wedding

Today we drove to Germany to celebrate the marriage of Derek's cousin. They were beautiful and so was the day. We enjoyed the hours recalling stories and sharing such a special moment, joining family and friends.  

ho ho ho

Merry Christmas everybody! Derek and I really take our time enjoying our breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls Christmas morning, and today we got to sit in the sun while we ate. 

Next up on the Christmas day agenda: stockings full of cliff bars and lärabars from the states (thanks mom), chocolate, chap stick. Moving on to the presents beneath the tree- for Derek- waterproof boots and a first aid kit, and for me, avalanche rescue equipment.  The safety and protection themed giving means we have the same mountainous plans for the coming year... 

We took a second round to finish the pan of cinnamon rolls, and decided to try out our new racing vests (thanks Stroms) by heading up to Reculet. We could tell a storm was coming, but we were fueled up from all the sweets of the morning. We passed a few others on the trails and exchanged holiday greetings and spread some cheer in our goofy hats. As we approached the summit, it started snowing! I got my Christmas wish for snow (and a run). It wasn't much but the ground was covered in white while we made our way back down. That's a new tradition I hope to continue. After our exciting little trip, we settled in to talk to our families back home, and finally get to work on the surprise scavenger hunt from Laura...coincidentally the first clue led us to take a photo of Le Reculet.

Hope you enjoyed a beautiful day, warm and cozy, and maybe some adventure too. Merry Christmas!

the night before christmas

We've been busy in the kitchen all day preparing for this evening's feast. Mostly, Derek has been busy in the kitchen since he decided to undertake the challenge of cooking the bird. Dan arrived this morning with some of the necessities for meat-making that I don't keep in our kitchen, like a baster, thermometer, a giant dish, and cooking expertise. Together, the guys prepared the capon for cooking while Jude and I hid in the other room chopping the ingredients for stuffing. Once in the oven, Derek pampered the bird every half hour for the rest of the afternoon until we pulled everything off the stove and out of the oven to join our friends and celebrate Christmas Eve.

The doorbell rang after dinner and we discovered a sack of gifts that Santa left for the kids- mostly pajamas to be cozy for the rest of the evening while the grown-ups (I guess that's us) indulged in the many desserts. After the party, we were excited to head home and settle down for our long winter's nap.  

christmas train

What better way to start the holidays than hopping aboard the Christmas train with friends in search of Santa and snow! We headed to Chamonix and made MBC our first stop for beers and burgers before boarding the train up to Montenvers to get us all in the holiday spirit.

After the ride, we searched for letters to spell out Santa's location. But before we went to visit him in the Grand Hotel, we run up and slid down the snow until our feet were soaked.  

the wedding

Today is the big day at Strom Family Farm: Tyler and Jacalyn's wedding. There couldn't be a more pleasant September day. Yesterday's storm cooled the temperature, relieved the humidity, and helped rid the mosquitoes. Overnight, it seemed to shift from summer to fall. The sky was perfectly clear and family and friends gathered, ready to have fun.  In the morning, we took care of the last-minute details before we all pulled on our suits and dresses and celebrated the marriage of a beautiful couple. 

preparations

Our two weeks is flying by, without a dull moment. This week everyone has been busy with wedding tasks from cleaning to constructing, ironing to arranging. My favorite job has been hand-painting signs while the chickens keep me company and peck my toes. We've been battling swarms of mosquitoes, a big to-do list, and the pressure of making sure that everything is ready, but we took one afternoon this week to take a bike ride along the river and eat ice cream with friends, attempted a picnic until we were all covered in bites, and relaxed with some local brews.

Tomorrow is the big day, so today we set-up all the chairs, finished lighting and decorations, and had the rehearsal. Everyone has been anxiously monitoring the forecast for Saturday (and it looks good), but today the biggest storm of the summer tore through a narrow section of Illinois. As we made our way towards the house, rain came sideways, rolls of thunder, and lightning from all directions. Huge trees were downed at neighboring farms blocking the roads, but luckily nothing worse than a few fallen branches and stray chairs to gather before rehearsal began.  

A few pictures with family and rehearsal dinner at the Lodge.