Pictures From Early December

We are now back in Minnesota after having spent 5 days in Chicago and 15 days in Oregon. It was so much fun to be home with family and friends and it was hard to come back, especially since it is 1 degree outside right now! I have a lot of pictures from our trip to post, but before I do that, here are some pictures that I meant to post before we left.

The week before we left, we were getting 3-5 inches of snow every other day. It was very pretty but it made the roads terrible. I am so thankful for our car though as it makes driving in the snow so much easier. While every other car was spinning, ours was fine which is really nice. It also starts up each time which we are very thankful for. Here are some pictures of us in the snow:

Before we left, I also baked all day on Saturday. I like baking so it was fun for me. I tried a new recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin cookies and they turned our pretty well. I gave plates of goodies to our friends as Christmas presents. We also got together with some friends at a Christmas party for our bible study. We had a great time talking with friends while watching the snow come down outside. We have been blessed by so many great friends here in Rochester. Last night, we celebrated New Year's with Jen an Andrew Landstrom and Katy and Steve, and tonight we are going over to Erica and Christopher's house for dinner. It was our turn to have them over here but Christopher wanted to barbecue outside despite the freezing cold temperature!

Brandon and JohnRayna, Me and Erica

Here is a picture of the people that I work with. We went out for a Christmas lunch at Macaroni Grill before I left on vacation.

Me, Gina, Nancy, Julie, Diane, Sharon, Connie, Kay and Stephanie

Here are also some pictures from the December bunko at Erica's house. I was excited since this was the first month that I have ever actually won a prize!!

Erica - the wonderful host!

Katy wearing festive reindeer antlers!

Katie, Bekah, Erica, Jen, Me, Deola and Cassi