Full Thanksgiving Report 2008

I did a mini post about Thanksgiving, but here is a full report of the whole weekend. Mom and Dad Nimz came down on Wednesday night, with their dog Sophie in tow. Sammy and Sophie had a great time together. Sophie was very patient with Sammy and enjoyed playing with him. Sammy would bug her and pester her and then go running to the closest legs/laps for protection. It was quite amusing.

We introduced Mom and Dad N. to playing with the Wii. They were great sports and managed to pick it up quickly. It was fun to bowl from the comfort of our own home. We also took the dogs for a walk before dinner. Between the Wii and the walk, we figured that we did a good job of burning off the meal.

Friday was a lazy day - for me anyways. Mom and Dad wanted to do some shopping, so Uncas went off with them, while I hung out with the dogs at home. After Mom and Dad headed back to Duluth, Uncas and I hung out at home. We decided to take a break from cooking and ordered take-out - yum!

Saturday I did chores around the house while Uncas started our Christmas shopping with Andy. I met up with them at Andy and Ella's house for dinner later that night. They made a tasty meal (lasgna, bread, and salad) and we had an even tastier dessert - apple cake! After dinner we played some Wii (can you sense a new theme for us this fall)?

That brings us to today. Uncas and I went out and got our Christmas tree! We think we picked out a pretty good tree. It's exciting to have a real tree. Sammy isn't quite sure what to make of it just yet. He likes to sit on the skirt under the tree and he definitely smells something . . . let's hope he doesn't try to bring it down. I spent the rest of the decorating the house and doing some more Christmas shopping. I would say that we are nearly half way done, which feels pretty good. I had hoped to have the Christmas cards out this weekend, but there was a little gliche in my plan. They should go out by Wednesday at the latest . . .

Check out the pictures from the weekend!

Uncas's Birthday

I know - I am so behind in posting lately. I don't know why, but I am feeling obligated to post pictures and as a result, I have been putting off posting. It's not like it's hard, but lately I just don't want to take the to download pictures, organize them, write captions . . . blah, blah, blah.

Anyhow - enough complaining. Uncas's birthday was on a Wednesday this year, so we celebrated with friends on Saturday. Josh, Jaron, Andy and Ella came over for some pizza, cake and a little bit of Wii. It was so much fun. Uncas requested a marble cake, and I had fun using my decorating tips on his cake. Check out the pictures here.

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving! It's hard to believe it's the holiday season already. This year is pretty special because Uncas and I hosted Thanksgiving at our new house. Uncas's parents came down from Duluth. We had a tasty meal and I successfully cooked a turkey for the first time. Below is a picture of me, fearful that dinner would not turn out!

There are many things to be thankful for this year. I feel so blessed to have a house, a job, a loving husband, devoted puppy, and so many wonderful friends and family. What more could anyone ask for? I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving!

PS - I know I am quite behind in blogging and I have taken many pictures. So look for a full update soon!

Happy Birthday Uncas!

Today my dear husband, Uncas turns 29! We both took the day off of work to celebrate. We are going to get some tasty breakfast/lunch at Perkins (his request) and then hang out doing whatever we want today -hurray! Uncas is a fabulous husband and puppy daddy. He likes to make me and Sammy laugh, play with us, and take care of us when we are sick. Thank you Uncas! Hope you have a great day! We love you!!!!

Cookie Baking Weekend

This weekend was the annual Blume Christmas Cooking Baking weekend. My mom has always made a lot of Christmas cookies. She gives them away as gifts and makes sure that our family has plenty to munch on through out the holiday season. Years back we started baking them together and when I moved away, we would pick one weekend and just go crazy making as many kinds as possible. The past couple of years we decided that we would each make a couple of different kinds and just save the harder ones (cut-out and spritz) for the cookie weekend. Jeanna has joined us in more recent years and now the tradition is on! I didn't get many pictures of the actual cookie baking (I was a little busy), but if you hop over to my dad's blog, you'll see some action shots! (For the record, I declared myself Martha, my mom Betty and Jeanna is Rachel).

Of course, the house was busy enough with us in the kitchen, but we weren't the only ones around. Sammy, Tina, Snoopy, Derek, Saffron and my dad were all there too (Uncas was off killing Bambi).

Here is a picture of Sammy "protecting" Saffy while she was hanging on the bean bag chair.

Saffy sleeping in the bean bag chair.
Saffy tired out from all the cookie baking! It sure was hard work!!!
Cookies, Cookies - everywhere. We made 4 different kinds this weekend and I brought 3 other kinds that I had made earlier in the week!
Grandpa hanging (sleeping) on the couch with Tina (in the pink harness) and Snoopy (on his lap).
Sammy bugging Snoopy. You can just see Snoopy growling undering the blanket!

Snoopy hiding from Sammy on the chair, where Sammy can't reach!
Grandpa chatting with Saffy about the finer points of testing cookies.
Saffy hanging out in the bouncy seat.

Sammy and Saffy sitting on Grandma's lap!
Derek and my dad wore the same shirt on Saturday.

Here is a picture of a cute little Obama fan! He wanted me to tell you that if he voted, it would have been for Obama. He was sad to find out that he was too young to vote, so I let him wear my sticker!

And finally - this year Uncas gave me my birthday present early, so I thought that I should return the favor. His birthday isn't until next Wednesday, but tonight I came home from grocery shopping with his present. He is currently in the process of hooking it up!

Happy Election Day!

Go Vote!!!

Oh Happy, Happy Day!

I actually started this post a couple of days ago, but last night I was glued to my tv, so I didn't even bother finishing it up! First - I am SOOOO happy, excited, relieved, elated . . . (I think you get the idea) that Obama is going to be our next president!!! In Minnesota the Senate race is not yet decided, so we'll have to continue to wait and see about that. Going to work was so much fun today to talk about the exciting night!

Anyhow - back to the weekend recap. I always forget that Blogger uploads these pictures in a way that annoys me and doesn't make sense, so I will have to start with Sammy. Because the weather was so beautiful this weekend, I managed to snap some great pictures of him.

Here he is in the yard posing sweetly.

In our dining room in his dog bed. He picked this room because it's really the only room that the sunlight comes in during the morning and afternoons.
Here he is posing for me while he was trying to get comfy to take a nap (see above picture)
I love this picture - he just sat in our yard staring at the neighbor's cat (the white thing in the driveway). The cat roams around the whole neighborhood, so he has had other encounters with it before. We are lucky that Sammy just stays in the yard, and doesn't run into the street!
A big part of our weekend was spent shopping and spending money. We are doing our share to keep this economy afloat! This year we decided our Christmas present to each other would be to buy a big, flat, LCD tv. After saving and doing research (Uncas did the research), we found a nice 42 inch tv. AFter bringing it home, we decided that it might be a little bit too big for our living room, but we aren't going to return it :-)

Here is a picture of Uncas and Sammy watching the Vikings game this weekend in HD!
Uncas hooking up the new TV.
Look the base of the new tv is just as big as our old tv!
Check out how big the box is? I put Sammy in front of it for a comparison!
Our spending didn't stop with the tv. Our dishwasher broke last week, so we also purchased a new. That won't arrive until next week, and then Uncas gets to be "Uncas the Plumber" as he tries to install the new one. I have to say that I am pretty excited because just doing all the dishes for a week is getting old really quick!

We are gearing up for some fun stuff this weekend. Uncas will be going up North to hunt (or kill Bambi as I like to say). I am heading South to bake Christmas cookies with my mom, and Jeanna. My brother and Saffron will be coming too along with Tina and Snoopy, so I know Sammy is going to be very excited!

Molly and Jack

Before we went to Seattle, we had a visit from my college friend Molly and her son Jack. They were taking a road trip (they live in St. Louis, MO), and stopped in Minneapolis on their way to WI. I haven't seen Molly in at least 3 years and this was my first time meeting her son Jack.

At first I was worried because we did not have any toys to play with at our house. However, Jack is quite resourceful and found many things to keep himself amused. For instance - spices and spice racks can be a lot of fun. So are lights. Any kind in any room. Here is Jack in the living room with one of our lamps ( or Baaa as he called them).

Earlier in the day I had dropped Sammy off with my dad, so Jack discovered his favorite plaything - Sammy's Kennel! He spent a lot of time sitting in it, closing the door, getting out, closing the door.

When Molly's ride came to pick her up, Jack's friends Nick and Garrett needed to check out the cool dog kennel too!

It was a lot of fun to see Molly and catch up with her. We spent some time reminiscing about college and all the fun that we had. Hopefully one of these days we'll be able to head down to St. Louis to visit them!

Poor Little Guy

Today little Sammy got fixed. I felt terrible for leaving him at the vet's, but I knew he would be in good hands. Everything seems to have gone pretty smoothly. I was happy to go and pick him up after work. He is pretty tired and sore, which is to be expected.

Here is a picture from the other night when he was barking at me.












This is a picture from from last night. Uncas and I thought he looked so cute sleeping on his back on my lap!














Here is a picture of him from tonight. In his favorite place - Mama's lap!

Seattle Weekend!

This past weekend Uncas and I flew to Seattle to visit my best friend Lisa and her husband Brian and their adorable, cute, and sweet baby Caiden (who happens to be my godson!) We had such a wonderful time. We were able to see some sights, but also spend plenty of time just hanging out and playing lots of fun games! Above we are standing at the market downtown (watch out for the flying fish!) Below Lisa and I (and Caiden tagging along) went to a couple of wineries for some tasting. The guys, joined by L & B's friend Rob went to a brewery tour.
Here is a cute picture of Caiden (I took lots and lots of him) in his new "big boy" car seat! I think he likes it!
Uncas chillin' with his new buddy!
Yet another picture of the two cuties! Caiden and Uncas became fast friends. It was really very cute.

Friday Lisa and Caiden took us to downtown Seattle. We took a tour of the "undergrounds" and walked around afterwards. Of course no trip to Seattle would be complete without a stop to Starbucks!!! Here are Lisa, Caiden and I in downtown Seattle.

Uncas and Sally by the water.

Thursday night and Friday night Lisa and Brian cooked us some wonderful meals. After dinner we played some Wii! It was a lot fun. I am pretty terrible, but I still had a blast trying. Depending on the game you play, you can certainly get a workout in! Check out Uncas's fabulous moves!

Saturday after going on respective tours (wine for the ladies, beer for the men) we met up with another one of Lisa's friends from back in IL who also lives in Seattle. We had some tasty Chicago style pizza. We then headed back to B & L's and played some fun card games. The weekend went by super fast and we had such a good time. Caiden was a little sweetheart and so good the whole time! Thank you so much to Lisa and Brian for letting us crash with you. Hopefully we can see you guys again soon!! Here are more pictures from the whole weekend!

Open Letter to Grandma and Grandpa

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

Thank you so much for watching me while my parents went to Seattle. I had lots and lots of fun. I liked hanging out with Grandpa during day and I liked going for walks and playing fetch with Grandma. It's nice to be home again, although it's a little lonely during the day. But here's the most interesting thing. When I go up the stairs, my mama and daddy get all excited. And they give me lots and lots of treats! What a strange thing! Had I known they were going to be this excited, I would have done it long before. My mama took a video of me going up the stairs. Silly Mama was holding it the wrong way, but you get the idea. Can't wait to see you again soon!

Love,
Sammy

Uncas's Fishing and Camping Weekend

This weekend Uncas went fishing and camping with his dad in Northern Minnesota. They had much better luck than last time. The weather was a little cool the first couple of days, but they still had a good time. Here are some pictures that Uncas took:

Mr. Uncas at the campsite:
A picture of their picnic table set up:

The boat. I like this picture a lot - it came out very clear.
Lake Toohey

Fish Fry!I had a busy weekend with Sammy. I cleaned, took Sammy on lots of walks, did a lot of baking, hung out with Josh, cleaned up the flower beds and pots outside. Oh - I also did quite a bit of shopping.

Currently Sammy and Uncas are running around the house together. I think Sammy is glad to have his little play buddy home. And you know what? I am too!

We have a short work week - YAY! Because we are going to Seattle this weekend - Double Yay!!! I can't wait to see my little godson Caiden!