What we did this (long) weekend

Wow, I really am posting twice today...

Thursday was Ryan's birthday.  He says he had a good day. I conveniently had the afternoon off for a doctor appointment (the clinic suggested the date, not me...), so we had some extra time during the day.  We finally went to Black Dog.  I can't quite believe I have lived in C-U for almost 10 years and never made it there until now.  (Black Dog is widely considered one of the top 5 best BBQ restaurants in America.)  Mmmmm..... The below picture doesn't do the food justice.  That was an appetizer, Burnt Ends, and it was mostly gone by the time I took the picture.  Apparently, it was a miracle that Burnt Ends were even still available that time of day.   Apparently, they are usually sold out long before 4:00.  Mmmm.....

On Friday, we escaped to a cabin in Indiana for a couple nights...because I often sit around these days and think about all the times in the near future that we will NOT be able to do things like escape to a cabin in Indiana. 

This place was perfect for us.  They leave all the food you need stocked in the fridge, so you have no contact with anyone the whole time you are there, and there is absolutely no cell phone or internet service.  It was really, really nice.

#introverts.

Overall, it has been a really great weekend, and we are taking this last day off (MLK Day) to catch up on some things before Ryan's last semester of college starts.  Very thankful for the chance to relax before all craziness breaks loose this spring!

It's MLK Day...

...which means that I am off work, and I will be at my computer most of the day catching up on fun computer-related things...such as blogging.  I might even put up two posts today, but that might be a bit too wild and crazy of a day off...We'll see.

Let's start with Christmas, partly because this picture makes me feel warm all over:

Aww....Look at that perfect Christmas dress, and the twinkle in that Santa's eyes... Awwwww...... (It helps that I am partial to this particular Santa, not to mention the cool kids he's with.)

Ok, moving on. :)  But first, note the upright Santa Hat on the end table there.  Those hats sang and danced (yes, danced), and all 5 of us kids got one... :-/  Ohhh the cacophony... Ha.

NOW moving on...To more pictures of Christmas:

Most of the kids with Santa

Of course, the youngest had to sit on Santa's lap too... Am I referring to me or my baby? ... Me, der.   I use the baby as an excuse for plenty of things, but I hope I don't need an excuse to sit on Santa's lap. Haha.

And some pics from Eisenmann Christmas:

Our first-ever attempt at roasting chestnuts!

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire......"  Haven't you always been curious?

It turns out that we will continue to be a bit curious... It was a valiant attempt, but it looks like we will have to try again next year to master the technique. :)  (Chestnuts were a bit over-roasted)

Taffy pulling.  Ryan made some perfect taffy.

Someone was unable to attend the immediate family Christmas...Or so Julie thought.

Every holiday is better with the right cardboard cut-out.

My present from Nelson. :)  I don't think that onesie is quite for me, though, or else Nelson really needs an update on my clothing size... 

That's all for now.  Stay tuned-- My goal is to post a bit more this year than last year!