your wishes certainly came true here in Minnesota! It seems that every morning for the past few weeks we were faced with another opportunity to dig our way out to get the day started!
We were fortunate there was no new snow on Christmas Eve so we all were able to make it safely to our destination. This little guy, strangely, has special significance to the Geier, Simser and Birkholz family tradition. He has been with us every Christmas in some way, shape or form for over a decade, so it only seems appropriate to include him here as well.
Paul, Nick, Suzanne and I packed up our plates of Christmas goodies and headed to Jayne and Tom's in the early afternoon.
Paul's fruit cake turned out very well, incidentally! Jayne had such a wonderful buffet prepared!!!Clara was our center of attention as we gathered to open our presents.
She did a great job of handing out gifts to the family with Jayne as her guide.
Some of the family members remembered when they had that job and wondered what happened to all of the undivided attention they used to receive!
Does it get any better than sharing Christmas with a child?
After all, their presents are usually way more fun than the adults'!!
Unless, of course, you have to cleverly plan how to use a multitude of whisks!!! Joe never disappoints with witty ideas.
Suzanne scored a "boatload" of gluten free goodies.
And, we all showed our competitive side as we rolled the dice for the traditional "white elephant" game. I just need to figure out how to use 20 pounds of pizza sauce........
Christmas Day found Paul and I back in the kitchen, this time putting the finishing touches on the smoked brisket.
The four of us were so happy to be able to share the day with Marlys, Paul, Lisa, Beth, Gary, Mike and his boys, Tyler and Caden.
Once again, we were excited to watch the little ones open their gifts. Paul and I found these noisy cars for the boys. Sorry, Mike!!! They just looked like they would be fun.
Speaking of noise, Tyler and Caden love that their big cousin, Nick, sets up a few drums for them to play. What a house this is, loud cars and drums!! Cool!!!
This is the first time the sisters have been together on Christmas Day in a long, long time. It was good for my soul to bond with Beth and Marlys.
We all lined up to share another meal. I think I was still full from Christmas Eve!
Maybe in my next life time, I will have a house big enough for everyone to sit around the same table!! Love you, kids!
After dinner, Caden charmed us all in his gentle way while Tyler headed for his nap.
Doesn't he just melt your heart? I am so excited to have those two closer to our house!!!
We were all in the Christmas spirit.
It is so wonderful to hold onto these moments when we can relax together and enjoy!
And now, the holidays have come to a close.
Paul and I are working to put Christmas away and pack up the camper for our trip.
We have our
the weather cooperates so we can get our camper up the hill!
I am ready to experience what I have dreamed about for years,
traveling during the winter to warmer climates. The next time you hear from us we should be singing a new song.
We'll keep you posted!
2 comments:
I had a wonderful time on Christmas Day - you are the best hosts!
Have a safe trip down south - bring some warm temps back with you when you return!
Safe travels!
I, too, want to thank you both for hosting Christmas - a day to remember! We had such a good time and the food was fabulous! I could go for just one more piece of brisket! Thanks from the bottom of my heart! Enjoy your travels southeast and I pray you get up your hill! We got over 12" of snow today on top of our almost 30" so we are almost buried! What will spring be like? I went to Harold Mashek's funeral today and thought of Dad's as it was pretty tough out there. I don't think the wind was blowing quite as hard as in 1996 but close! The funeral made me melancholy - miss Dad & Mom so much.
Post a Comment