Iowa and Christmas party

We went to Iowa for Thanksgiving. The girls had a blast and the weather was actually nice. Strange for Iowa. On the way up, we stopped in KC to see my college roommate, Jenni. She just moved into a new beautiful home and had her 3rd girl. So I like to tease her that she's copying me, since we just moved this summer and also have 3 girls. Jeni and Brecklyn:

Me and Jenni with our 6 girls!

On the way from my parents' over to Russ' mom's house, we stopped to see my good friend, Dana at her parents' house. She lives in California now, so we hardly ever get a chance to see each other. I hadn't seen her little girl yet and she hadn't seen Rylan.

Chelsea, Becca, Caleb, Maddie and Rylan:

We had Christmas at my mom and dad's. The girls were so excited! I like it because it spreads it out a little instead of a ton of toys all at once. The best new toy is a big wooden Barbie house. Yes, we thought we were going to have to get a trailer to get everything home, but we made it. We only had to tie Maddie's headboard and footboard on top. Dad wanted to send home chairs too, but we thought we'd look a little too much like the Clampetts with those tied on top.

Russ and Rylan reading in Grandpa's reading chair:

The giant barbie house:

We also had Russ' work Christmas party. It was at a really nice hotel, so I got to get all dressed up. So fun. I borrowed a dress, had a friend fix my hair and off we went- with NO kids for a whole 7 hours!!! It was wonderful. In Russ' office are 14 people that also go to church with us. So it is really fun going to his office party, because I actually know quite a few people there. So much fun!

Me and Russ, all dressed up:

Me with my friend Tracy:

Me and my friend, Sherry:

Me and my friend, Pam:

Tracy, me and Pam:

My friend Heather and her baby bump:

Yes, they actually got Russ out on the dance floor. Everyone circled around when he walked through the middle and "danced".