Fruit Cake Club

One of those major life moments has happened and I feel it is only fair to share it! I am now a member of the "I received a fruit cake as a present and I can't exactly tell you how old it is" Club!

See "Exhibit A" here below:

At first glance it does look pretty tasty -- but then you start to notice a few choice dents. Maybe this fruit cake has been around the block a few times?

Only upon further inspection do we find the approximate creation date... 2000!

Yes, we think it may be close to 10 years old! =) The best part is that we are saving it for next year --- who knows, if you are really nice to us you may be the recipient of this fine specimen next year!

Running out of Magnets

It is one of my favorite times of year again -- the Christmas Card season! We are starting to run out of magnets for the cards as they come through.... I love, love, LOVE seeing everyone's families and hearing the newest stories.

Here was a quick glance at our refrigerator in early December!

If you missed our card this year and want to get on next year's list -- please let me know.

2010 Ornament

Ahh, yes, it was Christmas time once more. And one of the traditions Jeremy and I have is the induction of a new ornament on our 3 foot tree! (see past posts on this tradition).

So yes, you counted correctly. That means we have approximately 4 ornaments on our tree! For now it works! Here's our latest addition... the hot pink octopus! Nothing says "Christmas" quite like our new bedazzled friend below!

Better in mini!

This past fall I decided to take the famous Werner Family cake and make it in miniature.

First you have the amazing original in its normal size...

And now, may I please introduce you to the Chocolate Praline Layer cake in miniature! They were amazing -- soooo, if you are looking for a crowd pleaser dessert this winter, try this recipe from Pillsbury, but instead make it in cupcake form!

Werner-Humann

Yes, the big news is the Werner-Humann engagement! We are super excited for the wedding next year in Philly! Before we headed out after Thanksgiving I took some shots of the happy couple!

Here are a few of my favorites...

It was so fun to pretend to be a photographer for an afternoon -- if these pictures are an indication of how freakin' photogenic this couple is, then their wedding shots are going to be gorgeous!!

Turkey Day Frisbee Golf

So Thankgiving was spent in Dallas this year... and it was the first time Lauren, Ryan's fiance came to be with our family for the big holiday. We decided to make some extra room for turkey, so one day Jer picked out a frisbee golf course for us to check out. Small problem, fitting 6 people in the family car... Ryan decided to ride "trunk!"

Here goes nothing! Scouting out the first hole...Do I see water!?

I personally just like to watch my dad wind up for his throw --- it is half javelin, half tomahawk...but somehow it works!

Jer instead looks very Zen...

Umm, yes, the very cheesy posed family shot! It's required!

Me, I'm just happy to get a chance to wear my "pink fluffy ball on top" hat!

Ry looking fierce!

Lauren, also looking fierce... umm, maybe tough! Yes, tough is what I'm going for here!

I think we stopped taking count on the first hole, but it was fun!

T-day Dinner

Thanksgiving pretty much means everyone in the kitchen chopping, mixing, sauteing, and sneaking tastes of food here and there! This year was no different and it was fun to have the newly engaged couple with us... Here Ryan is trying his best to distract Lauren from her squash chopping! She made one of her family's favorites (this tasty squash and brown sugary dish).

Here Ryan and I are letting the pros tend to the bird -- glad it's not my turn to make one of these yet!

Ahh yes, the self timer photo at the table! Gotta love it! If you look really closely you can see the "pilgrims place holders" at everyone's seats. Those are Mom-made circa 1989! Lauren got her own pilgrim-ess this year, waiting at her seat. That's when you truly know you are one of the family!

Gotta sneak a shot of Dad's plate --- yummy!!

Turkey Trot

One more good Thanksgiving story! You may wonder why I am showing off Jeremy's very sexy legs here below...

Well, it was just a preview of his AWESOME costume for the Dallas annual Turkey Trot. This one has become a family Thanksgiving tradition too, since we have a couple awesome runners in the family.... (Ryan and Lauren to be exact).

Here's the whole family bundled up for the race through downtown Dallas. Jeremy and I hit up the local Goodwill the week before to try to find the most obnoxious costumes possible! I'm pretty sure I just end up looking like the kid that's stuck in the 80's -- while Jeremy on the other hand was the big hit!

Quick family shot before the race starts!

I think the Turkey was a little jealous of Jer....since more kids wanted to take pictures with Jeremy than with him!

We made it through the race --- here's a priceless one of Jer -- in case you are looking for a new wallpaper for your computer this year! How can this one not make you smile! =)

Warrior Dash

Another year, another chance for Molly and I to push the limits of our bodies physically. This year, instead of running around downtown areas on clue adventures we opted for the Warrior Dash. As you can see from their marketing --- it is quite the event!

Jeremy was our official paparazzo for the big day. When the flames finally shot towards the sky we knew it was time to go!

As long as we beat the guy to Molly's right, we knew we could call it a success!

We left the start and proceeded through about 12 different obstacles. Everything from jumping over wrecked cars, crawling over army nets, running through a muddy creek, climbing slippery slopes, and bounding over walls of hay barrels. It was great!

Here Jeremy caught us just at the very end, as we are getting ready to jump over FIRE! Molly looks prepped and ready!

Oh yea, we're that good!

And then of course, you can't forget the mud pit -- Molly's looking super "Girl Gone Wild" here!

And it was a success! We finished... 38m:34s -- and 91st in our age group!

And we got celebratory metals and viking horns -- for being such amazing warriors!

We'll see what next year brings!

Front Row Forever

So I am now a front row event convert... I finally GET IT! This past October my good CrossFit buddy, Nicki, invited me to the Spurs Opener. I was just excited to go to the game... little did I know what I was in for.

Here we are in the "box seats" for the first half. They have these awesome "open air" boxes at the Spurs stadium. You are out with the general public, but you are in plush leather seats (think first class on a plane).

Not a bad view from these seats...

But then, after the half we got to sit courtside... as in FIRST ROW! Check out the price on the tickets... $1500.35/each!

This was our new view....

Whoops, I mean *this* was our new view!

...and this!

I was slightly smiley -- as you can see -- it was SO MUCH FUN!

Needless to say, if any of you feel the need to share front row tickets to pretty much anything, I am game for it... I'd be happy to take them off your hands!

Pumpkin Passion

Okay, so I'm getting around to these blog entries a little later than some would think --- call it a New Year's resolution! But I was pretty sure you felt sad about missing out on our pictures of pumpkin carving... I'm sure a part of you thought -- "Man, I never saw how those Siefer's carved their pumpkins!"

Well, here you go -- we decided to try pumpkin carving two ways.... on the front...the traditional Jack!

Very scary and intimidating in the night...

And on the back we tried a new carving technique --- inspired from something on the food channel I am sure.... this was our best Frankenstein!

Also, very scary in the dark too! =) I liked this new technique -- but it did almost mean losing a few fingers -- must perfect next year!

Husker Power

As many of you know, I am a Cornhusker fan! This was part of the package deal when I married Jeremy... infact, I'm sure he snuck "you will support me through good Nebraska seasons and bad" into our vows somehow!

Since we were back in Sioux Falls for the wedding we decided to go to my first ever home game at the Lincoln, Nebraska stadium. We had great seats for the evening game!

For some reason I ended up in a purple shirt for the game. I'm pretty sure I was the ONLY person without red on for the game. So it should have been really easy for all of you to spot me on the TV screen!

Yup, seat 19 & 20... is where we sat.

Gotta love all the random fan shots they capture on the big screen!

And, as tradition goes, everyone released red balloons on the first Nebraska score.

...the good news is that it was a win for us...

...and the other good news is that I got to try my first Runza... this is a big food tradition in the mid-west, and so I was glad to partake in the warm meaty goodness!

All in all, it was a fun experience... can't say the football games I experienced at my D3 University were anything like this. So it was great to get caught up in the Husker Fever!