A Few December Highlights

Well we are off to Ohio for the holidays!  Literally we are writing this as we drive through Missouri.  But we have had such a fun December thus far we thought we would share a few highlights of our first December in Fayetteville.  We are looking forward to time spent with friends and family over the holidays, and have been celebrating the season with wonderful friends here in Fayetteville.

1. SNOW!! In the South...Really? 

The first snowfall of the year!!  While we woke up to less than one inch of the white stuff on the ground, it did cause quite a bit of havoc on the roads of Fayetteville.

2. Fayetteville Lights on the Square

These are the talk of the town!  The entire town square of Fayetteville is decorated in Christmas lights.  There is not one square inch of space that doesn't have some kind of light on it.  It is truly a sight to see.  The square is packed with families, hot chocolate, carriage rides, and camels...yep...camels.  I don't have pictures because the night we drove around, it was pouring rain so I had to just steal a picture of the lights from Google. Hopefully I'll get a chance to take some when we return after Christmas.

3. Christmas Pictures/Cards

As you read this, you're probably thinking, well we didn't make the Spicher Christmas card list this year.  Wrong.....hopefully.  We had some fun with two of our couple friends and their kids a few weekends back and took some family Christmas pictures.  I literally went home that afternoon and made our Christmas card on TinyPrints because I was so excited.  Despite paying for expedited shipping, we still do not have our cards.  AND we are currently en route to Ohio.  So, after some polite yet firm discussions with Tiny Prints, a new shipment of cards are "supposed" to be delievered to my parents' house this weekend.  So, we apologize in advance for our Christmas cards - not New Year's Cards - arriving in January but now you know you know the story...and my thoughts on TinyPrints.  Below are the adorable kids that joined us for the Christmas photo shoot. 

Walker

Miss Norah

Jude

4. Baking Christmas Cookies
Great idea - limited execution:  in an attempt to be good neighbors, and get a chance to meet some of the neighbors we haven't had a chance to meet yet, we decided that together with some friends of ours here, we would have a day of baking cookies and other Christmas delicacies.  We would use these creations to make little bags and take them to our neighbors to introduce ourselves and wish them a merry Christmas.

Baking cookies (check), bags made (check), deliveries made...well - that's where we got hung-up.  The days before we left for Ohio slipped by us so now the bags are in the car coming with us to Cincinnati.  So now it's time to figure out what says "Happy New Year Neighbor"....nothing says "we're your extremely friendly neighbors" like a pan of sauerkraut balls.

5. Wonderful Christmas Parties and Holiday Dinners!!  Nick won best ugly Christmas Sweater at my work Christmas Party (first picture below).  We've also had the chance celebrate the holiday season with a number of different friends here in Fayetteville.  It has been a time of great celebration of the Christmas season.

6.  Pintrest Wrapping:  I found an example of creative wrapping paper on Pinterest and thought I would give it a shot.  Plenty to improve on - but I thought they turned out pretty well.  Here is an example of the wrapping for Connor's gift.

Finally, we thought we would pass this along - we heard a great message at church last Sunday, reminding us that with all of the fun festivities, and potentially stress, the holiday season can bring, we must be purposeful about taking the time to keep the true meaning of the Christmas holiday in focus.  While lights, gifts, ugly sweaters, wrapping paper, and cookies are good things - it is the gift of the birth of Jesus that gives us the ultimate reason to celebrate.

Merry Christmas!

The Hap Hap Happiest...

You know Bing Crosby really hit it on the head, or was it Danny Kaye...or Michael Buble?  Anyway, there really is no place like home for the holidays.  Throughout my life I've often wondered what the experience of going back home for the holidays would be like - and if it would rival anything out of Christmas Vacation - and, wow, have I been missing out!  And all we've done thus far is experiencing being home for Thanksgiving.

Nicki and I were fortunate enough to spend a week back in Cincinnati over Thanksgiving.  The trip started off a bit rough as we drove to St. Louis and spent the night in a 'historic' Drury Inn.  It was our first experience with Jack in a hotel, and it just might be the last!

It was a week that reinforced how incredibly blessed we are with amazing family and friends.  A week that started with the annual Thanksgiving with Friends Cookoff and ended with a perfectly executed family Thanksgiving.  We were able to spend the week connecting with so many important people in our lives.

Nicki and I have settled in here in Northwest Arkansas better than we ever could have imagined.  The first nine months here have exceeded even the highest of expectations.  That said, there really is nothing like going home and seeing the people who mean so much to us.  Being able to have Nicki's family and my family enjoy one Thanksgiving celebration is about as good as it gets!

As you can tell from the pictures below, we had two fantastic celebrations and two opportunities to really enjoy the people in our lives.  We can't wait until next week when we get to do it all over again!  First is a trip to Cincinnati and then Christmas in Northeast Ohio!

Nicki prepares her baked bird for the cookoff...pay no attention to the fact that it looks like just maybe she prepared my bird for the cookoff too...

How many college degrees does it take to fry a bird?

Don't stand too close to the pot of 400 degree oil...

Your 2011 Thanksgiving With Friends Cookoff Winner (if you ask me)

Nicki's bird was prettier...

Add your own caption.

The feast was great, but the time with friends was even better.

My dad does the majority of the cooking on Thanksgiving - an impressive feat for a group of 13 people.

We are so lucky to have Jen and John and Nicki's parents join in on the Thanksgiving fun.

Not one of us is paying attention to the pot of burning oil.

Only thing that could make this better is if Ben had a Bengals jersey on.

A Little Pre Thanksgiving Fun

Well well, seems like just yesterday it was fall and we were tailgating and celebrating Halloween.  Now the Thanksgiving holiday is behind us and we are screaming towards Christmas.  It seems like this year is determined to sprint by before any of us can slow down enough to appreciate it.

Before we get to our Thanksgiving celebration and trip to Cincinnati (in a blog post forthcoming), it is worth looking back at a few fun outings we've had over the past few weeks.

Our friends Katie and Jeff Enger and Bob and Lindsey Horner came down to experience an Arkansas gameday experience.  In addition to that Ryan Young flew in from Cincinnati (well - technically he flew in from Charlotte - but what Delta doesn't know won't hurt them).  The Razorbacks played South Carolina in a pretty big SEC matchup and we did our best to show them what Fayetteville had to offer.

We followed that weekend up with a trip to Orlando to visit Nicki's family.  Her aunt and uncle live in a beautiful home five minutes from Disney.  We took in Epcot Center (my first trip to Disney ever) and had a wonderful visit with her family.  Their home is located on a man made water ski lake.  As you will see - Nicki is quite the water skier.  You may be wondering where all the pictures of me water skiing are...well...you see there are sports I was meant to do and those I was not meant to do.  Let's just say that water skiing is one of those I was not meant to do.

Nicki's parents enjoying a quick break on the steps of the temple in Japan

Outside a "French" bistro...

Celebrating my Norwegian heritage...

Back in our comfort zone...

This was about as close to water skiing as I got - this is me asking advice from Nicki's cousin Kelly...

And this is me slolem skiing - believe that?  Okay no, this is Nicki's cousin Steven showing off...

A LITTLE FALL FUN

I spent the majority of last week in New Orleans for  a work meeting.  Great Food?  YES!  Good Meeting?  YES!  Great Sleep?  NO!  So, by the time I walked in the door Friday night I was more than ready for a relaxing weekend.  Nick had dinner waiting for me (a chicken salad upon request given how many croissants, beignets, and fried goodness I consumed in New Orleans).    On Saturday, Nick went on a ride with his early morning crew while Jack and I slept in and caught up on our sleep.  (When doesn't Jack need more sleep?!?)  We watched lots of football, attended our first Saturday night service at Fellowship, found an amazing sushi restaurant, enjoyed the great weather outside and  carved our pumpkin just in time for trick or treat tomorrow night.  We have no idea how many kids will come knocking on our door but are excited nonetheless.  While dressing up is one of my least favorite things, trick or treat and pumpkin carving rank pretty high on the Fall must do list.  I also tried a recipe I found on crockpotgirls.com....taco stew.  Nick described it as chili meets tortilla soup!!

Our Pumpkin!  I still haven't figured out how to take great night pictures that aren't blurry...more lessons needed.

Taco Stew (with ground turkey of course!)

YUM!

And the fun just keeps on coming...

While the blog may have been on hold - the fun in Fayetteville has not been.  It's been a couple of weeks since we posted - mainly because life has been keeping us filled with friends and family visitors.

Two weekends ago my parents made their 2nd visit to Fayetteville.  We were a little concerned we wouldn't be able to top the first visit, given the fact that during their first visit here the city did its best to show off in a grand fashion.  Well, we were able to one-up the first visit.

Throughout the weekend we were able to check a number of things off the Fayetteville to-do list for my parents.  Above all else however, they got the opportunity to 'Call the Hogs' for the first time at an Arkansas home football game.  This was only our 2nd game so we didn't really know what to expect - but whatever expectations we set were far exceeded.  We bounced from tailgate to tailgate taking in all the scenes, the smells, and the food offered at an SEC tailgate.  Although we didn't make it to the game - there is a spot that you can see in to the game and get a taste of what the in-game experience is all about.

We started our Friday with a trip to the Wine Bar - with beautiful view of the parking lot

Then it was time for my parents to experience Sassy's patio for the first time

Our first tailgate - I'm not sure but I think my mom's red might be more Bearcat Red than Razorback Red...

We didn't capture the first calling of the Hogs - but none the less a great view of the game

Most importantly, it was the time spent with my parents that was most valued.  We could sit in our house and do nothing and I would enjoy it.  You can Facetime or talk on the phone every day - but nothing satisfies the soul like seeing them and spending quality time together.

Then last weekend we had the joy and pleasure of being a part of the much anticipated McGowan/Cunio wedding.  Lindsey and Mike are two of our favorite people and have been wonderful friends to us for a long time.  Their wedding weekend was just like their personalities - fun, organized, and filled with laughter, friends, and family.  It is truly amazing to be a part of something where you know God's plan is unfolding seamlessly before us.  The two of them were meant to be together - and we were just happy to be a part of it.

As you will see below - Lindsey made for a beautiful bride - and Mike did a decent job as well...

Doesn't get much better than a weekend with nothing to do but catch-up with friends...

I was impressed - Doug held it together all the way down the aisle...

The newly married couple!

We were able to relax this weekend - and enjoy some time at home.  Don't look now - but the holidays are just around the corner - in a few short weeks we'll be heading to Cincinnati for a week to enjoy Thanksgiving with Friends and Thanksgiving in the same week!