Thursday, January 13, 2011

A Moustache Christmas

The day after Christmas, Conor & I were up early to make the drive to Bigfork, MT for Christmas Part II: Keenan style.  After packing up all our stuff, we stopped at Jacob's Java for some coffee and steamed bagels.  That's right, steamed bagels...the best way a bagel comes.  It just melts in your mouth.  A perfect snack for the trip.  The roads were really icy which made for a stressful drive; I slept most of the way, so I wouldn't have a heart attack!  During our trip, we got stuck behind plows twice, which really slowed us down, but eventually we were there.

Once at the Keenan house we were greeted with lots of hugs and one very excited little brother Ryan.  After chatting for awhile, Ryan's patience was wearing thin so we got straight into some present opening.  Once again I had so much fun watching everyone's faces while they opened their gifts.  It was another very successful Christmas.  One of my favorite gifts from the Keenan side: an amazing picture of  huckleberries in the shape of a heart lying in someone's hands.  Hard to explain, but beautiful to look at.  Huckleberries have always had some special meaning for Conor & I.  We go huckleberry picking every year together with Conor's grandpa and we did the day we got engaged.  Plus we just love huckleberries!

After a little relaxing, the rest of the Keenan's (Marissa, Sam, Aria, Grandpa Fred, & Aunt Caroline) came over to Bob & Suzie's for another Christmas feast.  We had prime rib again, no complaints here, but this time Bob cooked it using a method called Sou Vide.  I don't know that much about it, so I won't even try to explain it.  Delicious is all I need to say.  After dinner we enjoyed a huckleberry ice cream pie made by Sweet Peaks, Sam & Marissa's ice cream shop.  Ice cream cake is one of my favorite desserts, then add huckleberries and it is perfection.  This obviously wasn't a holiday for dieting. 

With dinner & dessert finished, and few empty bottles of wine, Conor pulls out a package of fake moustaches he purchased in downtown Bigfork.  Who knew this $3 purchase could be so much fun!  Here are few pictures of what insued after...oh and Kyle's moustache is real...


The following week was full of relaxing days and fun nights.  I got to see my best friend Amanda a couple days for lunch, which was so much fun since I hadn't seen her since October!  That's a really long time for us.  One afternoon we went to the Craggy Range in Whitefish for soup & herb infused bloody mary's martini syle.  Those drinks keep me coming back.


That same day we met up with Conor's family at Moose's Saloon in Kalispell for dinner.  I've always heard about this little gem, but for some reason had never made my way into yet.  So it was my first experience.  It was absolutely packed when we walked in, since everyone who was skiing up on the moutain seemed to have to come to Moose's that night.  We finagled our way to a large table which fit most of us, luckily.  We devoured a couple bowls of peanuts, throwing the shells right onto the sawdust floor which is standard practice at Moose's.  This is my kind of place.  The younger kids (and me!) sipped on draft rootbeer while everyone else made their way thru a few pitchers of beer while we patiently waited for our pizzas. 

Right as we were getting ready to leave, we spotted an interesting wanderer walking around with some dead animal's head on a walking stick.  The boys really wanted a picture with him, but got more than they bargained for when the guy smelled horrible, wouldn't stop talking, and then started asking for a beer.  Nonetheless we got the picture and then got out of there!

note Ryan's full Carhart dinner suit

To continue our good eating, we went over to Sam & Marissa's house one night for dinner.  It was nice to spend time with just the two of them, and little Aria of course.  The steak dinner was fantastic as was expected since Marissa's food has never disappoints and Sam is the master of the grill.  And the wine, always a great compliment to any meal!  But the highlight of the night came later while we played a pretend game of "the sing off" with Aria.  I got to participate as well as be a judge.  The night was full of singing and dancing until we wore her out enough to be put  to bed.  Then the four us played a few competitive rounds of scrabble flash.  I'm pretty sure Marissa & I came out as the victors in that round of competition.  Some people just can't handle their wine and spelling at the same time!

Another night Bob, Conor, & I headed down to their property on the lake late at night to make a bonfire.  One of my favorite nights in Bigfork.  We bundled up in full snow gear (or at least I did), grabbed a bottle of wine and three glasses, and were on our way to a fun adventure.  It was a pretty chilly night, but we stayed close to fire and it was perfect.  After being with the whole family almost every night it was nice to have some time with just Bob.  It was such a beautiful night out.  Conor's camera had died by this point, and we forgot to bring the charger home with us, so unfortunately we don't have any pictures from that adventure.

Our last night in Montana was New Years Eve!  We started off the evening at a bowling alley for some good old fashion cosmic bowling.  I'm not great, but am happy if I bowl over 100 which I did one game so I was satisfied.  Conor always kicks my butt though, and that's never good since we're both so competitive.  I'll beat him one of these days!  Next, we headed to Sweet Peaks which closed at 8 that night.  This was our headquarters for the evening.  Here I started by ice cream eating binge which continued most of the night.  I alternated between strawberry champagne sorbet in my glass of champagne and the delicacy Sam made special for the occasion....real champagne sorbet.  I have never tasted something this good and could have eaten a couple of pints but restrained myself. 

We went to Wasabi Bistro for a late night sushi dinner.  They also had tom kha gai soup (still one of my current obsessions) on the menu which I was ecstatic about.  Our meal was complimented by a bottle of sparkling pinot noir which was appropriate for the evening.  The owner stopped by at the end of our meal with some free sake and then we were on our way out.  Most of the night was spent at Crush Wine Bar where Sam & Marissa's friend was the DJ.  It was definitely crowded but we found ourselves a little nook in the back and had a blast.  Lots of champagne for everyone.  After midnight we briefly popped into a dive bar called Caseys for a drink and some dancing til we looked around at the crowd and decided to head out.  It was back to Sweet Peaks for more ice-cream, some late night snacks, and then we all hit our air mattresses and sleeping bags. 



The next morning Sam made us all white chocolate lattes which got us moving, and we quickly headed back to Bigfork to pack up our stuff.  After lots of hugs good bye, we were on the road to Spirit Lake.  More adventures to come!

5 comments:

  1. Figured if I read your blog, then I might as well comment once in awhile :) It was great to see and spend some time with the two of you. We are fully expecting to come down for a visit and I think early March is sounding good so we'll have to work out the details soon. Much love from up north.
    Sam.

    P.S. Sammy Scoops made the delicious real champagne sorbet ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. We would love to have you visit! Early March sounds great, but keep us updated 'cause lots of family/friends are visiting this spring.

    P.S. I have up updated the blog as to the true master of the champagne sorbet! Must give credit where it is due!

    - Laura

    ReplyDelete
  3. So Glad I am in NONE of these pictures......pretty sure I was there the whole time....well kinda....little bitter about it!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am in one! Just Kidding I love You!!!
    - Mand

    ReplyDelete
  5. My camera stopped working on Day 2 of the trip, so there weren't many pictures. I had to steal some from facebook! I'll do better next time!

    - Laura

    ReplyDelete