Our Minnesota Christmas

We were blessed with the opportunity to head north for Christmas this year…it was extra special to be there this year because everyone was home (and our family expanded by two this year)!  The opportunities to all be together are few and far between now that we live in Texas and my brother and his wife life out east…we treasured the time that we were able to spend together and crammed a lot of memory making, a lot of dogs and a lot of people  into a few short days…

We left our driveway at 5:03am to head north…B enjoyed the inaugural ride in his new “big kid car seat (he seemed to enjoy sitting up and watching the world go by through the window- thanks Aunt Meg).  Ella is a great traveler, for the most part she sleeps in the trunk…her little head will pop up (like in the photo) about once every hour or so, just to make sure that everyone is still where they were when she fell asleep. We enjoyed watching the car thermometer drop as we passed through Kansas, Missouri and Iowa…we finally arrived in Minnesota about 16 hours after pulling out of our driveway…

My brother, M, C and I enjoyed a winter run our first morning, it was great to get our legs moving after sitting in the car for so long. Ella’s new nick name is “Polar Bear” she loved running in the snow!  M’s dog, Gatsby, enjoyed having a running partner too! The puppy, Madeline, is B’s uncle J & aunt A’s new dog.

Recently, my dad received a GPS as a gift.  C and M were quick to put it to use as they introduced all of us to the sport of “Geocaching”.  We bundled B up and my mom, dad, M, C, all  the dogs and I went off in search of our first cache.  B slept while we searched…he looked so cozy in his down snow suit…

 

Contrary to winter in Texas, it gets pretty cold in Minnesota…cold enough that the lakes freeze to provide fantastic ice skating rinks.  We enjoyed taking B skating…we pulled him in this little sled that my parents found earlier this fall.  B loved being outside despite the cold, his little eyes were wide opened as we took turns pulling him across the rink.

 

There are no “mountains” in Minnesota, but there are some decent hills that are fun to ski on.  It was fun to be back on skis, C did a remarkable job representing as a Texan and made each run look like a cake walk!

My mom planned a special night for our family on the night before Christmas eve.  We enjoyed a fantastic meal in downtown Minneapolis (per K’s suggestion (M’s girlfriend)) and headed to the Melting pot for dessert. It was really fun, we enjoyed some tasty chocolate and had fun sharing some of our favorite Christmas traditions. 

 

After dessert, we took a carriage ride through downtown. It was snowing outside, it truly looked like we were inside of a snow globe.

  

After our carriage ride, we headed back to my parent’s house to enjoy our second biannual gingerbread house decorating experience.  We made “couples” houses this year…C had the brilliant idea of creating a moat outside of our house with coffee, the licorice in the photo is the drawbridge to the house…our house looked great for a few minutes until the coffee started to seep into the “foundation” of the house…it later collapsed…C made the most out of our “situation” and ate it!

On Christmas eve, we enjoyed breakfast with my dad’s family. We had abelskiver (one of my Christmas favorites).  B wore his “team” vest.  Let me explain, my dad always used to say “You’re on the Team”…the line has kind of stuck around our family and this little sweater vest has a golden retriever on it that has a pennant that reads “team”…we found it rather apropo!

After breakfast, C had the idea to go to the Mall of America to people watch…he thought that the day before Christmas would provide a prime people watching eperience.  My brother J, his wife A, M, C and I enjoyed some delicious Caribou Coffee while we people watched.

 

While at the mall, we found a store that was selling some fantastic Christmas sweaters.  We all attempted to find our favorite/the tackiest and wore them on Christmas Eve for dinner with my mom’s family…this family “portrait” captures the pure class of our sweater choices.

 

My family has always gone to the “midnight” service  on Christmas Eve.  I can remember my youngest brother falling asleep in the church pew each year.  B was able to make it to church with us, he went in his pajamas….he was pretty tired as shown in this photo…

On Christmas morning, we were able to celebrate Christmas as our little family before everyone else woke up. It was so special to be together and really savor that time, even though B doesn’t understand Christmas yet, C and I really enjoyed experiencing it through his little eyes.  Later, A made her family’s “Christmas Morning Special” for breakfast …it was neat to be able to experience a tradition that means so much to her.  Then we  enjoyed opening packages with everyone.  B fell asleep while we opened gifts and  slept through the majority of our gift opening time…he did make sure to wake up with some time to  play with wrapping paper.  It was really surreal to be together as we opened gifts…our family grew by two people this year and it was so special to have them included in our Christmas time together.  Thank You Lord for A and B.

Later in the afternoon, we headed to my aunt’s  house for Christmas dinner. We were able to enjoy the snow in her backyard with my cousins and their dogs (there were nine dogs  total). A’s cousin, her husband and new baby joined us for dinner, it was quite a treat to get to know them better.  As of this year, the number of “kids” who sat at the “kids table” outnumbered the number of “adults” in the group…we all enjoyed the promotion to the dinning room table and the chance to catch up, share stories and laugh together (I think the adults enjoyed the quiet atmosphere at their smaller table in the kitchen).

 

B was able to enjoy some good play time with his cousin A.  A is about a month older than B. It is fun to watch A and wonder what B may be doing in a month!

All in all, it was a great trip.  It was such a gift to be together and experience our family’s recent expansions and get caught up on everyone’s lives…it can be a challenge to have family spread out all over the country…but it does force one to enjoy and savor precious time we do have together.