Justin's ride

Ok so these pictures are too dark because we took them the night we got home but it's a shiny black Izuzu!!! I'll try to get some better pictures but these will have to do for now.

New Years Resolution....

This year my New Years Resolution is to keep our blog updated! We've been so bad about finding time to sit down and keep in touch with everyone because we've have been so busy...but we need to do a better job. Everyone keeps reminding me that we ARE interesting and people want to know more about our lives, especially our families...so we will make a point to try and get on here every week with updates. Let's see, the last time we blogged was Thanksgiving so we have so much to share and this is going to be one long post! We celebrated Christmas with Jenni early this year and had a little party at her house. We made a yummy dinner and then went ice skating in downtown St. Paul....on a very snowy night! We had fun running around in Rice Park. Here are a few pictures from our night.

Soon after this night, I bought Justin a new car! He is now a proud owner of an Izuzu Rodeo, a black SUV...he loves it and it gets better gas mileage than his old car so he is happy :) That was a relief because we went back and fourth about what to do and finally made a decision. I'll post some pictures of that too. On December 11th, I got Jay tickets to see a private concert by Missy Higgins, Eric Hutchinson (my favorite), and his favorite band OAR. The concert was held at the Varsity Theatre in St. Paul and there were about 100 people there....it was awesome! We stood in the front row and had an amazing time together. Aaaaaaand I got to meet Eric, so I was really excited. It was a night of great music, dancing, and fun!

Thanksgiving

This year we headed down to Missouri for Thanksgiving at Justin's Grandma's home. It was a wonderful long weekend full of family and many friendly faces. At times, we had over 30 people there! Her house was definetly packed, and we had a great time visiting with everyone...what a wonderful family I married into! On Friday, some of us got up and went out in the wee hours of the morning for black Friday shopping....and man was it worth it! We got some great deals. The rest of the family helped around the house. They live on a "farm" so there is always work to do. Some of the family built a retaining wall along the side of the house and raked and burned leaves on her huge property to prepare for winter. The weather was beautiful! It reached 60 degrees and was a nice change from our chilly weather here at home. Justin's Grandma is an amazing cook and our meals were delicious. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, sweet potatoes, homemade stuffing, real cranberries, green beans, jello salads, homemade bread, homemade apricot jam & apple butter, chicken breast and yummy beef brisket, to name a few! She also made homemade sweet rolls, pumpkin and apple pies. And then there was Joker. The favorite game of the Feldkamp family! we played and played and played until it was almost morning some nights. We had a great time sitting and talking with one another and enjoying the company. We were sad to leave on Sunday! It was a successful trip :)

This weekend Jenni and I drove down to my Grandparents house in Rochester. I planned a little birthday getaway weekend for her because her birthday is on the 23rd and she needed to get away! On Friday night we visited with my Grandma and had some delicious raspberry wine and chocolate...and then we headed to the movies to see "The Secret Life of Bees." It was a really sad but moving movie. We slept in on Saturday and then got amazing massages in the early afternoon. After our massages we did a bunch of Christmas shopping! They have lots of shopping available there and all the Christmas sales were great. On Saturday night I cooked dinner for Jenni and my Grandma (my Grandpa was in Florida at the Swamp watching the Gators in the SCC football game...GO GATORS!!) so it was just us girls for the weekend :) I made a fennel, apple and blue cheese salad with homemade dressing, salmon with a mustard-cream sauce, asparagus and potato wedges. It was so yummy!! I love to cook. Saturday night we saw a funny comedy/play about Minnesota in Plainview. Sunday morning we did some more shopping and crafting. I made a Christmas wreath and Jenni finished getting some presents together. It was fun, and a nice relaxing weekend which was just what we needed! Jenni has all the pictures from the weekend so I'll post some later :)

Kansas City Halloween

Jenni, Meghan and I made the 7 hour trip down the Kansas City Missouri to visit Amy for Halloween. We had fun exploring around the city and spending time together. Amy is getting married in May so there is always a lot of wedding planning and talk going on, and it's fun to be a part of that. I also shot a second engagement session for them, because they wanted some photos at a park in Missouri where they currently live. It was a fun weekend!

Busy as a bee

As some of you know, I've recently expanded my passion for photography into a business! This is why I have been so out of touch and busy this fall, as I am trying to grow my portfolio. I have had the best time re-connecting with friends and shooting sessions for family and friends. I am hoping it will quiet down for the winter months so I can spend some more quality time with my husband, our families, and our friends. If you have not seen my photography blog and have an interest in viewing it, the address is: www.feldkamphotography.blogspot.com

Brag time!!

Ok so most of you know by now that Woodbury beat Eden Prarie to win their spot as state champions this year! It was an awesome game. Eden Prarie scored the first goal, and right off the kick-off my sister scored within 30 seconds to tie the game at 1-1. Then the minutes passed by as the crowd's intensity grew. Emily Moris scored on a header to bring the Royals up 2-0 and win the state title. I've been so proud of my little sister as she has become a really great athlete! She was picked for the All-Tournament team by the board watching the State Tournament, All Conference Team, Honorable Mention for the Sectional Team, and was voted most improved by her teammates and coaches. She's also one of the top 10 recruits for college soccer, with the Universtiy of Minnesota one of the many working hard to get her on their team. Last month they sent her a letter with her head photo-shopped onto another players on the field, and all the signs in the stands say, "We Love DuVal!" We all got a kick out of that.

Woodbury had to beat Wayzata in order to qualify for the state tourney, and the game was looking grim as it was 1-0 after halftime, with the minutes ticking away. Aly scored twice to help her team win 2-1 and advance to the semi-finals. It was an exciting game, with her scoring 8 minutes before the final whistle. Woodbury had a great season, and my sister has grown so much as a player and individual. She scored 13 goals this year and had many assists. It was fun watching her get interviewed on camera for the news and by recorder for the paper. As Woodbury kept advancing, we watched as her goals were nightly highlights on the news and her face was all over the Pioneer Press, Star Tribune, and Woodbury Bulletin. She even made the cover of the Pioneer Press! All of the girls on the team have great chemistry working together and are a very strong team, and of course she could not do it alone.

I don't usually brag much, but I figure this is my 5 minutes to get it all out on my blog....because I would never brag this much in person. Can you tell I am a proud sister???! :) I've never been more proud of anyone in my life as I am of her. Way to go Al!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of her from the paper!