Christmas 2010

We left for Galva, KS (where Derek is from) on Thursday the 23rd so we could celebrate his nephews birthday. His actual birthday is the 28th but since we wouldn't be back for it, we had a a little party for him with us.

Christmas Eve we braved Wal-Mart to get some last minute groceries for the dip we were gonna take to our Christmas Eve party. Wal-Mart was luckily not too bad so we were in and out. After that we met one of Derek's friends and his little girl for some Pizza Hut buffet. You can't even eat inside the Pizza Huts in KC let alone have buffet so we have been looking forward to Pizza Hut buffet for awhile not. Fat kids :) After we stuffed our bellies we took it easy all afternoon until it was time to go to the Christmas Eve party at Derek's aunt and uncles. Their house is AMAZING and there was such a great turn out of people, food, and beverages. Even Santa made an appearance! We had a great time and look forward to many more Christmas Eve parties.

Christmas morning we woke up and Santa had come to Derek's parents house. We had a yummy breakfast and then opened presents with his parents, sister, and her family. Our nieces and nephew must have been REALLY good because Santa and grandma and grandpa got them LOTS! We got our Christmas present early when Derek's parents helped us get new furniture but they were nice enough to get us each a North Face jacket too!! We love them! We hated having to leave Derek's family on Christmas but we have to split holidays with each of our families so we packed up and headed to my dads.

Almost my whole dads side of the family plus all my siblings and nephews and niece came to my dads for Christmas. We had an awesome lunch of the traditional ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. After that the kids were ready to open presents. They of course were all spoiled with gifts and all of us kids got money, gift cards, and some other stocking stuffers. Even Elsie and Zoe got some new toys and a Pet Smart gift card! We continued to eat all day, play games (including Paxton's awesome Big Buck Hunter), and drink some wine. We were all exhausted at the end of the day and were all in bed by 10:30!

I left Sunday and went to Atchison with Amy and the kids (Josh and Derek left VERY early Sunday to help out at the bar) for the grand opening of the new Willies! Mom met us there and Amber and Aiden also followed us from Manhattan. The new bar looks awesome and they had a great turnout for Friends and Family. We will definitely be going back since it's only an hour away. We hung out at Willies all day and got to see Madi and Boston, Leslie and DJ, Casey, and other past employees we used to work with. That night Amy and I went back to the hotel to let the dogs out and get the kids in bed and then went back to Willies to drink with Derek and Josh (Harper and Pax stayed with their grandma at the hotel. Don't worry, we didn't leave the dogs to babysit them). We spent Monday recovering and then it was back to work...for me anyway. Derek enjoyed most of this week off. Lucky!

I am SO thankful for my family and although I already consider them my family, I can't wait to officially become a Lorson. We couldn't ask for a better family then the ones we have.

We can almost say...

...we're getting married THIS year! I don't know why it is but the wedding being 4 months away seems SO much closer then when we were 5 months away. I've been saying all along that I'm not going to do awhole lot of the detailed stuff until after the new year and now that the new year is 2 days away, i'm freaking out! Don't get me wrong, I am super excited to get married and become Derek's wife but the whole planning of the wedding isn't my cup of tea. I am seriously thinking about hiring a wedding planner because i'm nervous I will forget small details. Any takers :)

#1 on my to do list is bridesmaid dresses! I think this has been my #1 for the past 5 months but i'm serious this time. My sister and I are actually going to try and go look on Saturday.


#2- Start making the centerpieces. I have a week off in January (could not come at a better time) and I am going to start making the centerpieces. I still need to come up with an idea for anotehr centerpiece. I want half the tables with the centerpiece I am making and the others with something else. HELP!






Centerpiece idea







#3-Order flower girl dresses and go to Manhattan and pick out tuxes

#4-Order invitations. Already have them picked out just need to finalize the wording and order them! Also need to call Colbert Hills and see what time their going to kick us out :)

#5-Decide about linens. Colbert Hills provides white linens but I think I want to spruce up the table and get yellow napkins

#6-Find musicians for the ceremony

#7-If we make a trip to Manhattan this month, we need to meet with either our florist or the pastor. I've made some changes to the flowers and we need to meet with our pastor 3 times before the wedding.

#8 Send in limo agreement






Our ride after the ceremony

Lastly but most importantly, lose weight! I have been going to the gym for a few months now but I really haven't been trying super hard or watching what I eat. Now it's time to get serious and lose weight and tone up!

Ok, I think that's a long enough list for this month. I am hoping to complete these tasks the week I have off in January. Elsie is getting fixed that week so we'll be spending a lot of time at home and I can't wait!


1 thing we can finally check off our list... our honeymoon!!!! Thank you Derek's parents! We decided on El Dorado in Rivieria Maya. I have shown this picture before but now that it's official...here is where we will be spending much of our time







at our swim up room!

The weekend before Christmas

Saturday morning Derek and I got up and around and did our Christmas shopping. I say it every year but for real this time, I am NOT waiting til the weekend before Christmas to do my shopping ever again! Everywhere was packed, they were out of things I wanted, etc. After we rushed around to a few different places I dropped him off at home and headed to my 60 min. massage. Derek got it for me for my birthday (yes, in May) and I finally got around to using it. I absolutely loved it. I told him it was probably a bad idea to give me that because now I want one like every week!

Late that afternoon we met my sister, her boyfriend, nephew Aiden, and mom at my sisters house and all packed into a car and headed to Union Station. They had a polar express exhibit going on so we checked out all the model trains inside Union Station and then headed out to an actual train. It was 4 cars long and each car was decked out in Christmas stuff. It was really neat!

Next on our list was the Plaza. Of course it was PACKED since it was the weekend before Christmas so since there wasn't anywhere to park, they dropped Amber, Aiden, and me off so we could do a carriage ride and they drove away from the crowd and ended up finding a not to packed bar and had a drink while they waited for us. We didn't have to wait too long and got on a group carriage ride (a carriage ride to yourself was $50-70). It was fun to ride around and look at the lights and it even started snowing while we were on it!

After they picked us back up we decided we were way too hungry to wait an hour for a table somewhere on the plaza (it was 7 at this point) so we drove back by where my sister lives and ate at Oklahoma Joe's. My sister and I aren't huge bbq fans but this place was very good. We chowed down on some food, went back to my sisters to get our car and then Derek and I drove through a neighborhood my mom told me about where every.single.house was decorated in Christmas lights. It was beautiful.

Sunday I went with my sister to get Aiden's 2 year pics taken and then we had a fun filled day of baking! Once again, Wal-Mart was out of stuff we needed (a rolling pin and cookie cutters) so we had to run to another store for cookie cutters and improvise on the rolling pin. We made homemade sugar cookies and frosting (we'll stick with easy circle sugar cookies next year), chex mix, peanut brittle, chocolate covered pretzels, and chocolate covered peanut butter crackers. Aiden also tried out his toddler bed for the 1st time while I was over there AND put on his big boy undies for nana and I. He isn't potty trained yet but he looked so adorable in them. We were all exhausted last night but we all had a great weekend together!

1 week from today...

...is Christmas Eve!!! Christmas is my favorite holiday. It's not the gifts that I love (cause I hardly get any now that my siblings and I are older and we would rather not do gifts) but I just LOVE Christmas lights, Christmas music, being together with family, etc. I can't wait to have kids and start traditions with them. One tradition my family does and I want to carry on to my kids is on Christmas Eve, we always got to open 1 present and they were always pajamas. We would all run to put on our new soft pajamas and then watch a movie and lay out cookies and milk for Santa.

This is going to be us one day :)

I am trying to talk Derek into driving around and looking at Christmas lights tonight. We already have plans to eat at Crown Center tomorrow night with my sister, Mike, Aiden, and my mom and then head to the plaza to look at the lights and go on a carriage ride but I want to look at neighborhoods tonight. We'll see if I can talk him into it. I haven't watched any of my favorite holiday movies yet (The Holiday and Elf) so we might have to do that this weekend too. I know your reading this Derek so get excited!

We are heading to his home town on the 23rd for Christmas and a birthday celebration and then heading to my family's Christmas on the 25th. This will be me and Derek's first year having Christmas together and I can't wait! We aren't exchanging gifts because of the wedding but we're going shopping for our families and dogs this weekend and are just going to enjoy being together on Christmas and watching others open our gifts!

Here are some Christmas pics to get everyone in the holiday spirit :)

Little Buckaroos turned 1 and 2

Saturday we had a little buckaroo party for my niece Harper and nephew Aiden. Harper turned 1 on Dec. 9th and Aiden turned 2 on Dec. 12th. My sisters had the party at my sister Amber's house and the kids had a great turn out of family and friends. They aren't spoiled one bit :)

Harper LOVED opening her presents and eating her cake. She has had cake before so she knew what to do. She was digging in before we were even done singing to her! As much as I love my nephews, my sisters and I prayed for a little girl in the family so we could spoil her with all the girly stuff we had when we were little. Let's just say all 3 of us were in heaven walking down the little girl aisles at the store trying to find Harper the perfect gift. She got LOTS of babies, and pink stuff for her birthday. She loves her brothers boy toys so we had to make sure she had some girly toys too!

Aiden didn't really care about opening his presents. He would rather just put on a show for everyone and just stand there looking cute and make everyone laugh. I have no idea what I am going to get this little guy for Christmas because he got everything imaginable for his birthday! He got a big train table, tool set, basketball goal, and lots of other fun toys. Just like Harper, he was all about the cake! He kept sneaking into the kitchen and eating frosting before the party even started! It was funny because Aiden loved playing with Harper's baby dolls (he is going to make an awesome big brother one day, hopefully) and Harper loved playing with his 4 wheeler.

We had a great time with my family over the weekend and loved celebrating Harper and Aiden's birthdays. I love those 2 ssoo much!

(Click to enlarge collage)

Engagement slideshow!!

I am SO happy with our engagement slideshow. Don't forget to turn your volume up!

http://meysenburgphotography.myshowit.com/lorsonlong_engagement_2010/index.html

5 months

I can hardly believe that in 5 months we will be getting married!! I was up from 2-3:30am last night thinking about all that I have to get done in just 5 months. I didn't think I would start panicking till after the 1st of the year but after going to my cousins wedding last weekend, I am realizing how much stuff I still need to do!

BRIDESMAID DRESSES!! I never thought that I would be this close to the wedding and still not have bridesmaid dresses! The gray I am wanting them to be is VERY hard to come by. I am hopefully going to go dress shopping Saturday.

Flower girl dresses-I think I have found the one I want, need to order it (x3)

Invitations-I have already found the ones I want and the website said they ship in 2-3 days so I am not going to order them till beginning of January so I can have them mailed out in Feb or March

Linens-This is a new one on the list. Our reception venue has white tablecloths and napkins but now I think I want some color on the table so I am thinking about either getting colored tablecloths OR colored napkins

Centerpieces-I know what I want to do for half the tables but I am not sure about the other half. I LOVED my cousins centerpieces but they rented them and I haven't been able to find anywhere around Manhattan that rents them

Church music- The pastor gave me a list of musicians, I just need to start calling them!

Videographer-I thought I had just decided against having a videographer because I can only find super expensive ones but the more I think about it, the more I really want someone their capturing our wedding day

Honeymoon-Need to get it booked (we should probably decided where we want to go as well) and get our passports

I think that's my list for now. There are a lot of little things (candelabra, unity candle, etc) that needs to still be done but I am thinking I can put that off till at least Feb :)

5 months to go!

Thanksgiving break

Last Wednesday afternoon, Derek, myself, Elsie, my brother Tony, and my mom piled into my car and headed to my aunt and uncles in Springfield, MO. When we were about an hour away we hear on the radio that there are tornados! We quickly call my aunt and uncle and they said the tornadoes were very close to us but we should be ok. Tornadoes in November?! Who woulda thought! We made it safe and sound to their house and had some beverages and just caught up with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins.

Thursday most of the house slept in and then we just relaxed until we had our amazing Thanksgiving feast at 3:00 (we had to wait for my cousin and his girlfriend to get back from her familys Thanksgiving). It went from tornadoes the night before to freezing rain and sleet on Thursday. Only in Kansas! A few people napped while everyone else just layed around after stuffing our bellies. That evening we had a fun night of poker and rock band!

Friday some of us did some shopping and running errands for the wedding. My sisters and their families arrived that afternoon and most of us headed to the wedding rehearsal. After the rehearsal we all went to the rehearsal dinner at Big Whiskeys. We watched the wedding video my aunt did so well on and then played darts and card games (all while drinking of course).

(click collage to enlarge)

Saturday was the wedding so my cousin Kayla (the bride), my aunt, mom, grandma, and me headed to the salon to get our hair done with the other bridesmaids. Us girls spent the day getting ready and taking pictures and then had an awesome time at the wedding. My aunt and cousin did such an amazing job on the wedding and my cousin looked SO beautiful. It's gonna be a hard wedding to beat! We drank and danced till about 1am then all headed back to my aunt and uncles to sleep before heading home the next morning.

(Click collage to enlarge)

I am one exhausted girl today! I think I needed 1 more day of recovery before having to chase after the twins (yes, 1 is FINALLY crawling)! Early bedtime tonight!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Friday night Derek and I (with the help of my mom) put our Christmas tree up! I know it's early but I love Christmas season and I just don't think waiting till after Thanksgiving to put up the tree gives me enough time to admire its beauty :)I already had some red bulbs I had got on sale after Christmas last year so I decided to do the tradional red and green on our Christmas tree. I don't have a very good pic of it because the lights on the tree were on so I'll have to take some more during the day.
Hopefully next year we will have a house and Derek can do this...

Our photographer is still working on getting ALL our pictures up on an online gallery and sending me a slideshow but Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE Christmas cards to bloggers! I decided that since we didn't do save the dates, I am going to do Christmas cards so we will atleast get some use out of our engagement pics! Here are a few or the 748 they offer that I like (and yes, I went through them ALL):

Go to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery to look at all their Christmas cards. Even if you don't have a blog, you can still get these cards for a very reasonable price. They have flat ones, folded ones, etc and you can put just 1 picture or numerous pictures on there. And if your already busy baking cookies, buying Christmas presents, etc, Shutterfly will stamp and mail them for you! I need this kind of deal for my wedding invitations! I'm so excited to do ours and hope to start a tradition for us. Hopefully next year at this time we'll have a little one on the way :)

I can't wait to go down to the Plaza and look at all the lights and maybe talk Derek into taking me on a carriage ride!

37 days 'til Christmas!!

Birthdays 1&2 of 5

Derek and I have 6 amazing nieces and nephews that we love SO much but they are going to make their auntie and uncle go broke! Between the 6 of them, 5 of them are born in November and December! Some within days apart! It makes birthday parties a little easier cause we can knock out 2 in one weekend but of all the months of the year, why oh why do our sisters feel the need to have babies RIGHT before Christmas (or a couple days after for 1 of them). It's a good thing their all so cute!

Last weekend we headed to Halle's 3rd birthday on Saturday. It was Little Mermaid theme and she had an adorable Little Mermaid cake and decorations. I'm so mad because my sister had my camera so I only got a couple pictures on my phone. We had a good time celebrating with Derek's friends and family and can't wait to see Halle in the K-State cheerleading outfit we got her!

After Halle's party we headed to El Dorado because my sister needed us to watch the kids while her and her husband went to a concert Saturday night. Sunday was Paxton's 3rd birthday party and he had a fishing theme party. My sister did an awesome job on his cupcakes and the decorations. Derek and I got him some clothes and a train set that he had set up before we even left. I think Harper maybe liked it more then him!

*Derek and I WILL not (unless it happens unexpectedly) have a baby in the months of November or December. The 6th niece has a birthday in Feb. so we are shooting for April-Sep*

Other pics from the weekend:

Next birthday: Harper's 1st!! Here is a preview of her outfit (1 of them). Her and Aiden are born 3 days apart so they are having a conjoined little buckaroo party. Harper will be wearing cowboy boots instead of these leggings.