DMU Winter Gala

 Last minute we decided to go the DMU Winter Gala, or "medical school prom." I am glad we did! It was a fun night of getting dressed up, going out to eat, dancing, and eating yummy treats.   We went to Olive Garden before and then headed downtown to the Veteran's Convention Center for some dessert and dancing.  It was fun to meet all of Andrew's school friends and see some our friends from church too.  Thanks Andrew for a fun night! :)

The Smith's:

 Kim and Todd:

 And of course the fabulous Bell's:

Yum!

Also, as I do teach first grade, it was recently Dr. Seuss's birthday and this year's theme was The Lorax, since the new movie is out.  It was fun to read all the Dr. Seuss books and do some fun Dr. Seuss activities.  Andrew has missed out on the fabulous writing of Dr. Seuss as a child and I have had to introduce it to him.

Happy Dr. Seuss Day from me and the Lorax.  :)

Andrew

Andrew has gotten into these crazy shows lately. (I have to admit they are quite addicting, but I am in awe that these are REAL people!)

Here is the list:
Swamp People
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Billy the Exterminator
Gator Boys
River Monsters

With the season 3 premier of Swamp People starting this week it got Andrew in the mood to really experience the deep south and Cajun lifestyle of Louisiana. He really wanted to try Alligator. He googled restaurants that served it, and to my surprise there was one close by: Jethro's BBQ n' Jambalaya. So of course we had to take a spontaneous trip to get gator for dinner.

The original Jethro's is downtown which we tried when we first moved here, except that one doesn't have gator: http://ashleyandandrewgraff.blogspot.com/2010/10/man-v-food.html

I was not brave enough to order 'gator' but my pulled pork sandwich was sure yummy. Here are some pictures of Andrew's crispy fried gator sandwich with creamy jalapeno corn. Wow! Our waitress told us that their gator is much better than other alligator because they soak it in buttermilk so it is not as chewy (what?! who knows how gator is 'normally'.) I admit I tried it too so I could say I did. It is like fish mixed with chicken in my opinion. A little weird, but Andrew liked it.

Iowa Energy!

The Iowa Energy are the feeder team for the NBA here in Des Moines.  It was Military Appreciation Day, so Andrew got free tickets to a game.  It was Quin's birthday, so we decided to invite them to join us.   At first it was the worst basketball we have ever seen!  However, we decided to stick it out and it got really exciting at the end, we barely won AND we got free pizza from Dahl's because the Energy got over 110 points!  Yay for free tickets, free pizza, and fun friends!

The mascot: Surge

 I was digging the "military" uniforms for Military Appreciation Day! :)

Iowa is known for its corn and caucuses

Iowa is an exciting place to live during any presidential election year!   This year we are electing a Republican to run against President Obama in November.  Iowa is the first state to have a caucus or primary, so all eyes were on us in January.   We got lots of phone calls and mail telling us where to vote and who to vote for. 

Andrew's cousin, Hans, is a lawyer from Omaha on the Mitt Romney campaign.  He invited Andrew to go with him to see the action at UNI and look for any "foul play."   Andrew got to meet several candidates (Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachman) and got to Mitt Romney's "after party" to hear him speak.  Mitt Romney squeezed by with a win of only 8 votes to Rick Santorum.  (However, a recount said Santorum won by 22)

Michelle Bachman:

Newt Gingrich:

 Andrew and Hans above all the action:

 At Mitt Romney's after party celebration giving his victory speech:

 Look at all that press!

I didn't go with Andrew, but I did go with our friends the Bauer's to the Caucus to vote for our precinct--number 315!   It was interesting to see how it all worked.  Each candidate had a representative speak in their behalf for 3 minutes and then we all hand wrote who we wanted for president on a slip of paper and they counted them up and announced a winner.   Romney won by a landslide (46%) in our precinct! I is surely an experience I will never forget and makes me grateful to live in a country where we can choose our leaders.  What a fun and exciting night!

2011- in review

January-Holiday's with the Matekel's, Andrew started his second semester of med school.

February-We experienced our first Iowa winter!  It definitely is colder here with the coldest I've ever felt at  negative 30 and a buried car! brrrrrrr!

March-road trip for spring break to Colorado Springs, Tooele, and St. George.

April- Andrew turned 25!

May- I got hired for a new job teaching first grade at Oviatt Elementary in Norwalk, Iowa!  I went to the Pella Tulip Festival, We went to Wicked in Omaha, and we threw a fun Cinco de Mayo party.

June-Andrew ran the Dam to Dam 20k, Andrew went to Army Basic Training Boot Camp in San Antonio, Texas for 6 weeks.  I turned 23! 

July- Andrew was still in Texas, so I visit family in Utah and Puyallup.  We celebrated my Grandparents 50th Anniversary.  Andrew surprised me by coming home a day early and we went to the Indianola Balloon Festival.

August-We went to the Iowa State Fair. We visited the Bailey's in Minnesota and Andrew went to a Vikings game.  Andrew started his second year of school and I started my new job!

September-We went to Illumifest and Andrew joined a softball team with his classmates, we went to Minnesota to help when Xander was born.

October-We threw a Halloween party and we were soldiers this year.

November-Thanksgiving at the Ipson's--game show style!

December- Christmas with the Graff's in Park City!

St. George

After Christmas in Park City we headed first to Tooele, and then to St. George.

We stayed with my grandparents, the Hullingers first.   They treated us to some good food ( including the much missed Cafe Rio and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Caramel Apples) and the War Horse movie.  It was fun visiting them, along with Grandma Matekel and the Kimball's and I am glad I had a chance to see them as our visits aren't as common now that we live in Iowa.

Then, we headed to St. George for a few days before we flew out of Las Vegas and back to Iowa.   We relaxed a lot, but also explored the town a bit.  Andrew showed me where he went to sixth grade--a historic building downtown with a fun shop across the street where he would get breadsticks and cheese every day for lunch, which of course I had to try!  We also visited Brigham Young's home and learned some neat things about him and St. George.  We also go to have In and Out and Cafe Rio before heading back to the MidWest!

breadsticks with cheese:

 Andrew's school:

yum--burgers, fries, and a strawberry milkshake!

Christmas Eve Extravaganza

It is a Graff tradition to have a talent show, nativity, and pajama elf on Christmas Eve.  This year was no exception. First we had a deliscious dinner of Brenda's famous Texas brisket and then the festivities began.   The Graff's have an abundance of talents to share.  This year Adam and Austin demonstrated some wrestling moves.  The grand kids sang and danced to quite a few songs.  Alexis sang.  Andrew showed us all how to treat an abscess. Arnold played his saxophone.  I read "The Night Before Christmas."  Ashton told us about Jerusalem.  We all got to participate in the Nativity this year.  I was a wise man and Andrew was a shepard.  Xander got to be baby Jesus with Abigail as Mary and AJ as Joseph with Riley as the Angel.  The pajama elf them left us all new PJ's on the porch and we went to bed.   On Christmas Day, the Bailey's blessed cute little Zander and Brandon's house.  It was a great holiday in Park City.  When we weren't relaxing in the cabin, we were outlet shopping, ice skating, eating, and playing games.  The boys played a lot of XBOX.  Merry Christmas!