Christmas 2011

Favorite pictures from Christmas Eve and Day of 2011. Lots of wonderful food, time with family, and memories...

Makin' Whoopie

This year's progressive dinner was fabulous! Mostly because we were with those we love. But Christmas themed Minute To Win It was a hit (Awesome Idea Award goes to Andi) and so were the delicious eats. I'll go through the progression of our evening...
First Stop:
Joey and Taryn's for Christmas Martinis, Ribs, and Muscles in coconut curry sauce. Amazing. Morgan actually drank the sauce. After our ipad tutorial on our first game of the night, it was GAME ON:




Joey caved under the pressure and then they were eliminated. Moving on to Tiffany and Blake's new pad for soup and salad. Shout out to Drew and co. for some delish soup! And our second game of the evening:



More eliminations, then on to Tim and Shannon's (with M & Z) for prime rib, blue cheese potatoes, and the funniest game of the evening, during which I thought of the perfect post title:




After the main course it was on to our house for dessert: S'more Whoopie Pies. Yum, if I DO say so myself. Somewhere between the Huckleberry cocktail and the peanut butter ice cream, Mankato Rules were applied (a side note: "Mankato Rules" is a saying by Tony Lombardo, which basically mean there are no more rules and we're now making them up as we go along) wherein two couples were re-instated after being eliminated. The two final games determined the true winners; Drew & Morgan! Impressive showing.




A wonderful, winter tradition. Can't wait for next year, Langs! Game on.

The 12 days of Christmas

My schedule is about to eat me alive.
For that reason alone I'm introducing a new feature this year...posting a picture of what I'm doing (event, party, and the mundane) for 12 days before Christmas. That is, of course, for the progressive dinner on Saturday night. It's one of my favorite posts of the season.
But back to this post...I'll put the date and description on the picture and keep adding to this same post so keep checking as I load yet another picture for 12 days...












That's a wrap. ;)

Movie Stars

We went to go see the Muppets today with the girls and it was honestly so funny. Ty and I both love the Muppets; my favorite is the Swedish Chef and Ty's is Animal.
But the best part? Our little belles (INCLUDING our 20 month old sat perfectly still and watched the entire two and half hours running time. I am still reeling (get it REELing, now I feel like Fazzy Bear) from the shock of such a performance.

Family, Eats, Christmas, and Cash Referrals.

This year the Lang family Christmas was as fun as ever, as heart rendering as ever, and a confirmation of what is truly important; relationships and making fun of those you love. Last year was the year of the cowgirl Christmas and a cute little lady Bell skit. This year it was all about: nails, red dresses, babies, and flat out holding our relatives to the fire. Long story short the Bells came up with the brilliant idea of putting all the Langs' embarrassing facebook status updates to music in the form of a simple auto tune app and power point presentation, which I might add was nothing short of epic. The centerpiece of our skit was a song called Cash Referrals by one Big Al Lang/house-flipper extraordinaire whose facebook status updates are a gold mine of usable material. None of us will soon forget Luke in a dress, wig, and heels for The Bachelorette Santa style either, but that goes without saying. Sadly pictures were not taken by me of either skit, but I'll see if I can get my hands on any...
Switching gears, it wouldn't be an authentic portrayal of the evening without taking on the hard parts. The parts where tears and prayer lifted up our dear cousin Tony who is still struggling with PCD (a rare neurological condition caused by his fight with cancer). Tyler spoke regarding waiting on the promises of God and I couldn't be prouder of him. He hit just the right note; though we haven't seen some of the promises of God come to full fruition we have seen Him faithful through the worst of times and we wait on Him and His timing with joy and untainted anticipation for what is next. He is righteous, faithful, our peace giver, and savior. He sustains completely. He is Jehovah Rapha (our healer) and I am choosing to trust in Him.
And here are some pictures; of note: if you'd like to see more go here and every year I wish I took more pictures at this event so here's promising for next year...

Confessions (again).

Every couple of months or so I'll post my confessions; they are trite and menial, but it feels good to get them out.
-I don't trust mirrors. OR bathroom lighting. So occasionally, I'll take a picture of myself in sunlight to check my make up. In case you're checking, that's JUST this side of a complex.
-I only make serious faces in the aforementioned pictures. Why? I couldn't tell you.
Oh, wait. I can. It's because:
-I only wear make up once a week, maybe twice. Every single time I apply it I'm convinced my skills have rusted over with disuse.
And I'm checking the line of my eye brows. But I already covered this in our last confession session.
-I ate a piece of peppermint bark that fell into the bathtub I was taking a bath IN.
-I get nervous to wrap presents this time of year.
-I have been crying at the Biggest Loser. Nothing short of being joyful for people who shed shame and discover themselves in the process. It's still magic.
-Sometimes I think my husband loads the dishwasher like a mentally challenged person. (I'll take this moment to note that in every other domestic area he's pretty much a rock star and also I just ate something from my own bathwater: so maybe I shouldn't cast stones from inside my own personal glass house).
-While my husband is gone on an upcoming business trip I plan to make myself these pot stickers which are laced with garlic every night. I have the Costco bag.
-I am LOVING writing right now.
The End.

gifted.

In case it ever gets lost; I wanted a picture of this is my favorite Christmas gift from last year...

It's a bracelet that says Ring My Bell from Mr. B. I love it because it's kitsch, I love it because it's from Tyler, I love it because it's a conversational piece, and I love it because it was an afterthought gift. Sometimes they are the gifts that last. I've been mulling over what it means to be gifted with a certain trait, a talent, a miracle. As I'm in the process of discovering exactly how God has gifted me (more on this later...); I'm praying to remember the only true, real, and lasting gift I've been given this and every Christmas season; the gift of saving grace through Jesus Christ.