A Very Merry Benz-Miller Christmas

Whew! Is it just me or did Christmas go by fast!!!! It's almost a blur to me now. Ed and I had our first Christmas a week before the "Real Christmas" with his family in Eau Claire. Ed and I made a delicious dinner for everyone: Pesto Manicotti with Spinach, along with bread, and salad. Let's just say it was a true crowd pleaser! Yum! For dessert I made White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. Actually, it was more like Oreo cheesecake. When I was making it, I accidentally forgot to add the eggs, so I just dumped out the cheesecake, Oreo crust and all, and added the eggs. Then I had to make another crust. I used a WHOLE package of cookies in this thing! So tasty though!

Here's my future family:


My Miller men all got matching blue/plaid pajama bottoms. I thought Ed and his brother David were just precious the morning after we opened presents. They had on matching outfits! Now don't they look like they shared the womb?

I went to Milwaukee the week before Christmas to spend a little time with Ed. We had to order our Christmas present: a queen sized mattress! (We got bedding from my parent's, picture to come later). There is this adorable house across from Ed's apartment. Someday I hope we can have a house this color. They even decorate their little tree out front.



We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my family in Madison. My mom made her traditional lasagna and we ate them on her precious Christmas tree plates. Ed and I actually got my mom two more plates so she would have a set of six so everyone can eat together. We thought we'd be sneaky and add the new plates in the china cabnet so my mom would notice when she got them out to wash them. We even put a card on top! My mom was totally oblivious to her little present. Ed and I finally said something and then the light bulb went off!

As my family knows, I just can't resist a good picture in front of the Christmas tree this time of year. So, I had my dad take a couple of Ed and I in front of our REAL tree. (Ed comes from a fake tree family.... but I've decided that we are going to be real tree people once we're married).




This year we did our presents differently. Andrew, my brother, was spending Christmas eve with his girlfriend, and wasn't going to be at our house to open presents. So, we loaded up Santa's sleigh and brought all the presents to my grandma's house. We had a fest that rivaled Thanksgiving. Grandma made a delicious pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, tons of veggies, and the list goes on and on. It was soooo good! I felt like a beached whale! AND we had banana cream pie and grasshopper pie for dessert! My grandma makes the best pies - hands down!


Opening presents was like a free-for-all. We had to open them quick because we had to call England and talk to my family over there. Nicole and I got matching footie pajamas with Sock Monkey feet (oh, and Andrew got Ed Civ4 and he just loves it!):

And here's my Benz family picture for this year:


On our way back to Ed's house, we stopped downtown and walked in this little park. All the trees had lights on them. It was just to beautiful for us to simply drive by and look. It was a little chili out and I'd forgotten my gloves at Grandma's house. Ed let me wear his gloves, but they are so big on my hands, making it tricky to take pictures. But, here's what we've got:


Like I said earlier, Ed and I decided to buy a mattress for Christmas. It's a very practical gift in our opinion. Plus, Ed's old mattress was SUPER old - at least 45 years. Hopefully he sleeps much better now! ;- ) About the bedding, I found it on super sale at Target. I just love saving money! Now all we need is a headboard and a side table.


I'm looking forward to January very much! We have so much wedding planning to do, and I'm hoping that we can get most, if not all, of it done next month. June 4th will be here before we know it.

Love,
The Newly-To-Be-Weds,
Rachel & Ed