Ice, Ice Baby! (Plus Oxtail Soup)

The Casa de Weez, as seen from the Lake

Well, I've successfully dated myself using the title of my post, so there's nowhere to go but up.

Last weekend marked a monumental event in the family - a huge ice fishing + German food + quasi family reunion at Aunt Louise's house.

Unfortunately, I was (and still am) battling some sort of sickness, so I wasn't my usual peppy self.  But that didn't stop us from having an awesome time!

I got had my first experience ice fishing...and by 'experience,' I mean that I trudged out onto the ice with my camera in tow and happily snapped the following pictures:

Take note of the short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt while ice fishing.  I heart my hubby.

We even had a hot dog roller

Daisy was crazy - she must've ran around the ENTIRE lake at least 15 times while I was there

We always knew where the boys were by seeing Hubs' hat

Where were all the fish?

Theresa joined us!

They even have cameras that go under water now

I'm not sure what this sport is even called...snow surfing?

A neighbor, Braddy, Braddy's dad, and Hubs enjoying their 'boy time'

But sitting out on the ice only lasted so long, especially since I was sick and that probably wasn't the best place for me to be. (I'm practical like that.)

So I headed inside where a whole lotta German cooking was going on, courtesy of Theresa. She had quite the feast all planned out, and judging by the sheer amount of people that showed up, it's a good thing she did! So I happily rolled up my sleeves and got to work, helping wherever I could.

Kneading out dough for the best dinner rolls ever

Dinner rolls after first rise

...Unfortunately, that also meant that I didn't get to take many pictures since we were so busy. Luckily, Hubs came to the rescue after coming in from fishing and was able to snap away (and not on continuous shooting mode for once!).

Spatzle in progress (never again)

Spatzle in progress

Spatzle in progress

Spatzle in progress

Checking on the ham buns (similar to our Dutch Ham Buns!)

Okay, I just have to stop for a second to recognize how flipping awesome these dinner rolls were.  We debated making them because it was a 3 hour process (they had to rise twice), but OH. MY. GOODNESS. they were AMAZING and totally worth it.  Since it was the first time either Theresa or myself had made yeast rolls (shocking, I know), we were a bit apprehensive...but there was no need to be.

The oxtails from the oxtail soup

Cheesy noodles that Aunt Louise needs to give us the recipe for *cough cough wink*

The rolls from heaven

The pain in the you-know-where spatzle

The oxtail soup

Of course, dinner was delicious (awesome job, T!) and good times were had by all.

Our gracious hosts in front of the "spread"

After dinner, you guessed it, came a few games...after everyone changed into their COMFY PANTS!  (for those of you who weren't there, it's a long story)

Braddy's dad (Pops) even joined in on some CatchPhrase

The boys were stuffed

The day (as ambitious as it was) was a smashing success...and we look forward to the next time!

"We ROCK!"

...maybe by then, everyone will have a pair of comfy pants.

{There are tons more pictures where these came from - check it out.}