For the first time since we have been together, Ryan and I were able to spend Christmas with his family. The snow started Tuesday and never really stopped too much. Kristy's family and Arin all came through Sioux Falls Tuesday so the kids and I headed with them to beat the storm. Ryan was stuck home since he had clinical on Wednesday. He was supposed to work until 7 pm but thankfully was let out around noon to beat the bad weather. He made it to the farm at about 3:30 and the entire family was home! I was so glad he made it safely and didn't get snowed in at home in Sioux Falls.
The festivities began with some ice cream....a Strasburg favorite. There was an abundance of Schwan's vanilla ice cream and Sue's homemade chocolate sauce eaten over the next 5 days. I would like to admit that I was not included in any of the ice cream eating...I was too busy shoving my face with Holly's yummy Christmas cookies.
Wednesday was pretty warm and the kids were able to play outside quite a bit. Tyler, Jack, and Jessie loved sledding behind the 4-wheeler. Our kids liked it too...very slow. Here's Jack, Landon, and Jessie stopping for a quick picture.
Here is Aunt Kristy driving with some help from Landon. I like how you can see Jack and Jessie on the sled in the background.
Having a blast! This brings back memories of my own childhood. I remember I thought it was so fun to get pulled behind the sled on the 4-wheeler. I spent many hours riding on a sled with Elizabeth Plante while her big brother Glen and big sister Sarah drover around their yard. We were such big chickens if they started going too fast or it looked like they were going to take us off some big jumps, we would just jump off! I rode with Kadence and needless to say there was no jumping off...
Wednesday night we started the 3-day Christmas present extravaganza and the kids opened their gifts from each other. Kadence got a very cute doll that had a Vikings outfit with a matching one for her, too, along with some pom-poms. Landon got a couple movies and a special Christmas book. I am convinced all of the kids enjoyed all their presents!
When Mommy is away...the children will EAT REALLY YUMMY TREATS! I am not sure where I was when Aunt Kristy caught this act...yum yummy. I don't know why she would like something like that and where the heck she would get it from!
Our Christmas Eve was spent at the house. Since it was blizzarding outside we did not feel it would be safe to make the 20 mile trek to town for church. The kids had a fabulous idea to read
The Christmas Baby book that Landon had recieved for Christmas. Jack and Jessie did such a great job reading-it was like a very short Christmas sermon. And...I had plenty of red wine in honor of the communion I missed:)
Story time happened to fall at the same time as Kadence's supper time. She enjoyed the story, just with a very messy face. The rest of us had wonderful appetizers and sweets after the story. The kids then opened up all their gifts from Aunty Arin.
Santa had come and it was Christmas morning. The older kids were up early excited and ready to open up their gifts. We ended up waking up Landon so that everyone didn't have to wait. They all were very patient. I would like to mention that this was an act I paid for a few hours later as I had an extremely irrational child on my hand for about an hour. I think next year we will let him sleep!
Kadence was most excited about the candy she found in her stocking and pretty uninterested in opening the rest of her gifts. I think next year we'll start with the gifts and end with the candy :)
Although he had been woken up, Landon was in a great mood (for the gift opening anyway) and had so much fun. This was the first year he understood and was ecstatic about all his gifts.
Gary and Sue got him a cute little Vikings outfit which of course he didn't want to humor us and try on. We did get him to try the helmet on though. Ryan had the same type of outfit when he was little and loved it. I just hope this won't turn Landon into the type of Vikings fan that Ryan and Gary are...
Silly cousin Tyler!
I think my daughter is making quite the fashion statement here. Perhaps she gets her style from her Aunty Arin? Haha...not so much :)
Ahh...this is the life. I have my new Toy Story shirt on from Grandma Sue and Papa Gary from Disney that I will later refuse to take off when my mother attempts to put my pj's on. I am all snuggled in the most comfortable chair at Grandmas with my stuffed animals, milk, and "blantey" all in reach. To top it off, I am sure if I see cousin Jessie walk by I can pretty much get her to do anything I want. Now if only I could get a hold of another one of those yummy chocolates that my mommy took away from me this morning...
Grandma and Grandpa's house is so tiring! Especially when I have those big cousins to chase after. I guess I will just lay on the floor and play with my sweet new tractors for awhile. I wonder if Grandma has noticed that I am not with her...it has been 5 minutes. I sure hope if I stay back here behind the couch I can keep these sweet toys away from my sister. Now the only thing that I would rather be doing right now is actually riding in the tractor with Papa...
Kadence loving Aunty Arin and her new "kitty."
Kadence always does this with Papa Gary...so glad we finally caught it on camera (my new camera!!!!).
Here's Kadence taking a rest with Aunt Kristy. I guess Ryan was just following Kadence around taking pictures of her :) We have to get some extra pictures of that deprived 2nd child...right mom?!
For whatever reason, Holly managed to escape the camera. So here's the one picture I had of her...playing wii. Don't hate me for it...you look hot in your jammies and you know it!!! Thankfully you are naturally beautiful:) We had to have a wii picture anyhow...
This is how we all felt after a fun-filled 5 1/2 day Christmas celebration. Tuckered out!
When we weren't partaking in Christmas festivities we spent the rest of the time hanging out. We ate great home cooked food and most importantly (my favorite) lots and lots of cookies. Holly and I played "nerts" for hours, Arin worked (okay not the
entire time), the kids all jumped on the mattress upstairs, Ryan and Tyler wrestled, everyone played A LOT of the wii (especially bowling), ate cookies, played card games, played several family games of "654" dice, saw a couple good movies, laughed a lot, did some chores (okay, I opted out on that one...I just don't love the cold), drank wine, ate cookies, ran on the treadmill, and lastly ate cookies.
We are so blessed to have such wonderful families to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior with. Thank you Gary, Sue, Jerry, Kristy, Tyler, Jessie, Holly, Jack, and Arin for a great time!
On a side note, this is what we came home to...
Snow! I honestly don't think we had this much snow the entire winter season last year. It is pretty and was mostly cleaned up by the time we got home, but I am not really enjoying the drift that covers half of our front window! Crazy!
