Express Christmas

Our first married Christmas was WONDERFUL! We kick-started it off with a whirlwind trip to VA to celebrate with our families. And whirlwind it was! We were there for less than 48 hours!! But the 7 hour drive there and back was worth every second!

We started our trip nice and early Tuesday morning ready to surprise our families by getting to VA several hours earlier than expected! Our plan worked out perfectly! We hid in the dinning room while Chris' mom came home from work. As soon as she opened the door we let Jak loose, who then preceded to give her lots of hugs and kisses! He LOVES his Grandma! And she spoils him as every good Grandma should!

Next up on our list was surprising my family by showing up to dinner unannounced! My mom was in on our little secret and told us where the family was having dinner that night. Special bonus was that they were going out to eat with our very close family friends the Moschettos! The looks on their faces when we showed up were priceless! My dad's face was amazing too! He didn't know we were coming and so when I ran up to him and hugged him he was torn between surprised and "this is so normal." Dinner was fabulous! I love when everyone gets together!






After dinner it was back to Chris' parents house to have Christmas with his bro and Joanna. Jon is a private pilot and had a flights planned so this was the only time we could fit in Christmas. Jon loved our regifted creepy clown figurine (see UGLY SWEATER PARTY POST) while Joanna was a little creeped out by it. They gave us awesome presents...Chris some BluRays (to which he announced "I guess that means I'm getting a BluRay Player.") I got the Harry Potter Collector Edition Wirard's Chess Set! Its AMAZING!!





Wednesday morning we woke up and headed out to DC to meet up with my Grandpa for lunch! It was so fun to catch up with him and for him to get to know Chris a little better. I also had the best steak and cheese sandwich of my life! If you are ever in Bethesda, MD you have to go to Geppetto's... you won't regret it!

After lunch it was back to my house to spend time with the family. This included watching funny YouTube videos and teasing Brendan. We had a delicious family dinner and then opened presents! Santa was very good to us! I got a sewing machine and Chris got a Phillies' tie. He is very excited to show it off at Church! We gave Roxy and Holly wands from our trip to Harry Potter World...their faces were priceless! We also introduced our family to "Shut The Box" an old English Pub game we are obsessed with. Mama Wells loved the wedding album we gave her. I have a feeling I'm going to get a phone call soon asking me to explain how to use Shutterfly.com. :o)





After presents we all headed out to Woodgrove to watch Brendan play basketball. He had a great game! Almost a triple double! (He was almost in double digits in scoring, steals, and assists.) I got to show off my hot hubby to some old high school teachers and friends as well.

After the game we headed back to Chris' parents to have Christmas number 2. We are very spoiled! More fabulous presents (Chris got his surprise BluRay player!) and spending time with my new sister, Lauren. Between both Grandmas Jak has enough toys and treats to last time til next Christmas.



Thursday we celebrated Jon's birthday then packed up the car and headed to Scranton to celebrate with Chris' Grandma and Uncle. While in Scanton Jak was even more spoiled by Aunt Annette and we got the best gift ever... Cheese Jax. YUM! We surprised Grandma with our visit! She was sooo excited! It was so fun to hear her stories and tell her about life in RI.





Friday morning it was back to RI and life and recovery time.

U-G-L-Y....You ain't got no alibi!

Big jewels, pom-poms, felt, bright colors, and ridiculous patterns all add up to one of my favorite holiday traditions...UGLY SWEATER PARTIES!

Our fabulous RI Friends & Co (Rhode Island Friends & Company= the new cool nickname we have for our RI friends) decided we needed to uphold the tradition. It was a party for the record books. Some of the ugliest/tackiest sweaters and the BEST white elephant gifts! Next year Chris and I have decided we need to step up our game when it comes to the white elephant gifts. We thought ours were great, and they were, but the other party gifts were just on a whole other level.

I started out the game with this AMAZING dragon figurine while Chris started out with this one-of-a-kind "Apple Bottom Jeans" plant pot holder. We realized later that they were unzipped and unbuttoned in the front adding to its scandalous nature. Other awesome gifts included toilet paper, 85 Ways To Organize Yourself For Christmas circa 1982, a creepy clown holding a little girl and dog figurine, plastic bed sheets, a bear hat from New Hampshire, mint condition old school games, a pirate pillow and so much more! All the gifts were stolen several times. Chris and I ended the game with the Jeans Plant Pot and the creepy clown! We might be regifting these to people so beware! We just want to share the love and I am pretty sure if we keep the clown in the house much longer it is going to come to life and stab up in our sleep.



As if this party could get any better the "Bring Your Favorite Dessert Bar" was INCREDIBLE! Of course it helps when one of your friends is attending bakery school and was accepted into a French pastry internship for next summer (GO ADAM!) He graciously decided to share his final exam from his "Chocolate and Confections" class with us. I wish I had a chocolates and confections class in school! The whole thing is edible! We were very impressed!



Chris also won the contest for the ugliest sweater, which he totally deserved since I made him go shopping in WalMart's women's section. He rocked the turtleneck and sweater vest! He looked HOT! I've never been so proud! His prize was a Roadkill Opossum stuffed animal which Jak now used like a teddy bear. He takes it everywhere! We are shocked it still has fluff in it! It has survived so much longer than any other toy we've given him. Maybe he feels bad because it was already run over. Whatever the reason its still alive Jak LOVES showing it to everyone who comes to the door....the mailman, our neighbors, the missionaries, whoever! If it is not in his mouth when they knock he has to go find it so he can show it to him. Sarita you are now officially Jak's favorite person for choosing the prize!



Thanks to Jesse and Sarita for being our amazing hosts! We can't wait for next year!!

Dog Gone It.... He Graduated!!!

For the past 7 weeks (with the exception of Thanksgiving) our family has spent every Thursday night at Doggie Class. Jak has always done a really good job of listening to Chris (the alpha of our house) but only listens to me when it is convenient for him or I has a delicious treat in hand. To help Jak understand that I am his master too we decided to go to Doggie Class. We have learned to...

sit (with both signal word and hand motion)
watch me (he must make eye contact with me)
lay down (with both signal word and hand motion)
say hello (he shakes your hand with his paw! its a real crowd pleaser!)
leave it (this is his signal that he is not to look at, smell, or taste whatever has his curiosity)
take it (he must wait to take the treat til given this command)
stay (the release from this stay is us patting him on the head)
come (he is really good at this at the house...not so much at the doggie park)
drop it (awesome for fetch since Jak loves to play tug-o-war)

In order to graduate for the beginner class he had to pass a test. I was really nervous!! He is so good at everything at home but in class with all the other doggies and people he gets distracted ALOT! A very common trait for a husky. Jak and I rocked the sit, lay down, say hello and take it. The watch it was a little harder instead of looking at me he wanted to show off the latest trick we've taught him, "speak". We finally got "watch me."

Now is where it got really tricky! He had to stay for 30 seconds which might as well have been 5 mins. You could tell it was torture for him but HE DID IT!! No, he didn't sit perfectly still for the 30 secs he sat up then laid down then rolled on his side but he stayed in the same spot so it counted!!

The last test was by far the hardest...we had to walk through an obstacle course with temptations of treats and toys at every corner. He had to "leave it" and not touch any of them!! Chris says I looked like I was going to faint when Jak and I were up. We started walking slowly and made it past the first toy. The second toy was a little harder, I practically screamed "LEAVE IT!" The most crucial part was the treats. Jak was sniffing away as I was firmly saying "Leave it! Leave it! LEAVE IT!" Chris says I then hip checked Jak out the way so he couldn't eat them. I say I was a mommy and helped him make the right choice. I mean really how often is he going to find freeze dried liver treats (trust me they smell as horrible as they sound but he LOVES them!) in the street. And if there was poison or something in his path I wouldn't even let him get close to it! Hip checking him in that situation would be the right thing to do. Either way he didn't eat the treats so... WE PASSED!!!



This is Tucker, Jak's best friend in the class. They buds! Tucker is a rescue and when we first started the class he was terrified of everything! He wouldn't go near the other dogs or any of the people. By the end, we had to keep him and Jak on opposite sides of the class or else all they would want to do is play!

Wafflegiving

Good Friends + Breakfast foods + Thanksgiving = AMAZING NEW TRADITION

Since moving to RI we had been blessed to make some wonderful friends. We wanted to do something to celebrate Thanksgiving with them but since many of them would be out of town, including us, we decided to celebrate a little early.

At first there was talk of cooking a turkey and everyone bringing sides and desserts and having an actual feast. But like a shooting star streaking across the sky in brief splendor that idea soon disappear since no one wanted the hassle of cooking the turkey. So we came up with the next best thing...WAFFLES!

We had white chocolate chip waffles, vanilla and cinnamon waffles, and regular waffles along with a variety of toppings including homemade coconut syrup (YUM!) That's right be jealous! It was definitely the start to a new fabulous tradition.

My personal favorite moment of the night was when Jak decided he liked our new friends so much that he jumped up on them to cuddle! Haha. His butt was on Jesse and his head on Sarita. This awesome couple were such good sports and gave him a good head rub. I wasn't quick enough to capture the moment so the picture looks like Jak is humping Sarita but really he was just trying to wriggle around and get comfy and when that didn't work he jumped off and moved on to someone else to beg for food.



Sarita thanks for being such a good sport! Jak wanted me to tell you he misses you and that you need to come over and play again soon! Jesse you can come too! :o)

The Mad Scientist

If my husband wasn't an Air Traffic Controller his dream job would be mad scientist. But since that doesn't always pay the bills he is happy to pursue this dream in his spare time. He loves to do little "experiments" or at least that is what he calls them. I call them disgusting!

After we got married I moved into this bachelor pad. One of the first things I did was clean out his fridge and fill it with yummy healthy food. This might sound like an easy task but I assure it it will filled with lots of laughter, disgust and being grateful for a strong gag reflex. He had several experiments in his fridge, AKA food that should have been thrown away long long ago. Did you know that if left alone in the fridge for who knows how long Gatorade will actually solidify and turn into this nasty looking foam. Neither did I. Cleaning out that fridge was an experience neither one of us will ever forget! Haha

Since I took over the kitchen Hubby has been extremely limited in his "experiments" but recently found a new one....his left over jack-o-latern. He is his latest masterpiece and something he is very proud of. It is currently growing hair!

Duck Pin Bowling

Yup! You heard me correctly...Duck Pin Bowling! That was are adventure last week. Since moving to RI all the locals we have gotten to know have said "You have to go! It is very Rhode Island!" and Rhode Islanders love doing anything Rhode Islandish. So we called up some of our friends and made it a group date!



So the basic rules of Duck Pin Bowling are that the ball is smaller, about the size and weight of a shot put. There are ten pins, probably half the size of normal bowling pins. You get 3 chances to roll the ball. If you knock down all the pins it is a strike. On the second roll, if you knock down all the pins you get a spare, just like normal. The third roll is just to up your score so if you knock down the rest of the pins you get a pat on the back and just a normal 10 points, nothing extra.

The bowling alley we went to was classic! Probably build 50 years ago. We had to keep score manually (yeah it took us a while to remember how to score strikes and spares!), push a button to reset the pins at the end of our turn and push a different button to get rid of deadwood, or the pins that fall down during your 3 rolls. Chris was having a blast pushing buttons.



Duck pin bowling is deceptively hard! We waltzed in there assuming we would blow everyone away. I mean come on an extra chance to bowl, we were going to knock down all the pins every time! Boy, were we wrong!

That ball is so small that if you throw it too hard it is like a bullet and it just plows through one single row pins. Too slow and it rolls into the gutter. The key was a medium speed so that the ball curved slightly and would roll into multiple rows since the pins don't really do a good job at knocking each other down. Putting spin on the ball is hard too since it is so small and there are no holes for your fingers you simply palm it.



Overall, we had LOTS of laughs and LOTS of fun. We'll definitely be back for more bowling! By the time we leave RI we plan on being experts!

One Year Older and Wiser Too...

A few months ago my amazing husband asked what I wanted for my birthday. Since he had some time off for work we could go for a long weekend somewhere. Excitedly I answered...HARRY POTTER WORLD! He laughed a little and then said..Let's Do it! Let's Go!

Little by little our plan evolved to include his little sister and my little brother and all of Universal Studios Florida. The weather was warm (except when we were soaked from the water rides) and we had a blast! It was also a great family bonding experience because we only got one hotel room. Crazy I know but we're on a budget! So I shared a bed with Lauren while Brendan and Chris got to cuddle in the other bed. Needless to say our sleep arrangements cause for some very hilarious conversations and memories. Lauren confirmed that I do like to sleep with my butt poking out and taking up half the bed while Brendan and Chris did everything possible to avoid touching each other, including a wall of pillows and sleeping on the smaller portion of bed ever. Chris decided that stealing the covers is a Wells family trait and had a 'Who can make the smelliest fart? Contest' with Brendan. We all suffered. It was all in good fun but I was very happy when I got to fall asleep on Chris' shoulder again! I missed waking up and his face being the first thing I see.

Here are a few stops we made during our trip...

Stop 1: Pirate Minature Golf! No trip to Florida is complete without mini golf and this course was challenging! We had a blast! Needless to say everyone made a Hole in one but Brendan pulled it off in the end.





Stop 2: Hard Rock Cafe....delicious as always and rockin! The waiters performed Michael Jackson's Thriller, I got a free birthday dessert and an embarresting song. We got to play on a giant (we're talking wall sized) touch screen computer that had a little info card on every piece of memorabilia in all the Hard Rocks all over the world. We discovered you could flick them and send them flying! Then off to explore more of the Universal CityWalk.




Stop 3: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! As soon as we entered Universal Studios Islands of Adventure I made our group run to the Harry Potter section. It is perfect! It felt as if we had walked into the movie! I got my very own wand, drank Butterbeer, went shopping at Zonko's and rode the castle ride 3 times (easily the best ride in the park!) While waiting in line for the castle ride you wind through different classrooms and parts of the castle that are very familiar to anyone who has seen the movies. All the portraits move, the Sorting Hat talks to you, and you truly feel as if you are wandering through Hogwarts. It was magical!






Stop 4: The rest of Islands of Adventure....including water rides where we got soaked thanks to stupid people who shot us with water guns, some awesome roller coasters, and playing in Suessland! Brendan and the Grinch got along great!






Stop 5: Margaretaville for some disappointing wait time and food.



Stop 6: Seeing Real Steal at Universal CityWalk. We saw this movie solely on the recommendation of some friends and they were right! It was good! My personal favorite part was the last fight where the camera scans the crowd and you see an advertisement for XBOX 720 and instantly both my husband and brother go..."Sweet! XBOX 720!"

Stop 7: Bed

Stop 8: Universal Studios.... We had a blast! We went on tons of roller coasters! Chris killed us all in the Men In Black Alien Shooting game, we rode the Mummy ride 3 times in a row (outside of Harry Potter World there was barely anyone in the park), almost got eaten by Jaws, and survived a Twister.






Stop 9: Back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for some more Butterbeer (yes it really is that good! Imagine cream soda with caramel whipped cream on top.) Another quick castle ride and some last minute shopping.






Stop 10: NASCARworld none of us are Nascar fans but we had heard the food was good and it was! Then with our feet about to fall off we made our way back to the hotel to pack and get a good night's sleep before heading the airport early the next morning.

It was a great trip! I can't wait to go back! I think I even made a Harry Potter fan out of Chris (such a good husband!)