Second Thanksgiving

Dan had suggested this winter doing a second Thanksgiving weekend with my family since we spent this past year with his family. So we got it set up with my sister and arrived on Friday night of this past weekend. My parents were also there and we had divided up what everyone was bringing...and then my sister surprised us by letting us know that other family members would be coming too! We had cousins and Aunts and Uncles as well, which meant about 20 of us enjoying good food and family fellowship.

Food table getting set up

 Tables set up in Stephen's new Lion's Cave

 Lining up for food!

Stephen and his wall of hats

His Barry Sanders wall

Dan trying to win over Annie

Sledding with Joy

Working together to haul their "tree"

 Playing in the snow

It was so much fun and I felt really loved that my family would all get together for a random Saturday. One of my cousins agreed that we should do this every year. I love how much my family enjoys spending time together, we might only see each other a couple times a year for camping and holiday's but we always have so much fun.

I am thankful that my Grandparents started the tradition of camping and bringing our family together when the family was much smaller...because 20 of us is maybe half of our usual numbers :)

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day we had some time alone but did dinner with our small group from Marion. It worked out well because we could go put the dinner reservation in and then hung out at Starbucks while we waited. It was perfect so we didn't have to wait that long once everyone got there. After dinner we grabbed some ice cream at Coldstone before they all had to head home.

Dinner :)

Ben and Lindsey

Angie and Sandra

Dan and me (Ben photo bombing)

Jason and Angie

Sandra and Joel

 On Saturday Dan and I went out to celebrate at our favorite place, Bon Thai. It is our place to celebrate and sometimes grab lunch after our dance class on Saturday :) We had great food and enjoyed watching Romeo and Juliet when we got home.

Dan's Birthday

Dan's birthday was a little more low key this year, no surprise party but we did have a nice dinner at home (one of his favorite meals...meat loaf and Au gratin potatoes). We did a cake from Kroger which was very good.

Dan with his new Nutcracker (holding the lantern)

Happy Birthday Dan!!!

Winter Weather

We have had some icicles lining our roof so I had to get a couple pictures. They are layered in rows and these are not the biggest ones we have had this year.

Newsome Twosome

At our dance studio (and for those who didn't know, we have been taking dance lessons since the beginning of October) they had a recital type event. It is a new dance people learned or a new "two-some" meaning a new pair dancing together.  We did a fox trot to Smells like Teen Spirit (it was redone by Paul Anka :))

Sadly I can't up-load our video :( We do have a DVD copy as well so we will try to bring it with us if you want to watch it.

What's been going on

With my exam at the beginning of this month I have not posted much for close to a month.  In January I had friends stop in who I met in Cambodia. It was a blessing and a joy to spend time with them again and to introduce Dan to them.

Dan, Kara, Mary, Christoph

They made it through the snow and we had fun catching up and sneaking in a few hours before they had to hit the road again. During the last week of January we had a chili cook off at our dance studio. So I brought in my Pumpkin Chili and won :)

Pumpkin Chili :)

My prize 

Front of the apron I won

Books

This past year, Dan and I decided to recommend books to each other. This worked out really well, as we both like a lot of the same type of books and it also pushed us out of our comfort zones as I made him read Christian fiction and he had me read some history books. Though some of the books I wouldn't have chosen for myself, I can say I enjoyed reading them and it was always fun finding out what my next book would be. :) Here is a list of the books we read...and recommend:


 BOOKS KARA READ

Lost Hero, Rick Riordan
SoulShift, Drury & DeNeff
Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God, McCastle
Son of Nepture, Rick Riordan
Mark of Athena, Rick Riordan
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Daniel, Rev. Chrysler
Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Anne Rice
Founding Brothers, Joseph Ellis
King of the North, Rev. Chrysler
Unspoken, Francine Rivers
Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
Wicked
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman
Last Lecture
Bossypants, Tina Fey
Jesus for President, Shane Claiborne
Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz
Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X
Mary Poppins


BOOKS READ BY DAN

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Anne Rice
Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, Anne RiceIrresistible Revolution, Shane ClaiborneMoneyball, Michael LewisRahab, Francine RiversRedeeming Love, Francine RiversHalf the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunnRuth, Francine RiversTerrify No More, Gary Haugen1812: The War That Forged a Nation, Walter R. BornemanPoisonwood Bible, Barbara KingsolverBathsheba, Francine RiversJesus for President, Shane ClaiborneThe Last Lecture, Randy PauschToxic Charity, Robert D. LuptonThe New TestamentBossypants, Tina FeyWillie Mays, James S. HirschLife Together, Dietrich BonhoefferMemoirs of a Geisha, Arthur GoldenNot For Sale, David BatstoneThree Cups of Tea, Greg MortensonMark of the Lion, Francine RiversThe Help, Kathryn StockettThe Giver, Lois LowryProfiles in Courage, by John F. Kennedy

Winter Weather

Here are some pictures of all the snow we got:

Dan shoveling to help keep it from piling up

After all of our snow we had temperatures in the negative's on Monday. In the afternoon Dan's dad came over with his snow plow to help clear us a path for our cars.

Notice the strong wind

 I went out to our garage to get in more vegetable oil and found our frozen....I have never seen that happen before.

The New Year

Dan and I brought in the New Year by spending time with a few friends. We met a friend for dinner and drove through Marion`'s walkway of lights to kick off the evening followed by hanging out with Jason and Angie, chatting and playing cards till we hit 2014. Here are a few pictures from the walkway of lights:

along the river

Santa

Dunking the ball (it moved)

As we entered the park

a Mill

a car

 We had a great time with our friends and spent the first day of the year relaxing and enjoying the day off. We did venture out later and saw the lights in town...it was cold but beautiful.

Happy New Year!!

Wallinga Christmas

On the Saturday after Christmas we had a day full of family Christmas. We started off in the morning with my dad's family, getting together for breakfast. We had fun chatting with my cousin's son who is a junior in college. And we got to see and find out how my cousin who had a stroke earlier this year has been doing. I took my camera with me and then completely forgot to take pictures.

For dinner we got together with my mom's family, who we also go camping with a couple times a year. We had a nice spread of food and had fun chatting and playing cards for a while. We also started counting down till we go camping in May :)

Pete, Michael, Jodi, Tami, and Hope

Amanda, Bob, and Uncle Ron

Tami, Hope, Brenda, Nicole, Megan, Courtney, and Kevin

My mom, Beth, Aunt Carol, Emily, and Dan