christmas in iowa…

posted by ivy on Jan 08, 2012 in family

yo.

so i’m back here in north carolina, and things are going well.  mitch picked me up at the airport late wednesday night, but it wasn’t until yesterday (saturday) that i got to unpack my bags.  i jumped back into work as soon as i got here, and unfortunately (or fortunately), i got stuck with a pretty big expedite that kept me up until 4am and forced me to get up at 8am saturday morning to finish.  UGH.

anyway, i won’t go too much into detail about my time in iowa because i was there with you all, but i just want to throw a few pictures up that i took from my phone while i was there.

i’d have to say the day i landed was the most fun.  my mom and celia picked me up at the airport, and we went to eat at perkins (as tradition requires.)  i took this picture of my mom, which i really like because i think she looks like a librarian.

after eating, we had to go to the mall so mom could finish up her christmas shopping.  we had a great day!  shopping, eating, laughing, starbucks… i loved it.

(you can click on these to view them in a bigger size.)

one day i met my grandpa, dad, and laura in iowa falls at camp david.  alice, pat, mike, suzanne, nevaeh, dean, and lynn were also there.  it was very good to see them and visit as the murphys were unable to plan a christmas gathering this year.  i went out to my grandpa’s afterward and chilled with him, dad, laura, dean, and lynn for a bit, and justin stopped in, so i got to see him as well!  (:

me in dad’s glasses.  (:  whatchuthink?

after the christmas eve service, mom and i went out to grandma’s to help get ready for the next day.  we peeled potatoes together, and then we went downstairs and cleaned a bit (sweeping, washing) and set up all the tables and chairs (table cloths, centerpieces, napkins, silverware, etc.)

thank you to all the ladies who wanted to have christmas at grandma’s and volunteered to help set up and to clean up afterwards. . . .

christmas day was one of the best that the vieths have had in a long time (in my opinion.)  it was a great turnout.  let me count how many people were there…

i got 44, and i may have missed some.

this was the day i got to meet lola!, my little niece.  ohhhh, i love this chunk.  i can’t get her face out of  my head.  i love, love, love her face.  i also got to meet lainey, my cousin’s little baby; and i also met eston, another cousin’s baby.  so many babies!

we were blessed to have mike back, and jon was there to see us as well!  ron and connie stopped by to see everyone, as well as little dale and jake, and my grandpa henry and alice even stopped by!

the only people we were missing were kris & family, landon & family, gabe & family, ryan & bunny, aaron and niki, and mitch & nancy, which would be about 16 people (right?)  what would it take to get us all together again?

i wish i would have gotten more pictures on this day…

the murphys (immediate family) celebrated christmas at the hensleys’ in fort dodge.  again, i had a really good time.  we ordered casey’s pizza (i needed it!), sorted through some of grandma mary’s things, opened presents, and played games.

my favorite part was when georgia asked me to read “three billy goats gruff” to her.  i was reading the first page, and madge came along and made herself comfortable on my lap (loved it!), and then ida and val joined for the story as well.  aawwhhh, it just made my heart happy.  i love those kids.  (click HERE to see a picture under the “happy new year!” post.)

another favorite part was playing kwirkle with my dad, laura, lacey, and sarah.  good times.  i love games.

here are a few pictures of the kids hangin’ with their grandpa dave.

i also got to attend the wiseman christmas for a bit and see all of them.  i hadn’t been to that christmas in quite a few years, so this was the first time i got to eat with the adults.  (:

other things i did and enjoyed:  visiting my grandpa, hanging out with andy and lacey while they stayed at mom’s for a few days, getting together with the hensley family (casey’s pizza again!), taking pictures with ceke, pasta night at porters (even though i was sick and half miserable), lunch at randy and teri’s,  annnd i’m sure there are a few things i’m missing.

it felt sooo good to see my family.  it had been a whole year… the longest i’ve ever been away from them.  normally i try to get back to iowa in the summertime, but i was unable to because i had moved from florida to north carolina in march and was jobless for a while, so my circumstances didn’t really allow me to make the trip.  i’m hoping to get back there this july, though, because it’s so hard going that long without seeing everyone!

i didn’t get to see much of my des moines “family” while i was back.  ):  i made it to des moines one day to hang with my girl, whitta, but a headache sent me home early.  …or a glass of wine.  i don’t know.  WHITTA!, i’m really sad about that night!  ):

i was planning on going back to des moines another time before i left, but some bug kept me from making it there.  ):  i was planning on meeting up with megan, jessica, and jennie (and whitta again), but i was too sick to make it.  wahhh.  i miss my friends.  luckily we’re able to skype or facetime, though.  and HOPEFULLY i’ll be seeing ya’ll in july!

so besides getting sick and missing out on some people, i had a really nice time back in iowa.  can’t say i missed “iowa” so much, but it wasn’t so bad given the fact there was NO SNOW on the ground the whole time i was there.  it’s the people that made my trip, though.  (:

here are some more pictures:

val, ivy, madge

ivy, georgia

val, ivy

my ida and me