The Sunday after Thanksgiving we headed out to get our tree. It. Was. Cold. Been a rough couple of years for our favorite little tree farm. They are still struggling from the drought. However, we managed to find one that we all agreed on...in record time. Brrrrr!
Early morning when everyone else is asleep is always my favorite thing this time of year.
With 2 teenagers in the house everyone is always in 4 different places. We managed to squeeze in a "family" day mid-December. Chris and the kids finished their Christmas shopping and we made a stop at Lauritzen Gardens for their annual pointsettia display.
In the new "Gardens Under Glass" an intimate Christmas wedding was set up for that night. So lovely.
After the gardens we headed downtown for dinner and a stroll around the Old Market in Omaha to enjoy the Christmas lights. It was misty, but nice and warm.
Downtown Omaha was beautiful in the foggy night air. Fun to have a day together!!!
Poor Livie. She was one stressed out kid the week of finals. She works SO hard, maintaining all A's while also having a part-time job and is involved in many other activities. I laughed one morning when I woke up and found her "to-do list" on the counter.
Before leaving for our trip to MN the kids headed to the library to stock up on books for vacation. Proud mama to have good readers!
Final task...finish the "Snowball Cookies" for Auntie Ernie!!! Saturday, December 20th we loaded up and headed north.
First stop was Tim and Joanna's house in Canyon. We spent our first full day in Duluth touring the beautiful Glensheen mansion with Jo & Tim, G/G Maras and our cousins Lizzie and Drew.
The mansion was beautiful and all decked out for the holidays.
My favorite little window set into the dining room door. A secret way for the butler's to see if guests need anything at dinner.
It was a gray and foggy day, but Lake Superior was still haunting and gorgeous as always.
Kids had fun roaming the grounds.
Next day we traveled to Hibbing. In Nebraska we often get stuck behind tractors and other assorted farm implements. In northern MN you get stopped by giant mining trucks. Impressive.
At G/G Maras' house there was just enough snow for the kids to get outside and have some winter fun. Above is Tony's "odd" snow family, complete with pregnant snow-mother.
Our artist created a "snow cat"
We also made a visit to Chris' sister Jen's house so we could see our nephews James and Victor. It was fun to see the boys - getting so BIG!!!
Uncle Chris was eager to help Victor put together his new legos.
Thank you Auntie Jojo for the awesome fort!!!
The kids humored me and posed for a nice picture. It's hard to get all 6 kids together at one time...
...as long I let them do a silly pose too!!!
Back to Auntie Jojo's house. We all took advantage of a beautiful Christmas Eve day and got outside. Stella patiently waits for someone to throw her a snowball.
The kids and Jojo made this beautiful snow fairy/angel.
Papa John wanted a picture to show off at coffee!
Joanna and Tim have a beautiful place in the country and we always enjoy being able to take advantage of the outdoors when we are there.
We got everyone out for a walk in the woods before our opening gifts and indulging in a big Christmas Eve dinner!
So peaceful.
Nice shirt Tony! Auntie Jojo pays homage to our FAVORITE holiday movie,
Elf.
Stella is such a GOOD dog and handles all the chaos we bring in stride.
"The most enduring traditions of the season are best enjoyed in the warm embrace of kith and kin. Thith tree is a thymbol of the thspirit of the Grithwold family Chrithmath."
Joanna set a beautiful table and did a marvelous job hosting Christmas Eve this year.
Happy girl wrapped in coziness and NO HOMEWORK in the near future.
Grandma Nancy is always such a good sport!!! We had a wonderful first half of the week with the Maras family. Lots of fun, good food, good memories. We loaded up Christmas Eve night and headed down to Eden Prairie for the second half of the week with the Thompson crew...
The kids were SO happy to wake up Christmas morning at Ernie and Jeff's beautiful home. As soon as Grandma and Papa came we got down to business. Tony was SO HAPPY to get a Sherpa.
Olivia was SO HAPPY to get a Sherpa.
Jacky quickly got his Sherpa for a picture with Tony and his Sherpa.
Hooray for Sherpas!!!!
(man, I wish I had a Sherpa!!)
Later that morning Jeff's dad Mike, and his brother Mark and his wife Megan joined us for Christmas Day. This was their first Christmas without Vicki and we were SO glad to have them with us. I hope this is a new tradition for us all, as it just made the day more special to have them there. Plus, the Maras family had fun kicking the Skubic family's BUTT in Trivial Pursuit. Just sayin'.
Jacky roped Gramma Sally into watching "Wrecking Ball Videos" with him.
Silly cousin fun.
We had our second annual Family Bowling Night in honor of Gramma Sally's birthday. A traveling $20 bill was given to the person who got a strike, who then passed it on to the next person that got a strike, etc. Livie had the $20 for a matter of minutes. Darn Uncle Jeff.
Jacky was Untle Tiss' buddy during our visit.
STRIKE!!!!! Yay Tony!!!! Until Auntie Ernie threw the very last ball before dinner and got a strike. She isn't quite as ruthless as Jeff and let Tony keep the 20 bucks. I have a feeling next year she may not place so nice.
The family that bowls together has FUN together! Basically, we all suck at bowling except for maybe Uncle Jeff. But we had a blast (the wine and beer help) and all look forward to this yearly tradition!
Before we had to head for home Jacky talked Untle Tiss into "showing him somting tool" one last time. Looks like a snowblowing video. We love our quirky little Jack.
We ALL had a wonderful Christmas vacation this year. It was busy - but really really good. We thank everyone for opening their homes to us. Saddest thing for me is when my mom's chex mix...which I patiently wait for
all year long...is gone. That signals the official end of the holiday season. Happy New Year to those we love that are near and far!!!
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