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.