Sledding

 A few days after Christmas, Mike and I were still home in Manitowoc when we found ourselves with a snowy day and no plans...so we took the girls sledding.

We went to Wilson school and found less than snow-filled hills, but there was enough to do a little sledding.

 Both the girls were very brave and loved the thrill of going down the big hill super fast!

 Juliette carried her own tube up the hill, but little Magdalenne scored a ride.

 A few action shots...

Check out the girls faces on this one...its a little hard to see but both are open wide screaming!!

Mike showed Juliette how you can go down head first!

After Mike rode the sled down the hill standing up "surfer style"...our favorite "me too" girl decided that she too wanted to ride the sled standing up. Here we simulated the activity with me pulling her on flat ground.

Oops...its hard to keep your balance!

She's all right...

Happy Snowy December Day to All!

December 26th - Christmas (again)

The Beehner family graciously offered to move our Christmas morning to the 26th to accommodate all the busy schedules.  So, on the morning of December 26th we curled up in front of a fire, sipped on delicious coffee and enjoyed a Christmas morning gift exchange. 

Mom was informed that her picture was being taken and asked to "smile for the camera" (as you can see Kelley obediently doing)...but apparently the two seconds it requires to take a picture was too long for Mom to hold her pose. Oh well.

Mandy got a ski helmet it all its nerdy glory!

And, everybody's favorite "me too" girl had to try it on once she saw it on Tia Mimi.

 After many more gifts, a delicious breakfast, and a few naps, we packed up again and headed north to the Mleziva family Christmas graciously hosted by Luke and Meaghann Walder.  This is usually a pretty rowdy affair, but this year they stepped it up a notch by including a handle of Fireball (also known as a half gallon).

Luke can be seen distributing some of this now infamous Fireball.

Our wonderful hosts and cousin John - home from Scotland!

Mike and Brian - the groom-to-be!

And a few shots of the rowdy bunch playing bar dice - a December 26th tradition...

I would love to know what Mandy is arguing here! Not the world's best picture, but I included it because Mom is actually looking at the camera!! Woot, woot!

And, that concludes our Christmas celebrations of 2012. It was a wonderful year of family, friends, staying sober at each and everyone of these festivities, and laughing our bloody behinds off.

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day started out wonderfully peaceful and quiet at Mary Ellen's house. We enjoyed delicious cinnamon rolls in front of the fire.  After realizing that the rest of the world was opening Christmas presents, we decided that we would each open one present in preparation for the rest of the day.  It was a heavenly morning...

The troops rolled in and the party got started. Here is James in his Christmas smoking jacket...

Henry was slowly decked out like a construction worker before his final gift of a gigantic CAT excavator was revealed to him at the end of the gift opening...what a surprise!

Lukaszewicz Christmas wouldn't be complete with out some piano-led carols! Mike lead the group in a rousing rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas (and many more) and then the Gerry's followed it up with a few of the songs that little Gerry has mastered.

Pete was keeping a close eye on all of his presents...but took a short break to pose for this picture:

(Almost) everybody was surprised when Santa showed up with a few last minute gifts to hand out to the kids!!

Finally, at the end of our family white elephant exchange - this year's theme "Vintage" - Uncle Chris took home the lamp - seen here ceremoniously bringing it to his car. I hope the lamp finds a good home in the studio, Chris.

Merry Christmas!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

In the days leading up to Christmas, Mandy stopped over for dinner while waiting for Kei's plane to land on his return trip from Mexico. We ended up putting her to work as she was the photographer of our now infamous Christmas card (a blog on that to follow).  After the craziness of our set design and photo shoot, we settled into the family room and Mike pulled out some old photo albums. I just love the picture below of two of my most favorite people just having a quiet moment enjoying each others' company.

Mike and I were trying to savor these quiet moments in our last Christmas without a baby...we celebrated our own little mini-Christmas in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. While we don't look very pretty, we were so completely happy when this picture was taken that I decided to include it.

Then, it was on to Beehner family Christmas Eve at my Grandma Beehner's home. Despite being in an assisted living facility, we made the room full of Christmas joy and had a wonderful dinner together

For the first year ever, we tried a White Elephant gift exchange of books, movies, or music. Here is my Dad receiving the dreaded Life of Elvis two book series that he subsequently tried to get every person to steal away from him.

And a few candid shots of the crowd...

From here, Mike and I drove back to Milwaukee to spend the night at Mary Ellen's house.  Stay tuned for the Christmas day post!!

Packers vs. Detroit on a Cold Night in December

On December 9th, Mike and I traveled to Green Bay to watch the Packers take on the Detroit Lions.  When Mike purchased the tickets back on a hot day in August, we knew the game was in early December but we didn't take notice of the 7pm start time.  When the day finally arrived, it wasn't too bitterly cold, but our Wisconsin weather did bring a flurry of big huge snow flakes!

So, this is what we looked like on that blustery December night. Thanks to my mom's expert advice, I had my feet wrapped in not one but two plastic bags each inside of my boots (which was an absolute lifesaver because they were soaked all the way through by the time we got into Lambeau), snow pants, and (also thanks to Mom) hot packs in my big winter mittens. Mike managed to get his Packer onsie on over his winter coat along with lots of layers underneath. We were ready!!

Mike on the way into Lambeau!

We made it!! Lambeau field...here we are!!!!!

Either the baby is a Packer fan by genetics or liked the noise of the crowd, because it was having a little party in my belly throughout the game. Its crazy to think that next year at this time, we'll be watching the Packers with a little baby in our lives!

It started to get cold by the end, but we were still having fun!

And, the Packers won! All in all, a fantastic, awesome, memorable, amazing night.

Baby Lukaszewicz - Ultrasound Day!

On December 4th, Mike and I made an early morning trip to the doctor's office for our second ultrasound. This one was "the real deal" and we were shocked to find a high definition flat screen TV much larger than the one at our house ready to display our little munchkin.

While we were mainly excited, this is a bit of a nerve-racking day as it is the first time they check the baby head to toe (literally) to make sure that everything is growing and developing properly.

Action Shot!!

The baby was moving around a little bit too much to catch a good image, but here is a white schmear on a screen to remember our exciting morning.

At the end of the visit, the doctor informed us that we have an "okie-dokie"...I think that is medical speak for a healthy, happy baby!!! Now we just have to wait the four more months to meet him or her!!!

Mustache Ride

On November 3rd, Mike and I donned mustaches for the 5th annual Mustache Ride - a bicycle pub crawl in Bay View.  This year I drew mine on - being pregnant on a pub crawl gives you enough reasons to be uncomfortable - I decided I could spare myself the itchy, scratchy mustache this year.

Here is Mike with creator of the Mustache-ride and Baker extraordinaire Rachel Schmidbauer!

She did not opt for the more comfortable mustache option this year.

Rachel surprised me (and the baby) with this custom-designed "Baby's First Mustache Ride" Addition of the Mustache Ride T-shirt:

One of our favorite gals, Katie Bosque, attended and kept the night interesting with an ever-ready hilarious story. This girl literally has more funny things to say than you and ten people can think of together.

No Bay View pubcrawl would be complete without Tots and Dots - a dice betting game that has become a tradition and an excellent reason to drink anytime anyone rolls "DOTS!!!!!"

This year, for the first time ever, Katie took home the massive earnings - a double round - which was promptly spent on shots for the entire group. Classy lady.  It was a wonderful night, until Preggers finally had to call it a night and we left the rest of the night to these crazy peeps.