Early Christmas :)

Well, Christmas came a little early this year (December 16th to be exact). We have a few reasons for our early celebration :) ...

1.) Katelyn was scheduled to sub that day so we were up and ready to roll at 6:30am ... then we got the call that it was a snow day! What else were we suppose to do that early in the AM?

2.) No one really knows the exact date of Jesus' birth... so who knows! Maybe we were right!

3.) Not only did we have a full day of nothing ahead of us (since Katelyn's job was canceled), but we were also celebrating being married for 5 months ... two celebrations in one day sounded okay to us!

4.) It was spontaneous, which also made it all the more fun! Just like Christmas morning!

5.) Not that we feel we need to justify our December 16th Christmas celebration (okay, maybe we do), but we were not going to have another free day with nothing going on to celebrate before heading home to Wheaton. It was the perfect timing!

Needless to say, we enjoyed celebrating our first early Christmas just the two us. We are looking forward to our trip home to Wheaton for the holidays this coming Wednesday and will update the blog the next chance we get (that might be after the New Year for all you devoted followers!)

We love you & wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

This series of pictures is perfect! Sam anxious to open his gift...

Slowly opening with excitement...

And it's... Mario Kart for our Wii!

Excited about his (our) new game :) .. we've been playing it non stop!

Sam's beautifully wrapped gift to me.

    Wow! The Black & Decker Toaster we got as a wedding gift?
Nope, it was a dress! Clever wrapper!

Gift #2 ... Also clever wrapping!

A new black pea-coat! I love it!!

Christmas morning table is set.

Complete with poached eggs (made by my hubby)

Food, family & fun.

Friday night the Haist's of Wheaton came to visit! They were on their way back from picking Ben up from Tulane University and made our humble abode one of their stops on the way. We love having them! We started their visit by going to the St. Louis Zoo "Wild Lights". It was awesome. We finished off the evening with an amazing Italian dinner in the Hill (there was humming involved).

Saturday we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast made by my beautiful wife and they hit the road back to Wheaton. Thanks for the fun visit!   

The Haist family!

Family picture!

Winter is here!

This morning in church we were reminded of our need for a Savior and how much joy this time of year brings ... that our Savior was born!!!! This season we joyfully anticipate celebrating Jesus' birth, reflecting on the amazing love he has for us, and rejoicing in his resurrection and saving grace!

A little update ... Sam is currently in the home stretch of his first semester at Covenant and is looking forward to finals and BIG papers being done in the next week (prayers are appreciated!). I am still subbing 2-3 times a week and tutoring 3 times a week as well. We are looking forward to heading home for the holidays and spending time with family and friends in just 3 weeks. We can't believe how fast our time in St. Louis has already gone, it feels like we just got here! Not to mention ... we'll be married 5 months this month! :)

Christmas time is here! And we are SO excited to be spending it together this year. Once again we took a trip to Hobby Lobby to stock up on the fun and festive Christmas decor. Then we began the decorating process upon arriving home to St. Louis after a wonderful Thanksgiving break in Wheaton last Sunday. Here are a few pictures of our home for the holidays ...

That's my cute husband putting on the tree topper!

Hanging ornaments on the tree.

The finished product!

Kitchen table centerpiece (ornaments on a mug tree).

Our favorite candle ...Evergreen!!!

Above the sliding doors in the kitchen.

The last five pictures comments are below (blogger is acting funny):
Picture 1 of 5: The front of our apartment. YES, that is THE Christmas pig, thanks to the Dean's!
Picture 2 of 5: Our first Nativity Scene from Mom & Dad Haist!
Picture 3-5: Celebrating St. Nick's Day (one day early) ... Sam has always been
VERY pushy when it comes to opening gifts! St. Nick brought me an egg poacher (which I LOVE!!!)
and St. Nick brought Sam the "Contigo" NON spill thermal coffee mug.
He can tip it upside down and it doesn't spill...amazing! 

Thankful.

 Last week we headed home for Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with both families. Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple was a success! We enjoyed Turkey dinner with the Haist/Sundheimer/Bradley side of the family and dessert with the Dean's, both were fabulous and we stuffed ourselves silly.

Friday morning Katelyn, her sister and her mom enjoyed the early bird shopping deals at 5:30am! During that time, I continued to hit snooze on my alarm clock. It was nice.

Saturday we spent the day visiting with family and headed back to St. Louis Sunday just in time to put our Christmas tree and decorations up (pictures to come in the next blog)!

We are very thankful for our families and the time we got to spend with them last week. Thank you for making our visit so enjoyable. We are also thankful for ... Jesus. friends (new and old). good food. coffee. a wonderful church. jobs. God's provision over our lives. a warm place to call home. and of course... each other :)

Until next time,
Katelyn & Sam 

Katelyn with new cousins, Phoebe, Maddie & Brendan.

Part of the Sundheimer clan feasting on great food!

Sam with buddy (and cousin) Jack.

Saturday we spent the evening decorating the Dean Family Christmas tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siblings!

Black Friday Shopping!!!!!! Sam was not invited :)