I can't get him to quit wearing that hat....

High Five Gramps!

We ARE so sweet!

GRRRRRRR.....I'm goin to get you Aunty Tammy

Watch Out Rudolph! I want your job!

The Return of "Cowboy Dakota Kriz" aka "Marshall Gangster"

New Years Eve Recipe! YUM-O

Fresh Olive Veggie Salsa

4 medium tomatoes (chopped) I use Roma
1 bunch of green onions (chopped)
1 -4 oz. can black olives (chopped)
1 jar of stuffed green olives (chopped) 6- 8 oz – I use the "salad olives"
1/2 green pepper (chopped)
1/2 red pepper (chopped)
1-4oz can of mushrooms (chopped)
2 jalapeno peppers – seed one of them (chopped)
½ bunch of cilantro - cut up fine

2 -3 T olive oil
2 -T red wine vinegar

Mix all veggies and add oil, vinegar. Let stand several hours in fridge. Serve with chips.

A few more Christmas pics...

After effects of Bobbie's Spritz cookies

Guess which one has had a few too many

Carving the roast beast

Don't let him cheat Bella!

The carmel rolls have no chance.

Christmas Misc.

New labor inducing procedure?

Jacob is a comfy pillow for Baby!

What is this? The family planner is tired!








How many times have you seen the Kriz Family at a bar without a real drink?







This is Kade before he learned that the Home Plate slide worked better for him.






Let me show you how to work your arms so that you're building more muscle, Izzy.

Pure Excitement!







I'm one of the Marshall Gangsters! Yee haw!









I'm too sexy for these shorts! (It's more amusing if you hear the song "I'm Too Sexy" in your head"







This @#$% thing again!









We need a bigger mat that comes with gas masks.








We love our new phones!



Dad, can I have money to buy minutes?

White Christmas

Wow! My only request was for a light dusting of snow to cover up the dirt and other brown spots, but Mother Nature and Santa must be working together to make this a really white Christmas! It's absolutely beautiful outside. I hope everyone is having a great holiday! I might even venture out to try a snowman! If that does happen, I'll make sure to take pics of me actually outside!

Thanks for a great Christmas weekend! I love coming home to all of you! Jeannie, can't wait to meet the additions! I am thinking I might have to "Spring Break it" in SD to see them as soon as possible!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Paaaaar-tee!!!

Hi All! Just a note to let everyone know that it sounds like the family party will start at around 3 p.m. on Saturday, provided Jill's flight is on time and her sleigh arrives to pick her up at the airport.

Hope you've all got your White Elephants ready! Can't wait to see everybody.

Kris Kringle Anyone??

We have a Santa Suit that my co-worker will let us borrow if anyone is interested in Playing Santa for our wee little Kriz's? Not a very convincing suit...but it worked on Ty!! A couple of grown kids too after a few toddies! HA-HA. Dont' think I have Ter talked into it, but we would sure bring it if anyone else was game to have some fun!

Christmas-and the great pickup search

Guess I had better check and make sure we are all on the same page. Jill will be in on Sat. morning and it sounds like she will ride here with Jeannie and Jason. I'm thinking we will just have our meal on Saturday afternoon maybe 2-3 PM?? We could let the kids open their packages first or later whatever, and just snack for the evening?? I invited Jim and Norma in their Christmas cards and sounds like Jim would come. Do need to let him know the time schedule.

Bobbie, the cheese balls have been accomplished- decided today I am done with cookies or goodies for the season, but may have to work on some yeast breads on Thurs. And am spending some serious thought as to healthy and tasty foods to compensate for all the rest. Does that sound like a wasted effort?

Kevin, was thinking of another contest but you beat me to it. ( I wouldn't have known how to do it anyway). You may not all know that Dad blew up his old red pickup on his way to that Nebraska cattle auction with Sonny. Poor thing looked at those Nebraska miles and just refused to go on! So the result is the great pickup search is on. Should it be new or used, Dodge, Ford or Chevrolet; leased or purchased; regular cab, crew cab, extended cab or heaven forbid, the new maxicabs for really big guys. Oh yeah, diesel or gas. You can suggest models, colors, etc. Dad is rapidly wearing out the internet searching pickup dealers. David is helping. Automotive dealers are calling in reinforcements. Would be interesting to have some other male input here as I am staying out of it. Go at it!!

Marshall Gangster's Strike Again!! This time a house away from us :(

Our neighbor stopped by this afternoon to let us know while she was out of town last week, the Marshall Gangsters broke in to her home. It seems that he/she/they/entered the home by force via the back door of her home. She does not have much for electronics but they took various items that they could find and made a mess by dumping out drawers, cabinets, files etc.
Funny thing ...detective Kriz happened to be sitting at the computer this am and said "Honey, Come here quick.... look...there is someone at our neighbors and they seem to be taking stuff out of her home to the vehicle in front of her house"! Of course...I laughed at Ter and said he was paranoid...but come to find out from our neighbor it was the detective taking moldings of the HUGE footprints in the snow. Quite a bit LARGER then the NE Mountain Lion that's on the loose.

Of course Tammy is paranoid to leave her dogs home this weekend - I could care less what they would take from us...but if they ever hurt my puppies...they better watch out for the crazy lady on the loose searching for them!!

On another note...
We had a great Christmas Weekend here in Marshall with our kids. We even surprised them all and had one of our "FUN" neighbors play Santa and bop in on us. It was so funny and Ty still couldn't get over it this morning that Santa came and checked up on him before Christmas Eve. Kids...they so make Christmas fun!!

Well, we will see you all soon and we can't wait...may we all stay "SICKNESS FREE" :)

Love the SW MN Kriz Fam Zoo :)

If you thought Clark Griswold's saucer was fast...

You should have seen Kade and I go down the hill at Pioneers Park Saturday. We took advantage of about 4-5 inches of powder to go sledding. It was a blast -- as I'm sure Kade will tell you. We would have given Clark Griswold a run for his money, for sure.

And the winner is...

Well, the masses have spoken. Congratulations to Tammy/Terry as the winners of the Great Christmas Tree Contest with Jeannie/Jason and Dave/Melissa coming in 2nd and 3rd. We were the only ones not to get a single vote. You guys are a tough crowd. I had no idea the judges took off so much for a little tree lean. At least no one can accuse us of breaking the honor system by voting for our own tree :)

I was surprised all the trees looked different -- tall, fat, skinny, tilted, colored, white, ribbons, beads and a slew of different ornaments. Bobbie has swayed me -- I'm partial to real trees as opposed to the "make-believe" kind.

The trees were: 1- Dave/Melissa, 2-Jeannie/Jason, 3- Terry/Tammy, 4- Bob/Sharon, 5 - Bobbie/Kevin, 6 - Jill/David

Tammy/Terry, I'll have to find some "special" ornament to commemorate your trophy tree for next year.

Kade and mom are upstairs giggling to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Better get up there before the popcorn is gone.

Hard up for entertainment

On my walk with Abbey tonight I came across some large, suspicious looking animal tracks. I thought -- could it be a mountain lion? So like any good protective husband, I drug the wife and young son out into the frigid night air for further investigation.

Armed with nothing but a flashlight, tape measure and semi-loyal black lab, I captured this photo. The rest of the research team thinks it is a measly dog track (made by our own Abbey from the

morning walk).

I'm not ruling out a sinister mountain lion stalking our neighborhood...

Tis the season

Well, our weekend is drawing near-- Bobbie, we have tried to get that snow you wanted, but I will have to admit it might not be quieto sledding depth;-yet! Has been cold, cold; and I am already in the mood for spring. As soon as the Chrismas decorations can come down, it can go back to 50 degrees.

Dad is off trying to buy cows today, I think to Bassett, Nebraska. So will have the whole house to myself and in theory should get lots done. Still have to work on Christmas cards and should try to finish Christmas decorations. At least then I could put away the multitude of plastic tubs that are littering the upstairs hallway. Maybe some baking would be a good idea. Brings me to my question of the week-- any requests for specific Christmas food- either treats or for the basic meal?? Send me your comment and I will take it under consideration. Jill, I am presuming you will come with a cheesecake idea-- no pressure though-.

Have a new adult type game I ordered. Hope we can try it out next week.

I have been dying to guess who's tree is whose. Kevin, I know that was not part of the contest but I will give it a shot since the voting days are pretty much over. #1 has to be the Dave Kriz family- would have been surer if there was a little pet damage somewhere observable, or maybe a kid silo of corn set up under it; #2 I think is the Las Vegas Kriz's; # 3 looks like it has Tammy's well planned decorating touch so I am betting on them; # 4 is ours of course; #5 is Bobbie, Kevin and Kade's- it leans just like ours; and #5 is the Thurston crew- easy because I saw it first hand. Did I mix any up??

Jeannie, I am working on Isabella's quilt again. Hopefully I can get it to someone who will quilt it after Christmas and work on some things for those twins. Had a great time last weekend babysitting Isabella and going to the shower. Thanks for having me, always enjoy visiting you guys. Jason, your breakfasts rock!!

Have a good week and a half. Jill, did you figure out a schedule yet? I am presuming the celebration day is still the 22nd??? See you all soon. Love, Mom

The Great Christmas Tree Contest 2007

OK -- the moment you've all been waiting for... (ok, maybe not)

Here are the entries for the Great Christmas Tree Contest 2007. Please vote using the HONOR SYSTEM. I know I don't have to tell you all how that works as you're all full of integrity -- yes, even you Terry. Cast your vote by using the poll at the upper left -- each tree has a corresponding number.

Without further adieu, I give you ---- THE TREES!...

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

Cold Icy Tuesday Evening....

Well Darcy and Ben just got back from Orlando Fl. They went to Walt Disney World with Ben's parents and some of Ben's nieces and nephew's. Darc's first time flying or on a big trip. She absolutely LOVES to fly and Loved Disney World. I don't think there was a ride they missed. Her favorite thing was the Blizzard Beach Water Park where she went on the Plummet Summit slide...here is the description:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdwi/en_GB/parks/attractionDetail?id=BBSummitPlummetAttPage
Dare to take the vertical plunge from the top of the world's tallest and fastest free-fall body slide. At an exhilarating height of 37 metres, this sky-scraping ski jump of a thrill ride drops you down the slopes of Mount Gushmore at a speed-limit-breaking 55 miles per hour for a 110 metre long trip back to the lower atmosphere. The mountain beckons — don't be a "flake

You actually take like a ski-lift to reach the top. YIKES...I would have been so weak in the knees by the time I got up there. She said you cross your arms on your chest - so you don't lose your top and you get a major and she said MAJOR Wedgie...HA-HA.
We kept Zoey (her schnauzer) while they were gone and I met up with Ben this afternoon in Redwood Falls to drop her off. She really gets a long well with Katie and Jersey...so they are all going through withdrawal now as we have had her since Thanksgiving. On the way home we ran into some nasty NE weather...it's rained ICE and was not a fun ride home. About 15 minutes from Marshall it had stopped. So far it looks like we are going to have a white Christmas in SW MN due to the storm last weekend and it sounds like we have a couple of clippers going through this next week.

Ter's last night of his Fall FPU (Financial Peace University) class that he coordinated over the last 13 weeks and then he starts with his reffing of basketball. First game on Friday night in Luverne.

That's it from this part of the country....hey Blog Comissioner...idea...maybe each month we can post Kriz Birthday's and Anniversary's for everyone...what do you think??!!

The inmates are running the asylum!

Bobbie headed to Kearney for a conference today so it's the boys (and Abbey) hanging out tonight. Kade is pretty excited as it's "Pajama Day" at his preschool Wednesday. I sure wish Dad could have a pajama day at work sometime -- might have to drop a note in the employee suggestion box. :)

I have all entries for the Great Christmas Tree Contest EXCEPT for the Las Vegas entry and the Sioux Falls entry. I'll give Jeannie a pass being pregnant with twins and all, but for the Vegas couple -- c'mon, don't they have trees down there?! :) Anyway, I'll be posting the trees in a day or two. May the best tree win!

yuch...

Ice storm here today (Saturday). We're pretty much holed up in the house. Lincoln's annual Christmas parade was even canceled today due to the ice. Hopefully, our power will stay on. Y'all have a good weekend. I'm going to start looking for candles...