Christmas at Grandma's

...is always a good time. How could you not, we're the Bontragers! :) Yesterday was our annual Christmas get-together at Grandma Bertha's house. We started the day with breakfast at the Essenhaus, followed by presents, food, clay pigeon target practice, food, cards, food and more food all afternoon! We had a great time, almost all the cousins were there which was a feat in itself! In Grandma's letter this year, she mentioned that there are 10 grandkids in college this year. Now that I cannot believe! I feel old. Oh well :) I'm just glad to be out of school and to be done with procrastinating my papers, laundry and sleep!

Below you'll see a wide array of photos from yesterday's festivities!

















Aren't we so cute?

For more of this, click on Matt & Amber's Photo's link to the right! (Under the title Blogs & Photos)


And as a side note, Matt & my "Griswold family Christmas tree" has flourished to a beautiful Christmas tree! I LOVE IT!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas tree...

Christmas fever has hit the Gorsuch house! Yesterday, Matt & I ventured into Eby's pine tree farm in search of our perfect Frasier Fir. Unfortunately, the night before, we had a lot of freezing rain over the 4 inches of snow that we already had... so let's just say that made our job of walking through the trees and icy snow and finding "the one" wasn't the easiest thing in the world... but...







We found it!











Here is Matt after victoriously chopping down the tree....







And then after I asked Matt if the tree was "de-squirrelled"... we put the tree on its stand in the basement only to find out we got a tree that was a little too tall! Griswold family Christmas... here we come! Luckily it was an easy fix.


I was glad that Matt & I were able to do this. I haven't gone on the prowl for a real Christmas tree for a long time. I felt like a little kid again and had a great time!

Blessings

So I was thinking this week how many blessings I have in my life. I have a job, a family and close friends - all of which drive me crazy at times, but I have them all in my life and they're all basically stable and keep me grounded.

I was also reminded this week of how much time can pass in a year. Matt's sister, Kelly, her husband, Tony, and their son Drew came to visit us this last week for a few days. It was awesome to have them here, even though it was for a few days... but since the last time I saw them, I believe Drew literally grew a whole head taller! He has also become Matt's #1 fan - I think he was a little disappointed when I was the first one he got to see on Tuesday after I got back from work and we had to tell him that Uncle Matt wasn't coming home for a few more hours. All he could say all night is "Uncle Matt, Uncle Matt!" We even kept him up way past his bedtime to make sure he saw Uncle Matt!! Over the last 6 months, Drew has had a huge improvement in his speech and development, which has been an amazing transformation - especially with the simple fact that I don't get to see him very often and with the time that passes, his progress amazes me.

Below are a couple of photos from their visit.. good times!
Uncle Matt & his #1 fan

Uncle Matt teaching Drew all about bow fishing. Poor child has no chance.

2 years today

Hello to anyone reading this! This is going to be short and sweet because I am in Louisville, KY., in my hotel room completely EXHAUSTED from the first day at the show. I (Amber) got here on Saturday afternoon and have been on my feet basically non-stop on cement. It's been intense, but good. The only thing that really stinks is that my husband is in Indiana and I'm in Kentucky.... oh and today is our anniversary.

MY HUSBAND ROCKS by the way. Even though we're not together, check this out! He still finds ways to sweep me off my feet, even though we're 500(ish) miles apart.

Even though we're not together now, this weekend Matt & I are heading to Chicago to see Wicked and have a nice weekend, just us celebrating us. I'm so excited.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I need to get to bed, but I will try to post soon!

Matt got Scrooged

You'll see some moves you probably didn't know he had in him :) Watch here!!!

Oh, and my little sis has made me proud... check this out!!!.

WE'VE BEEN ELFED!

Check out our bad selves: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9561343006. I LOVE THIS! My sister-in-law Kelly got me onto this and so far it's inspired myself and Jeni and who knows who else. hahaha!

Also - last night we got to go to dinner with my parents and Ethan... that boy always keeps my husband occupied and all of us entertained... as you can tell by the picture!

Not a whole lot is new with us... we are heading to Canada tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with Dar & Paul & the Troyer family. We'll come back Friday and from there I'll head to Louisville, KY for the National RV Show - my second time now... it's going to be a crazy week. Oh and while I'm gone for a week for the show, Matt & I will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary in separate states. We will, however, be heading to Chicago after I get back to see Wicked to "officially" celebrate our anniversary!

Fun times.

Comic relief

I think it's amazing how stressed I can get at work sometimes... but can always seem to find ways to relieve my stress and make myself laugh. Unfortunately for Charlie, he typically gets to be the butt of my stress relief... as you can see by this picture! :) I guess I'm thankful for a patient dog!

I want to give props to my aunt Cindy for starting her FIRST blog!!! Her link is on my blog now... Check it out! Yeah for life on Amish Highway 35! That's our big girl :)

The Gorsuch's go GREEN

OK, so we're not really "green" like the world has commercialized that word - this is our new GREEN re-designed blog. Also, this picture is Matt showing us his green side :)

I've officially re-committed to take this thing seriously, keep it updated and not throw it on the back burner. Matt & I are discovering how difficult it is to keep up with everyone that we don't see on a daily basis... and this is our solution!

I hope you like it.... make sure you take note of the new address: thegorsuchfamily.blogspot.com. As always, we love to get email.. "our" email address is: gorsuch2005@gmail.com. We love you guys!

Our life... almost 2 years later

Wow! Matt & I are coming up on our 2 year anniversary and I haven't updated this thing for about a year... crazy how time flies huh?

Well, since last year, Matt & I were blessed to get a trip to China on the Jayco dealer trip, we have finished our basement and love it, entered the new century and got DSL and wireless internet, got a new cat, Matt got a new fishing boat and in April we took our first cruise together. Kim had her third child, Addison, and Katy got married to Jacob - both in the same weekend! Matt also started a new career as an electrical apprentice the he is thoroughly enjoying! The amount he learns (and loves to share with me) has been pretty cool since July.

Somewhere between all of that we've had a few trips to North Carolina, visited friends in Indy and went to a few Notre Dame games. We've had a great year and are looking forward to the coming year and new challenges that await.

For Thanksgiving this year we're heading north of the border to Canada to spend time with Paul, Dar & the family. For Christmas we will be in North Carolina spending some great quality time with Matt's family in his parent's new house! They just moved closer to their work which is a huge blessing for them! New Year's eve we'll have the "Bontrager Christmas" as mom & dad will be in Florida for Christmas. It's a great family time of the year and we can't wait!

Well, I think that's it for now... I know it's not a huge update, but it's a step closer to the more frequent updates I'm commiting myself to! Let us know how you're doing, we love hearing from everyone!