It’s no South African Christmas but still…

As the Christmas time approaches in the USA I couldn’t help but think of my Christmas adventure last year. The adventure that involved a lot of travel time, many friends and family members and of course braais, biltong and the sun!

Christmas eve lunch with friends

 Hmm, I almost forgot Tyler's tradition of Merry Kruegers Christmas. We all met up at Kruegers to visit friends and have a free buffet lunch before heading to separate family celebrations. We played darts and shuffle board, it was so great to see friends that we hadn't seen in a while.

Tyler's nephew Hunter

However this year I am in the USA for Christmas which means there will be friends, Tyler’s family and cold freezing weather. We started our Christmas season by visiting Tyler’s maternal gran, where we celebrated with aunts, uncles and cousins from that side of the family.

Next we went to Tyler’s mom, for Christmas Eve. The evening started with a church service which was a small look into what life into the Augustin/Brunner household must have been like growing up. Tyler talked through the service, his sisters argued about stuff and his mom gave them the “you-better-behave” stare. Hopefully everyone listened up long enough to something.

One of Tyler's present from me :D

Then we went over to Tyler’s mom’s house where we opened presents and ate a wonderful dinner.  Unfortunately I had previously told Tyler I was thinking of buying a sewing machine (which I eventually did) but unbeknownst to me, he told his mom…who brought me a sewing machine. It was a wonderful gift, but since I already had one I had the awkward moment of “now what do I do?” Luckily she totally understood, and had the gift receipt so it was easy to exchange.

Kids and Christmas!

I woke up on Christmas morning excited to see the kid’s reactions to the presents. They were as expected, super excited and ready to open up every wrapped gift in sight regardless of whom it belonged to.  I received some very nice gifts courtesy of my host family and their family including a whole filled with scrapbook, stamping and craft accessories, warm winter gear and jewelry.

Cute kids!!!

Later on that day, Tyler and I went to him paternal aunt’s house for Christmas with his dad. It was great to see everyone and celebrate the season with them.

All the girls: Amy (Tyler's sister), Becky, Amanda and Jenny (Tyler's cousins)  me and Jessica (Tyler's cousin's girlfriend) 

So this holiday marks the 1 year mark of my co-blogging with Robyn… I am just excited to have not been kicked off. As for the holiday itself its exactly like the South African holiday that I experienced, tons of food, tons of drinks, tons of gifts, friends, and family. There is just one major difference, it is EXTREMELY cold here. For example it was -34C here just last week, so while that is just one difference it has a BIG effect. Luckily it did snow this year for Christmas so we were able to enjoy a white Christmas. Unfortunately we were unable to make it to South Africa for this Christmas, but I am hoping we can make it back soon!

Eat…Sleep…Repeat…

Tyler and I celebrated more than one Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated (and ate) with Tyler’s dad and step mom in the early afternoon; later that day we embraced a “host family” thanksgiving which was really good. Two days later Tyler attended his mom’s thanksgiving (I worked) and finally we joined some friends for a friend’s thanksgiving/house warming party.

My thanksgiving turkey :)

Thanksgiving is always tons of food and tons of fun. Yah for fattening American holidays!

I think the meaning of Thanksgiving has been lost on most Americans, in fact I would imagine if you asked them what the history of the holiday is and why we had it many of them would not know. Robyn tested me on this and I was able to recite to her the meaning J, that being said I would be curious if folks in other countries feel the same way about some of their holidays, it just seems over the years some people forget why we do things as the actual event that created the holiday becomes dated. 

However the food was great and it is always a good time to gather with family and friends and have a feast!

Induction ceremony

I was recently accepted into two honour societies through MATC. The one is the National Technical Honor Society and the other is Phi Theta Kappa. The school holds a ceremony for all the inductees. Tyler, his Mom (Mary), step dad (Max), Dave and Amanda all came to support me.

We had to light a candle and say the pledge, which of course included someone about America. So, Tyler asked me if I had said South Africa instead. Ugh.

It was a nice ceremony though, and I got some lovely certificates.

It was neat to go and be able to watch the ceremony, I am proud of Robyn for her dedication to her school work and her persistence to keep up with all the work that comes with school. Having finished my degree I know the kind of work that goes into accomplishing something like this, and on top of that she also works full time which is impressive. The even more impressive part is that she has managed to keep her grades at the top of her class, which is something that I never did. 

Quirky Kids...

Kids have the habit of saying some of the funniest things, such as...

Braden was in the bathroom the other day, pants next to him on the floor. Underwear still on...and wet. I asked him if he peed in his pants he told me yes...I asked where (as in where he was when it happened, you have to watch out for puddles, ya know!) He replied it don't matter RaRa, it all melted away... (as in it had dried up...YUCK!)

Another Finn peed in his pants (ah, I love potty training) and when I asked why, he replied "I don't know know, the pee made me do it..."

Finn has a Superman shirt which he LOVES, unfortunately the other day when he went to pee he didn't realize it's kind of a big shirt and he never lifted it up which resulted on him peeing on his own shirt. I told him he had to take it off, and boy did that cause issues...

While at the nature center the one day Finn told me he could see all the ipads...I looked around very confused until I realized he meant lilly pads...technology is corrupting kids!

Braden randomly remarked the other day that "my penis is so old." I have NO idea what this means or why he said it, but it made me laugh.

Finn, "Rara, why are you drinking milk?"
Me, "Er, cos I'm thirsty?"
Finn, "But you should rather drink wine." (Is that permission from a 3 year old?)

Finn's favourite thing to say is "very know" as in "I very know RaRa." So whenever I tell him something that is his reply, and I go through the moral dilemma of correcting him, or leaving it cos it's pretty cute.

Braden while playing with my hair the other day, suddenly started spitting. I asked him what the deal was and he said, "I got close to you, then I bited your hair off..." EW!

While talking about birthdays (AJ just turned 6!) Braden was telling me alll about what type of birthday party he is going to have. I asked if I was invited to his party and he said sure, then asked when my birthday was and if he could come. I replied, "25 January, are you free that day?" He told me, "No, I'm actually five." Even though he is only three.

The other day Braden told me that sometimes it rains when the sun is shining, I told him we call that a monkeys wedding, since monkeys are so silly. Later I walked up the bike rather and Braden turned to me, Rara did you walk up that path. I told him I had, and asked if it was silly, and he said yes that's why we call it a monkey path...HAHA

When I drive the boys home from school I get to hear the cutest things such as...
Braden, "God doesn't need a car."
Finn, "No, cos he can fly."
Braden, "Yeah, but that's cos he has a cape"

Braden, "Oh no Rara."
Me, "What''s wrong Braden?
Braden, "Well that boy lost Anna. he said we are going to lose her."

*While listening to the state song and hearing Louisiana*

Finn, "Why are we gone?"
Me, "What do you mean?"
Finn, " It said are you gone?"

*While listening to the state song and hearing Oregon."

Braden, "Did you know there is a Old York?"
Finn, "Yeah"
Braden, "But this song is about the New New York."

*While listening to 'New York, New York."

Pumpkin Carving

Any time you get 6 “big” kids together, give them knifes and spoons…you know it’s going to get messy! And that is how we spent most our night at Patrick and Jenny’s pumpkin carving party. After going our selecting only the best pumpkins we could find, we all decided on what designs we would aspire to carve into our pumpkins.

Preparing :)

We also saved the seeds, and gave the guys the job of roasting them, since they all finished their designs in about 20 minutes. The guys got creative and we ended up with about 6 different flavours of seeds. Yummy!

Mine is the second to last, and Tyler's is last :)

Patrick and Jenny also hosted a cookie making party. They were so prepared and even made the dough the day before, but when we arrived we found out that refrigerated dough is a lot harder than expected. Plan B was then to send Jenny and I to the shop again to buy more ingredients, and remake a batch of dough. 

The beginning

Tyler was set on warming up the first batch. So, by the time we were done we had way more cookies than expected, since the recipe had already been doubled.  The cookies were meant to be Christmas themed, however I could not help but make a few T-Rex, cowboy boots, and bid foot shaped cookies!

Cookies!!!

The pumpkin carving affair was quite the show, I think the guys finished their pumpkins in about 10-15 minutes, while the girls easily took twice that as they were set on more intricate designs. I guess you can tell who the creative ones are…

Boys "working" hard

As for cookies my job was mainly just to sit and look pretty, something I do VERY well :P … they gave me something simple that I could not screw up even if I tried, which is good because my baking skills are very limited. The good news is that I was able to be a taste tester at the end which is also something I do VERY well. 

Go Pack Go!!!

Tyler promised me that he would arrange a Packers game for him and I to see...it took a year and a half but finally we were able align schedules and find a good game to attend.

I had no Packer gear and since the Packers are basically a religion in Wisconsin, I knew I had to get kitted up. Tyler told me he would arrange something since I had to work the whole week.

Boy did he arrange the perfect Packers outfit. Although it must be said that is is really cold in Green Bay at this time of year, which means you have to not only try represent your team and try to look cute, but you have to bundle up too. So every pee break included a 10 minute undressing period, then a 10 minute redressing period. I had to pull up my stockings, tuck in my tee shirt and long sleeve shirt, pull up my jeans, then tuck in my jacket, my over sized tee shirt, and lastly fasten my overalls.

Me with Amy (Tyler's sister) and Amanda (Tyler's cousin)

Tyler and I at the game

Walking into the game was amazing it there was a SEA of green and gold. So many die hard fans (one was even in a speedo and body paint, he must have been FREEZING!) Once seated in our metal seats (great for the cold...NOT) we prepared ourselves for the opening 'ceremonies'. These involve the American national anthem, a fly over and even a tribute to the veterans. After the anthem we were told to lift up the cardboard that was under our seats, I had a blue one. Each one had a cut out for you to look out of. The whole stadium was bathed in red, white and blue, with stars and stripes and the words 'thank you veterans'. It was pretty amazing to be apart of it.

Thank you veterans

The game was pretty good, I tried to shout at all the appropriate time, not ask too many silly questions and to argue with the refs at crucial times. You know, the important stuff.

Packers won the game so it's safe to say my first experience was pretty amazing!!! The Pack attack is back!!!

Packers vs. Cardinals

Organizing this outing was less about getting our schedules right and more about finding the right game at the right time for the right price. After the Packers won the championship a couple years ago tickets soared through the roof. Face price for one ticket is only $70 (or R 630) which is pricey, but isn't completely ridiculous. The issue with Packers tickets is though that the Packers have sold out every single game since 1960, that is an NFL record. Lambeau Field holds about 73,000 fans for each game, and every single seat in the stadium is owned by a season ticket holder which means that if you want tickets you need to buy from someone who has them, and they NEVER sell them at face price. You’d think the solution is simple, just get season tickets right? Well there is a waiting list of 82,000 people and it would take about 30+ years to get said tickets if you were to sign up today… if that doesn't give you an idea of how popular the Packers are in the state of Wisconsin I don’t know what will. All told once we finally got our tickets we ended up paying $300 for both tickets (or R 2,700.)

Tyler and I with two crazy fans (yes, they are wearing carved pumpkins on their heads)

Now as for the gear I didn't originally intend to come away with such an epic outfit, but I was wandering through a local store trying to find something that Robyn could wear but knowing it was going to be cold I had to find her something she could wear over a heavy winter coat, that is the issue with Packers games, if you just by a regular T-shirt nobody will see it because you will be wearing a winter coat over it, so you have to be creative and I would say these outfits were pretty darn creative!

As for the game itself, there is absolutely no better way to watch American football than to do so in Lambeau Field, the atmosphere is second to none and I get chills every time I walk into that stadium. The salute to the veterans was a special tribute that they did for the game we were there (Veterans day was the day before), it was really neat to see that because it isn't something they do every game. The ceremonies set the tone perfectly for the game, the Packers won in convincing fashion over the Arizona Cardinals, and while it was cold it wasn't entirely unbearable, it could have been MUCH worse. It was a great experience and one I was super excited to share with my girlfriend, now I will begin working on getting to another one!

Trick or Treat

So, It’s been way to long since I last blogged, and for this I apologize. The end of a semester is always hectic! Halloween is one of my favourite holidays since the kids absolutely love it! This year I decided to step away from the costume and remain stationary handing out candy to dinosaurs, wizards and cupcake clothed kids.

This was the first year the boys really got the concept and were extremely excited to dress up as Batman (Braden) and Superman (Finn). Annabel dressed as the spider queen, equipped with a “pet” spider on a leash.

Neighbourhood kids

The kids loved visiting all the houses and of course collecting candy!

Halloween with the kiddies :)

Tyler and I did attend a Halloween party at his mother’s house. I dressed as the tooth fairy and was able to reuse some pieces from previous years. Tyler wore a snuggi (baby carrier) with a pillow named Sugar in it …Sugar Daddy.

Bonfire, Candy Floss, Tooth fairy and a Sugar daddy!

Fun night spent around the bonfire, even if it is a little cold in Autumn.

Did I forget to mention Tyler's mom (Mary) went as a bloody Mary?  haha

We shopped for awhile trying to think of different Halloween costumes to wear, unfortunately the costumes are always super expensive, or as is the case for females the costumes are a bit shall we say revealing… yet still expensive. 

Given this we decided to just make our own and that way we were able to be creative and yet still stay warm, because after all this Halloween party was outdoors and by October in Wisconsin things are already starting to get a little cold. Usually in October it can get to about 32F or 0C by night time so its important to keep that in mind when choosing a costume. 

All of this being said, this is probably the first time in many years that I have actually worn a costume, I have never been much of a fan of Halloween, but my girlfriend convinced me to play along and it was a lot of fun!

Leaves are falling...so are temperatures

Tyler, Tamryn and I decided to take a drive up to Holy Hill, which is a beautiful place to see the leaves changing. Here are a few of our pictures...

Tyler and I

So pretty

The sun started setting

Part of the church

Stain glass windows

My TyTy

More sunset

Pretty trees, with amazing leaves

Love the colours

The arch on the way to Holy Hill

The columns of the church

Re-State-ing the facts :)

The final count :)

Alabama	Alaska	Arizona	Arkansas
California	Colorado	Connecticut	Delaware
Florida	Georgia	Hawaii	Idaho
Illinois	Indiana	Iowa	Kansas
Kentucky	Louisiana	Maine	Maryland
Massachusetts	Michigan	Minnesota	Mississippi
Missouri	Montana	Nebraska	Nevada
New Hampshire	New Jersey	New Mexico	New York
North Carolina	North Dakota	Ohio	Oklahoma
Oregon	Pennsylvania	Rhode Island	South Carolina
South Dakota	Tennessee	Texas	Utah
Vermont	Virginia	Washington	West Virginia
Wisconsin	Wyoming

My NEW official count is 41/50...now that's what I'm talking about! (Although I would prefer an A) ;)

Unmotivated Days...

So I have a TON of blogging to catch up on...

and I promise to keep on but for now this is keeping me going and what I'm sticking to...

Dinner plans…

We decided not to go out for dinner and ordered in Chinese instead, which was the best decision ever since we were tired of being the car by this stage.

The next day we went out and explored Omaha a little, and even found a bridge that connects Iowa and Nebraska. It was really cool (however, not as cool as a place named after two states.)

After all that fun we started on the long trek back to Milwaukee, after another successful road trip.

Ordering Chinese food to our hotel room was the best decision EVER! After all of that driving and going out and being so busy it was nice to have something delivered right to us so we could just sit in bed and watch movies.

The next day when we got out to see Omaha I was honestly impressed, it is not a great tourist town as they don’t have a lot of stuff to go visit or see, however as a place to live I would say it looked like one of the better places we have seen, it was clean, had a nice downtown with lots of nice restaurants and shops, and everyone seemed very friendly,  I give Omaha an A!

Welcome!

Two places at once...on a bridge!

Omaha, NE

OK City…

We drove through OK City and stopped to see the Memorial for the 1995 Oklahoma city bombing. The memorial is so beautiful, yet the story is so sad. Below I have included the explanation of the memorial…

http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/secondary.php?section=2&catid=30

Gates of Time

These monumental twin gates frame the moment of destruction – 9:02 a.m. – and mark the formal entrances to the Memorial. The East Gate represents 9:01 a.m. on April 19, and the innocence of the city before the attack. The West Gate represents 9:03 a.m., the moment we were changed forever, and the hope that came from the horror in the moments and days following the bombing.

Reflecting Pool

The pool occupies what was once N.W. Fifth Street. Here, a shallow depth of gently flowing water helps soothe wounds, with calming sounds providing a peaceful setting for quiet thoughts. The placid surface shows the reflection of someone changed forever by their visit to the Memorial.

Field of Empty Chairs

The 168 chairs represent the lives taken on April 19, 1995. They stand in nine rows to represent each floor of the building, and each chair bears the name of someone killed on that floor. Nineteen smaller chairs stand for the children. The field is located on the footprint of the Murrah Building.

Survivor Wall

On the east end of the Memorial stand the only remaining walls from the Murrah Building. These walls remind us of those who survived the terrorist attack, many with serious injuries. Today, more than 600 names are inscribed on salvaged pieces of granite from the Murrah Building lobby.

The Survivor Tree

The Survivor Tree, an American Elm, bore witness to the violence of April 19, 1995, and withstood the full force of the attack. Years later, it continues to stand as a living symbol of resilience. The circular promontory surrounding the tree offers a place for gathering and viewing the Memorial.

Rescuers' Orchard

Like the people who rushed in to help, this army of nut- and flower-bearing trees surrounds and protects the Survivor Tree. An inscription encircling the Survivor Tree facing the orchard reads: To the courageous and caring who responded from near and far, we offer our eternal gratitude, as a thank you to the thousands of rescuers and volunteers who helped.

Children's Area

In the aftermath of the blast, children from around the country and the world sent in their own expressions of encouragement and love. That care is represented today by a wall of tiles painted by children and sent to Oklahoma City in 1995. In addition, buckets of chalk and chalkboards built into the ground of the Children's Area give children a place where they can continue to share their feelings -- an important component of the healing process.

The Fence

The first Fence was installed to protect the site of the Murrah Building. Almost immediately, people began to leave tokens of love and hope on the Fence. Those items now total more than 60,000 and are collected and preserved in our archives. Today, more than 200 feet of the original Fence gives people the opportunity to leave tokens of remembrance and hope.

We also visited the State Capitol and the area called Bricktown.

Then we went to Earl’s ribs for lunch, it was delicious and super messy! Tyler was given a discount since he was wearing a Menomonee Falls Firefighters shirt, and the server thought he was a fireman. LOL

Now, onto Omaha, NE (Nebraska)…let’s go!

The Oklahoma City Bombing memorial was absolutely beautiful, it was a bit surreal for me because growing up in this country I remember the day that it happened and hearing the news and seeing all the photos. It is one of those things that as a kid those images are just stuck in your head forever. It is sad that at the time I was 8 years old and I can’t remember anything else from when I was 8 but those images are clear as day. Being at the actual site where everything happened gave me chills, but it was very neat to see that they had turned the area into a beautiful quiet area where people could go to reflect and feel at peace.

On a positive note Earl’s Rib’s was fantastic, I had read about the place online and knew that we had to stop. If anyone is a regular reader of our blog you will know that I have a soft spot for southern barbecue. 

The Capitol