'Tis the Season!

'Tis the season for Brandon's birthday, Christmas, and a new opportunity for Brandon! Over Thanksgiving break Brandon was offered an internship at South Fellowship Church in Littleton, where we live. He will be interning with the Young Adult Ministry. We are so excited for this opportunity! The church has not had an active Young Adult Ministry in a number of years, so they want Brandon to help start it back up. We had our first event last night, which was a Christmas party and a time of fellowship. Brandon shared some thoughts about Christmas with everyone toward the end and he did a great job. I'm so proud of him and excited for this opportunity that the Lord has given him!

We have had fun celebrating the Christmas season here in Denver. Here are some pictures of the different things we've done to get in the Christmas spirit:

We bought our Christmas tree the day
after Thanksgiving. 

Brandon got to put the star on top.

We went to the Denver Parade of Lights.

Luckily the Low Riders' Association participated. 

We decorated the apartment
for Christmas!

We exchanged Christmas presents with
each other early. This is what I got for
Brandon.

For Brandon's birthday I got him a chair
to read in (he's wanted one since school
started). Obviously he got this present right
when he woke up...

Before going to dinner and then
meeting up with some friends afterwards,
we went wine tasting at Balistreri's
Vineyards (yes, they're related to the
Balistreri's from Milwaukee!).

We are flying home to Milwaukee/Indiana in a few hours and are so excited to see our family and friends! Hopefully we'll get to see a lot of you!

love, brandon and ilissa

A Weekend in California

A few weeks ago we traveled to Orange County, California with my bff Shawna for the wedding of one of our college roommates, Katie. It was a great weekend and a great break from school! It was so fun to see a couple of friends from college, see Katie and Lee get married, and explore a little bit of southern California. Here are some pictures from our trip!

Brandon was prepared for the trip, even
on the drive to the airport.

Kind of blurry, but Brandon did an awesome job with
getting a deal on our awesome hotel! The next picture
is more clear...thanks Shawna. :)

Hanging out at the hotel

We took a ferry to Balboa Island to explore.

The sun was really bright...

Like I said, the sun was really bright...

Brandon fed part of his breakfast to some pigeons.

You can see how much I appreciated our time with
the pigeons.

Shawna enjoying the sites

Brandon is always learning...

My one-legged seagull friend.

Brandon's first time in the Pacific Ocean!

Loved the palm trees and the sand!

Riding the ferry back to the mainland. For some reason
it was easier to handle the sun on the way back.

The Balboa Bars were delicious...
despite the nervous look on Brandon's face.

Shawna Roberta Lane's special store :)

We were hungry before the wedding, so we stopped
at a Mexican restaurant for drinks and a quesadilla.

Here are a few of our finest pictures from the wedding:

It was great to see Elise!

With the bride and groom!