Thanksgiving Trip Photos

So I posted earlier about going to visit family for Thanksgiving. I am finally getting around to posting pictures. Our family met up with Jake's brother's family and spent time in Branson. These photos are from our trip to Ripley's Believe It or Not.

The Ripley's Building




Rome in Cards



Jake Next to Image of World's Tallest Man



My Turn



Noah and Mina Exploring



Zach and Mina Playing Around at Lunch



Zack Enjoying Time with Daddy

No More Pain in the...........

Work has been going great and I recently got a really nice bonus check at work. We also had a nice income tax refund as well. We kind of use tax time as our savings plan. We have a ton of taxes taken out and then we get a huge check at the end of the year. This year wasn't our biggest, our biggest hit 5 figures once, but it was still really nice.

We took a big chuck of it to pay bills, and then sat around deciding what to do with what was left. We had set aside some money to help family come and see us who couldn't really afford to on their own, but that fell through and now we had more to work with than originally budgeted. We thought about taking a trip to Florida. I was able to get free tickets to Disney World and so we thought that would be nice. However, the more we talked about it, the more spending $6,000 at this point in our lives to go to a theme park seemed a little extravagant. Noah and Mina are only three and would not get as much out of it as they will if we wait. This left us trying to decide what we did want to do.

We have set money aside to spend some time with family in Missouri and Kansas this year. We plan to make at least two trips this year. One of the trips will be to Missouri where Jake's brother lives very close to Branson. We are planning on meeting friends and family from Kansas there and doing the whole tourist thing with them. That should be a lot of fun and will count as our vacation for the year.

As we were discussing it one night, I sat down in our recliner and immediately yelped because the cracked leather pinched my arm and the back of my leg. The recliner is not that old, but every where it has cracked, the babies have slowly picked off the leather and now there are big bald patched all over the arms. It looks awful. At the same time I was yelping, Jake sat on our love seat and there was a lovely "Toing" sound and he sank way down in it. We are guessing a spring broke on the inside. We decided that this is our sign to get some new furniture. Our couch and loveseat that we have now was our first big purchase as a married couple. It took us almost six months to save up the $1,100 dollars for the couch, loveseat, coffee table, two end tables, and two lamps. I was kind of sad to get rid of them....until I rested my toosh on the one we have decided to buy today.

We went to five stores to make sure we found the one we liked at the best price. The kids were as good as gold considering how boring it was. We finally made a decision on the sectional in the picture. The fabric is so soft that it almost feels like a warm blanket. I think the wedge part is going to be very popular for both baby, and cat alike. Because we do not need end tables or lamps, we were able to trade those for the matching recliner. Currently, we only have one recliner. If you figure in that both sides of the new couch and love seat recline, we will now have 5 reclining seats to choose from. That will make movie night with friends much more comfortable! Another added bonus, the store we bought it from thinks our old loveseat can be fixed. They will take the old stuff back to their store, fix it, sell it on consignment, and give us 60% of the sale of it. I know 60% doesn't seem like much, but we were just going to going to give it away when it was broken, so at least we will make a little money off of it.

I am very excited about getting it in, and we had a great day as a family picking it out. My wonderful husband was very patient with me as I shot down selection after selection. I am very blessed to have such a patient and loving husband. The best part? Once it comes in, I can sit on the loveseat without getting a big pain in the.....