We took some Bohlen family pictures that morning and then Ryan's family left around 1:30. We cleaned a bit and then napped before a dinner with my parents and sister Kelly. We went to Axels for steak - yum!



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Sunday my sister Kelly came over to spend some time before heading back to Madison. When she left at noon we ran some errands and then hung out at home. We saw my parents for a bit and then I spent the evening writing Christmas cards while Ryan cheered on the Vikings.

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Ok, I think you're up-to-date on Bohlen life. A very good, family-fun, yummy food filled weekend!

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We're thankful for all of you and feel very blessed to have all of you in our life!


Brenna loves her Uncle Ryan!


Something was pretty funny...


Dad and Kel


The cook and Baby B

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It Smells Gooood In Here!

Company should be arriving within the next half hour. And I'm READY!

I had this afternoon off. I made a final trip to the grocery store and then made the guest bed. My parents arrived at 2 and we baked a pumpkin pie, peeled and cut up 10 pounds of potatoes, prepped all the stuffing stuff, made a jello and decided on timing for tomorow.

Now I'm laying on the couch and am going to flip through all the catalogs that came in the mail.

Updates to come...hopefully there are no disasterous turkey stories!

Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots!

And this should keep you all busy until I return...

Wedding Cake??

UPDATE: Thanks to Marshall for this funny link! :)

So, I found this today and we've decided that we totally should have had this cake at our wedding...

http://www.fresh99.com/meat-cake.htm

You know, it honestly doesn't sound half bad!

Counting Down to Turkey

We had a busy weekend preparing for Thanksgiving and all of our company! We did manage to sneak in some fun too...

Friday night we had Fondue Night with the Schmidts and Literskis (the same friends we did the progressive dinner with). Literskis hosted and were in charge of the cheese course. They had two types of cheese fondue with bread, crackers, veggies. YUM! Ryan and I brought the main course. Hot oil with chicken, beef, peppers, and mushrooms. Another YUM! Then Schmidts brought the dessert. Two types of chocolate fondue with cookies, GF brownies, angelfood cake, strawberries, marshmallows, pineapple and bananas to dip. YUM YUM! Needless to say, we ate well!














Saturday we got an early start - up at 7:30 to pack up stuff for Goodwill. We filled most of the car! It felt great to get rid of that much stuff! Then we went to Whole Foods, Costco, Super Target. We actually made a round through Target, hauled it to the car and made another round. Hopefully we've got everything we need for Thanksgiving and having company around the rest of the weekend. We cleaned like crazy when we got home - dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms, laundry.




Saturday afternoon Ryan went to the Iowa/MN football game. Iowa creamed the Gophers! While he was gone I met up with Harmony for dinner at Big Bowl. Mmmmm!

Sunday was church, more cleaning and then I ironed for 3 hours! It's like I have a whole new wardrobe! That afternoon our friends Steve and Sarah came over to cook dinner. We flipped through cookbooks and settled on spicy peanut chicken. We had a few potentially disasterous moments but in the end it was great! And really fun to hang out!

Ryan won Wild tickets at work today so he's at the game with some coworkers. I just got home from Step-n-Tone (flashback to 1990 anyone?!)

We're counting down until our company arrives - they should all be here Wednesday afternoon/evening. YAY! I have that afternoon off to bake a couple pies and peel potatoes. And you better believe that I'll be rocking out to Christmas music! :)

Cheers to New Food Options!

After my excitement about the crockpot last week I was looking on my friend Emily's blog and discovered a link to A Year of Crockpotting. This woman decided to make a new crockpot recipe every day for a year. I only got through looking at about half of them but they look great and she gives the recipe and then a verdict on whether it's worth making. There are a ton I want to try. I never knew you could bake in a crockpot! There was one for french toast - you start it when you go to bed and you wake up to a hot breakfast. That one is definitely on my list to try. But I haven't even mentioned the best part yet. All the recipes are gluten free! :) She even uses the same bread mixes as I do. Discovering that has been the highlight of my week! Anytime I find a new gluten free website is cause for celebration!

And I also discovered some new lunch options to take to work. I had been taking frozen lunches on the days that we didn't have leftovers. But the gluten free options are limited and/or expensive. While shopping last weekend I was in the frozen veggie aisle and found these.

They have a little olive oil and seasoning and are so good! I just make a big batch of rice and throw the veggies on top. YUM! Lunch has been much less boring this week. We even cooked two packages, sauteed some chicken and had a healthy dinner last night.

Anyone have any other good lunch or crockpot suggestions?!

Slacker

I'll be the first to admit it...I've been slacking at my blog updates! I don't know where the days go...

Let's see...

We had a productive and relaxing weekend - a good combo!

Friday night Ryan picked me up from the bus and we went to Chipotle for dinner. We decided against going to a movie and headed home. Somewhere between Whale Wars and whatever sports game was on I fell asleep.

Saturday Ryan was up at 6:45 with a stuffy nose and unable to sleep. Being the attentive wife that I am, I gave him some Sudafed and went back to bed. :) Once I got up we went to Inta Juice for a smoothie and then headed to Mall of America. Nordstrom Rack was having their Big Size Shoe Sale - a perfect shopping opportunity for my size 15 footed husband! He was unsuccessful in the shoe department but did leave with some jeans.

Upon arriving home just in time for the Iowa game Ryan settled in on the couch and I attacked the mess in our office. We'd been tossing papers in a "to file" pile on the floor. I got them all organized and into the file cabinet and then cleaned the closet, moved some drawers and the office looks much better.

The next big project was our closet. Somehow it had gotten a little out of hand...neither of us seemed to be folding anything and it was like clothes vomit coming from all the shelves. But we re-folded, sorted and put away. We even got rid of two garbage bags full of clothes. And here's the end result:

Saturday night Ryan had his friend Aaron over to watch sports and I met my good friend Ashley to see Changeling. It was heavy and a bit creepy but really good. She came back to the house for a while after the movie and it was good to catch up.

Sunday was Young Couples class and then the contemporary service. Our church has a new branch and so we actually watched the sermon via video as our pastor was at the other site. We're studying Romans and it's been great! The afternoon included watching the Vikings game (for Ryan) and a nap (for me!). Are you noticing a theme here? Sports and sleeping! :)

Ryan got up on the roof and blew out the gutters while I cooked rice for my lunches this week and made a batch of Rice Chex treats (just like rice crispie treats but using rice chex (gluten free!) instead). We met up with our friends Ben and Katie to see the new James Bond movie. Katie's dad rents out the private room at the back of the theater. It has 20 ultra comfy recliners and there was pizza and cookies. A great way to end the weekend (even if the movie wasn't great).

Last night I tried out the Step-n-Tone class at the community center. It was my first time doing step and I'm sure it was very entertaining for those around me. I was the only first-timer at class and during certain steps I was just so lost I stood there until the next sequence. Oh well...a good workout nonetheless. Maybe next time I'll catch on a little faster.

And here we are at Tuesday night already! Laundry is in, Ryan just got home from the gym and I'm trying to decide on dinner.

Here's to a happy week for all of you!

P.S. Look what we bought on Sunday night...it'll be here before we know it!

P.P.S. Look what came in the mail on Friday - once they are in the frames I'll take some more pictures. I can't wait!

Mmmmmm!!

We had a delicious pot roast for dinner. I put it in the crock-pot before leaving for work. A chuck roast, a whole onion, a bag of carrots, a little minced garlic and some water. 8.5 hours of low, slow cooking and we had a tasty dinner just waiting for us after work. I think the crock-pot has just become my new best friend! Anyone have any crock-pot recipe ideas that they like?

On another note, we joined the Eden Prairie Community Center tonight and then stayed to work out. They recently renovated and the fitness facility is really nice! Plus, it's a much better deal than any gym. And I get a $20 reimbursement from my insurance if I go 8x/month. Now we've just got to motivate each other to go!

And more fun news...my cousin Katie had a healthy baby boy this afternoon! I've got a new first cousin once removed - Nathan James. Welcome baby!

Happy Monday!

Weekend Update

It was a low key weekend in MN...

Friday night we went on a little date. We had dinner at Big Bowl (GF Kung Pao Chicken = YUM!) and then we wandered around Pottery Barn and the mall for a bit before calling it an early night.

Ryan worked on Saturday so when he left I rolled over and slept til 9. I had stashed all the essentials close at hand the night before so I spent the morning curled up in bed with my new magazines, a GF almond scone and some tea. I finally ventured out of bed at 11! A perfectly relaxing lazy start to my day! I got dressed and ran a couple errands and then Ryan and I toured the Eden Prairie Community Center. We are thinking of getting a membership and wanted to check the place out - it's really nice! When we got home Ryan cheered the Iowa Hawkeyes to victory and I took a nap (as if I needed more sleep after my lazy morning!). Our evening consisted of grocery shopping and watching Made of Honor. Yup, Ryan was nice enough to watch a chick flick with me. I didn't think it was very good...oh well.

From Ryan: I don't know about anyone else, but I was as giddy as a school girl watching Iowa upset Penn State on Saturday!! I was pacing around my living room during the entire 4th quarter, I couldn't sit down. It is so cool watching home town kid Mitch King on the defensive line dominate the Big 10!! Hopefully we continue this streak and go bowling in January. See everyone at the Iowa/Minnesota game up here, GO HAWKS! Thats all I have, now back to my beautiful wife....

Today we went to church at Faith Baptist because our friend Joel was leading worship. We know a lot of people there and it was fun to see everyone. Plus it was a great message about Revelation 7:1-8. We rushed home from church since we had invited a bunch of friends over to watch the Vikings/Packers game. We had quite a turnout - there were 15 of us! Luckily people were willing to pull up chairs all over as we don't have that much seating. It was a great game and lots of good food. We ordered pizzas, had cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, chips and dip, cookies, and pumpkin pie.

When the crew left we tackled the last portion of our yard that was still covered in leaves. Between Ryan raking, me vacuuming with the blower and then both of us scooping up armfuls, we made fast work of it.

Now we are sitting inside, enjoying hot chocolate and watching football. I'm trying to work up some motivation to decide where to hang some of our art and get it up on the walls.

Oh yeah, back to Saturday...we ordered a bunch of old family pictures to frame and hang up in the basement. We've been collecting a variety of frames and I can't wait to get it finished - pictures to come!



The gang



Another shot


Working away in the yard


I'm great with power tools!

Niece and Nephew News

Brenna can stand up on her own!! I guess she goes from sitting, to butt up in the air, to full standing all by herself! I'm guessing she'll be walking by the time they visit at Thanksgiving! We're waiting for video proof...

For your cuteness fill for today, check out Brenna in her Halloween costume. What a cute little lion!

And Quinton has been going crazy in his jumperoo - http://www.theweerude.blogspot.com/. He was so wiggly when he was here last weekend that we're just waiting to hear news on crawling. You can tell he wants to be on the move.

Happy November Weekend

Saturday was a great day! We slept in after the Halloween party and the Ryan suggested a trip to the gluten-free bakery. Who was I to disagree!? After a stop at Madwoman Bakery, where I got sticky buns, lemon poppyseed muffins, an apple cinnamon scone and some pretzels, we trekked to Isles Bun and Coffee so Ryan could get some puppy dog tails (cinnamon twist donuts). We also made a stop at Whole Foods for some frozen almond scones. I love having them around for when I need a baked good! :)



The rest of the day we spent cleaning, watching football, and napping. Ryan had to stop into work for a while on Saturday evening so I tagged along and then we made a stop at Super Target for some groceries. It was an early night.

Sunday we attended our first Young Couples Sunday school class. It was world misions week so we had speakers from Ghana and Campus Crusade. Then we went to the contemporary service. We treated ourselves to lunch at Chipotle on the way home.

My friend Ashley came over on Sunday afternoon for a baking extravaganza. We both love to bake and its much more fun to do it together. We tried two new recipes - both winners! After finishing baking we took a long walk - the weather was unbelievably perfect yesterday - 60's and sunny! We were both hot by the time we got back to the house.

Ryan spent his afternoon blowing, raking and bagging all the leaves in the front yard. We have one stubborn tree that refuses to drop its leaves so there will be at least one more raking weekend before the snow flies.


Deliciousness!!!


Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins
1/2 Cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 Cup light brown sugar
1/2 Cup milk
4 eggs
1 15-ounce can solid pumpkin
1 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour (I substituted my GF flour blend)
1 Cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (I actually forgot this - oops!)
1/4 tsp ground cloves (we replaced the cinnamon and cloves with a pumpkin pie spice blend)

Heat oven to 350* F. Spray muffin tin or use paper liners. In a large bowl, with an electic mixer on Med/High, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low, add the remaining ingredients, and beat for 3 minutes or just until smooth. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. (the recipe says it yields 12 muffins but we got 17)


Banana Apricot Muffins
3 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/4 Cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 Cups almond flour
3/4 Cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 Cup chopped dried apricots (we left these out)


Preheat oven to 325*. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or butter the muffin tin thoroughly. Mix butter, honey, eggs, and bananas together in a large bowl. Stir in baking soda and salt. Stir in almond flour, walnuts and apricots until just combined. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 25-35 minutes, until muffins are firm and a toothpick comes out clean.

Halloween Party

Friday night we went to a party at our friend Tony's house. There was a great turnout and it was fun to see everyone! The night consisted of American Idol on Playstation (like karaoke but you get scored), great food, and a costume contest.

And I've been pestered that people are waiting for pictures...so ENJOY!


Black Cat and Hans (or was it Franz!?)


Hans and Franz - "We're here to pump.......you.......up!"


Us

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - they went ALL OUT!

Parties always end up with girls in one room and boys in the other.

The costume contest winner - our friend Chad as Ohio State coach, Jim Tressel