Merry Christmas! (2 of 2)

We headed up to Minnesota the afternoon after Christmas to see my family. My brother had flown in from San Diego a few days prior, so it was nice to have the ENTIRE family together (dogs and all)!

MN had gotten record amounts of snow during December such that the deck fence was barely viewable because of 4-5' snow drifts! The dogs thoroughly enjoyed running around their huge yard and pouncing in the snow and on eachother. There wasn't a night that went by that they weren't exhausted at bed time.

My parents went over the top with (homemade) gifts for baby Shoe. I can't believe all of the time and effort they put into the gifts for his nursery. I'll make a dedicated post on it showcasing some of the wonderful items they made.

After opening gifts as a family on Sunday evening, we made the 3 hour drive to Wisconsin to see the grandparents. We are lucky that both my mom and dads parents live only a few minutes apart. We enjoyed my mom's homemade BBQs for lunch with Grandpa and my Aunt Sandy. Grandpa seems a bit lonely and it was hard on everyone not to have Grandma there. We went out to the grave site to put cross wreaths on Uncle Dave's and Grandma's graves. It's definitely most hard at Christmas time not having them around!

We spent the afternoon and evening at Grandma and Grandpa Nimtz's. My Uncle, Aunt, and one of my cousins (Abby) drove in from Appleton to see us. We had a great time being goofy and opening gifts. Grandma and Grandpa got a wonderful Bose wave system that I am sure they will enjoy listening to all of their music on. They also got our annual "Year in Our Shoes" book and a DVD of home videos from my cousin Jeff. I am sure they will love reliving all those memories!

The next two days back in Minnesota were pretty low-key. We enjoyed playing with our new gifts, teaching my parents "May I?" and eating dinner at Culvers while watching the dogs battle eachother all day. We ended the week with our traditional antlers photo [why is it that the dogs never want to cooperate?] before heading back down to Des Moines for one more trip to Hickory Park and one last night at Dave's parents.

The drive back was pretty brutal to Omaha with freezing rain, but we made decent time through Nebraska and eastern CO despite the high winds and blowing snow. We made it back safe and sound just in time to enjoy the countdown to New Years together.

Merry Christmas! (1 of 2)

For Christmas, we trekked across the plains and the midwest to head to Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin for 1.5 weeks. We took the girls with (of course) and had a relatively uneventful drive out. Girls behaved wonderfully, but we had to stop for me 9 times (one of those fun pregnancy benefits). My parents took the girls for the 5 days we spent at Dave's parents house.

It was just Dave and I with his parents for the first few days and we spent a lot of time playing a card came called "May I" and Dave and his dad hit the pool at the Y a few times. Brian, Ania, Jack (our nephew), and Caroline (our niece) made the trip down from MN late on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed playing with Jack and Caroline into the wee hours of Christmas Eve (I can't believe they weren't tired at nearly midnight!).

On Christmas morning, we enjoyed watching the kiddos open all their fun gifts. I think Jack most enjoyed his straw sticks which he made a neat rocket out of with the help of the boys. I think Caroline was most amused with the unwrapping of gifts-- and she was really good at it!

Caroline has grown so much since I had seen her in February and is as cute as can be! She figured out how to open doors and had a great time saying "hi" and "bye" as she would open and close them.

We ended the day with the traditional Shoemaker Christmas dinner to include ham, potato casserole, and green/red jello! It was yummy! We had a wonderful time with everyone and sure wish we got to see our nephew and niece more often!

28 is great!

We did lots of fun things for my 28th birthday. Before we left for MN and IA, we had our traditional birthday dinner outing at Melting Pot (yummmmm). And we capped that night off with a horse drawn carriage ride through downtown Littleton. The streets were lit and it was magical!

We were in Iowa for my birthday and my parents were nice enough to drive all the way down to Ames to pick up our girls and enjoy a lunch at my all time most favorite restaurant in the world-- Hickory Park. It's on Dave and I's old stomping grounds of ISU and it was fantastic as always! I'm so glad I got to share it with my mom and dad!

The celebrations continued with Dave's family down in Des Moines. They took us bowling (eek, I wasn't so good-- I'll blame it on pregnancy!) and out to eat at the Italian restaurant where we had our first date-- Cosi Cucina. We both had this very yummy gorgonzola pasta dish. We capped the night off with the traditional DQ ice cream cake.

It was a really fun birthday! Sometimes it's hard having a birthday so close to Christmas because of all the last minute shoppers and distractions, but it's awfully nice when you get to spend it with family who lives thousands of miles away.

Sippin and Paintin

Our end of the year Girls Night Out was at this really neat painting place in the Highlands area of downtown. They provide wine (of course, the ladies gladly took down my share) and all the paint supplies. Each night they teach the painting of the day. Ours was the Holiday Trees (Rachel and Megan's), but most of us chose to do our own thing.

I really wanted to personalize something in baby Shoe's nursery, so I choose to make him a rocket. I matched the reds, oranges, blues and greens of his nursery bedding and attempted (remember, I'm an engineer) to make something that will be hang-able on his wall. I think it turned out okay. It was definitely therapeutic to let go of the engineer instincts.

We all had a great time-- we'd definitely go back!

Colorado Christmas

This song played on the Christmas radio station the other day and having not heard it before, I was thrilled to listen to the lyrics. To Dave and I, they couldn't be more true. We just LOVE this state. And while we've had 50-60 deg weather all month and the ground has no snow, the mountains have seen quite the opposite. It's dumping snow up there and I hear it's just magical. It's one of our favorite places to escape to from the front range. And I totally agree that there's no place closer to heaven on this planet than Christmas in Colorado!

If you haven't heard the song by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, here are the lyrics:

Looking out the window of this hollywood hotel,
You'd never know that it was Christmas eve.
The billboards and the neon took the place of silver bells,
And the temperature is 84 degrees.
I can hear the traffic on the crowded strip below
As the palm trees poke their heads above the scene
There's not a single reindeer and it hardly ever snows,
And santa drives a rolls royce limousine.

But all along the Rockies you can feel it in the air
From Telluride to Boulder down below
The closest thing to heaven on this planet anywhere
Is a quiet Christmas morning in the Colorado snow

The Christmas season starts!

Since I'm *officially* off work for the rest of 2010, I'm beyond excited to start fully enjoying the Christmas season. We kicked things off with my works big holiday party last week (think fancy smancy) and last night we spent the evening at a friends Christmas party. They were excellent hosts serving up turkey, potatoes, tons of desserts and a chocolate fondue fountain! It was very delicious and great to see all of our friends and coworkers. We also played the traditional White Elephant game and had a great time laughing at some of the silly gifts. Tonight, I'm off to a Girls Night Out in downtown where we hope to learn how to paint on canvas.

The season has arrived-- may everyone have a most blessed Christmas season!

Extreme Makeover: Nursery Edition

Dave spent all weekend painting what will be baby boy Shoemaker's nursery. Here are a few snapshots showing the progress:

BEFORE: this room served as 1 of 3 guestrooms. Didn't get much use unless we had a whole house full of company!

The walls have been primed and the first coat of potpourri green is going on the wall (one of Pottery Barn's 2010 colors of the year by Benjamin Moore).

Walls have been painted... time to move in furniture!

The crib and dresser. The changing table is to the right of the crib. The room isn't huge, but baby won't be either!

We've got LOTS of decorating to do (the fun part for me!), walls to fill, and accessories to buy. But I thought you would like to see the progress we've made thus far! Enjoy.

IT'S A.....

BOY!!

That's right-- we are expecting a baby boy this April! We had our big ultrasound this week and almost instantly, the tech called it. As most of you know, I had my money on a girl and Dave had his bets on a boy.

The ultrasound lasted an entire hour-- our tech (who is absolutely phenomenal by the way) checked every organ, limb, bone, etc. you could list. She took measurements of the brain, the arms, legs, toes and fingers. She counted all four chambers of the heart (at which point I said "and how many should he have?" -- haha, okay I don't know how I passed biology!). Baby is 100% healthy and measuring right on track. His heart rate was 150 bpm. She said he's quite the active little fellow. With as many 1000s of these scans that she has done, I asked her if she could ever deduce personality characteristics. She said definitely. So naturally I asked what traits our boy showed. Her reply: "well, he's definitely going to be rambonxious, somewhat non-complaint, and a little stubborn." Sure sounds like a Dave+Beth product! :)

After she did all the formal characterization of his anatomy, she inserted a DVD for recording, switched to a more wide-field transducer and began the entertainment portion of the show. She showed us a great view proving baby is a boy as well as did a few 3D blurbs of his face. He really likes to put his hands by his face, so it wasn't easy for her to get a clear shot, but she did! Whenever she couldn't get baby to cooperate, she'd tap rapidly on my belly to get him to change positions. It was quite funny albeit annoying for baby!

We are just so thrilled to have a healthy baby with 10 fingers and 10 toes. It's a huge bonus that our first will be a little boy. He is already so loved!

Blue Man Group

Dave knew I have always wanted to see Blue Man Group and since we aren't likely to return to Vegas anytime soon, he used their visit to Denver as an opportunity to check that item off my list.

It was a really entertaining show! We enjoyed the percussion (esp as it was mixed with splashing paint!), the comedy, and the amazing LED and giant balloon finale.

We sat up in the balcony and I must say that I'm glad we weren't down front in the "splash zone." Those guys got covered in paint, confetti, and food.

Donkey?

After a really rough week at work in late November, Dave surprised me with a sweet card and tickets to Shrek the Musical. The broadway show is on tour and made a couple week stop in Denver. I absolutely loved the movies and music, so I knew the musical would be awesome.

We weren't disappointed! It was hands-down the best play/musical I've ever been to. There were times we were nearly in tears from the humor! They ended the show with (my favorite) "I'm a Believer." The entire cast came out, there was tons of confetti, and it was a giant party in the theater!

I'm thankful to have a husband who is not only thoughtful and romantic, but in tune with the things I love most! He's the best!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have many things to be truly thankful for this year. Among them are:

- God

- My wonderful family and friends

- My precious and loving puppies

- My amazing husband who 5 years ago TODAY on a beautiful Hawaiian beach at sunset, got down on one knee and asked me to spend my life with him.

It's been an awesome ride!

- Our little baby who awaits to meet us in April. I am so thankful to God for blessing us with this miracle. I truly can't wait to watch my husband as he becomes a father!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! May your day remind you of all those things that you have been blessed with!

We're Pregnant!

Dave and I are proud to announce that we are expecting our first bundle of joy this April!

We feel so blessed and so thankful! We can't wait to be parents!

Game On!

Dave's newly-retired father and mom spent this past long weekend with us in Colorado. We had a blast enjoying eachothers company and just relaxing. Here were a few of the highlights:

• Scoring Veterans Day lunch at Fazolis for 99 cents a person
• Happening to be in the right place in the mall at the right time to draw $200 in gift cards to Tommy Bahama [Dave won $100 and used it to buy a really nice $98 sweater]
• A yummy meal out at Cheesecake Factory
• Scrapbooking time at Archivers [I actually got a few pages done-- surprised?]
• Tailgating and watching ISU play CU in Boulder [we won't talk about the outcome...]
• Church and family photos at Arrowhead
• A fantastic 4-course dinner at Gabriel's in Sedalia
• Playing "May I?" the card game for hours

I think I must elaborate on why a card game would make the highlight reel. It's a game Dave and I hadn't played before, but enjoyed thoroughly. However, what made it so hilarious was the last & final round. A few glasses of wine into the game, Dave found himself wracking up points (a bad idea in this game). He was several hundred points behind the leader (yours truly) and knew his only chance of winning was one of the lesser known fine-print rules: if you score EXACTLY 500 points at the end of a round, you may completely erase your score and reset it to zero. With each card having a certain value, Dave spent the entire round intentionally collecting cards rather than trying to empty his hand. You could see the wheels turning in his brain trying to add up exactly the right number of points. At one point, he got out a calculator to triple-check his stack. I'm not sure what was funnier-- the way his hands shook as he nervously calculated if he had hit the right mark -or- the fact that he actually WON the game by this sneaky rule! I will gladly lose the game to those types of drunken card heroics!

It was a really fun weekend and we were really glad Bob and Diane could come. We look forward to more visits now that they are retired!

Happy 8th Birthday, Belle!

Belle's 8th birthday was this past weekend. It's hard to believe she's already 8! Since she isn't really into squeak toys, we decided to try something different this year for presents. We went to the Treat Bar at Petco and got her a bag of goodies-- choc chip cookies, sandwich cremes, hamburger biscuits, etc. All of course are dog-friendly ingredients.

She had a blast when Dave decided to let her have at the bag. She put her whole head in, took a big mouthful, and enjoyed it.

Grandma and Grandpa also sent her a package of goodies. Most of the toys Sequoia decided were hers, but she was very excited about the bully sticks! See her cute and excited face?

Oh, and here's the reaction the musical card from Gma/Gpa got courtesy of Sequoia (she doesn't quite get that every present isn't for her...):

Happy Howl-o-ween!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and a fun Halloween. Other than hanging out with friends and going to a party, we kept it pretty low-key this weekend.

We carved two pumpkins and let the dogs lick the tops (as we always do) and welcomed over 75 trick-or-treaters. That's a record for us!

We always enjoy seeing all the cute little costumes. Our neighborhood is largely younger kids, so the costumes are especially adorable!

Pray for Grandpa

Grandpa is in the hospital. Heart issues again and unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done. Severe scarring and blockage is preventing all but one of his arteries to be open (and this is the one thats already had by-pass surgery performed on it). His kidneys are also not working very well. They cannot do surgery or open the blockages with a stent.

Grandpa and family need all the prayers you can muster. My mom is having a rough time having just lost her mom earlier this year. We will update as we know more.