and the grinch's heart grew three sizes that day...

this is oscar.

he is our friend.

he helped bring "the spirit of christmas" into our home this year.

we made presents for his family. then we wrapped them up.

enjoyable, to say the least.

christian asked oscar if he and his sister's were getting along. this is a question he frequently asks. oscar's response: "yeah, they are being nice to me because they have the spirit of christmas". turns out, oscar helped our family start feeling the "spirit of christmas" during a crazy month of december. and the grinch's heart (my heart) grew three sizes that day...

thanks for the givin'

christian was a little tired in this picture. looks like the tryptophan got the best of him. i couldn't leave this picture out though.

first time i'd been with all of christian's siblings at once.

showing our best sides at the bowling alley the day after our turkey feast.

britta + punkin pie = true love

pumpkin chiffon pie - along with the assistance of swede, tyler, rachel and paul, we were able to produce four of these bad boys.

swede is a dancer. we got to watch.

above is a photo sampling of our first thanksgiving as a married couple. we have had a year of things to be grateful for - one engagement, one marriage, one thesis defense (hooray for christian!), one less gallbladder, one less hemangioma of the head and one trip to africa. 2010 was a big year for us.

montana mountain bash aka petersen family reunion

christian's "travel outfit" - he said he chose it for the comfort. my assessment - he wanted to see the look on my mom's face when she saw how well he matched.

our drive up the highway to the sun. i love glacier national park.

beautiful, beautiful glacier

my two favorite men

i think my face is blurry because we are going so fast.

this summer we made our way to lakeside, montana for the petersen family reunion. it was a weekend fun of cousins, aunts and uncles. we had a chance to reminisce about grandpa pete and grandma amy. my mom and dad rented a house for us to stay in. christian and i got the bedroom with bunks beds. pretty cool, eh?

we spent one day in glacier - driving up the highway to the sun and tromping around up top.

the next day we hung out at the lake house by my aunt deann and uncle steve's condo. christian and i played doubles tennis with nate and kim. wimbledon here we come! we jumped in the freezing cold lake. had good conversations with family - my favorite was the controversial topic of why men should put the toilet seat down for their wives. wonder who brought that up? no need to wonder. it was christian. he loves the topic. ask him about it sometime. we rode on the boat around the lake. ate a lot of food. the men played basketball - and my dad broke his wrist, but he continued with the fun. watched the kids play. ate some more food. it was a lovely day.

again, i know this is a late entry, but i found the pictures and didn't want to forget my first petersen family reunion as a sabey.

p.s. one of my favorite parts of the trip was singing a duet of "meet me in montana" with christian on the way to the reunion, in the truck with he and my parents and on the way home. watch out petersen family - this may be our talent for the christmas party!

you're a grand old flag

ask my friend angie about "you're a grand old flag" and all the times i used to sing it to her. i love that song! i also loved our trifle we made for our 4th of july holiday celebrations.

i know my timing is off, but i was just so excited to find all sorts of pictures i forgot we had.

proud (and grateful) to be americans!

carnival

we used christian's camera for all our honeymoon pics. i forgot we even had any until i found them on his computer. i was reminded of the fun we had on our honeymoon cruise. i don't know what all the complaints, as of late, have been about the carnival cruise line. we loved it. it was like a carnival on the ocean! hot dogs and ice cream 24 hours a day - who can ask for more?

long beach airport

our first stroll around the perimeters of the boat. i mean, there has to be a few kissing pictures - it WAS our honeymoon.

waiting in line to get off the boat. hot and muggy with a 100% chance of the people behind us complaining the whole time we were in line.

the boat ride from the cruise ship to catalina island.

"standin' on the dock of the bay..."

i've said it before, and i'll say it again - i like bikes!

we rode all around the island and to the top of some big hills. all sorts of people were driving golf carts, but we made it to the top on one speed bikes. can you tell by the look on our faces?

we like bikes!

formal night - another kissing picture!

"ohhh mexico, i've never really been, so i don't really know..."

all dressed up

scooters?!?! mexico?!?! fun???? yes, yes. i think so.

all geared up for our scooter ride.

another lovely self portrait

our very own towel swans shaped like a heart. how romantic.


carnival cruise line gets four thumbs up from this couple.