Falls Park

 We are in the full Christmas swing around here. This past week wasn't quite as crazy as usual, but it was pretty busy. Work has gotten really busy for me, so it's not unusual for me to have really busy days and work long days. This past week I worked 45 hours, and I was shot in the evening when I got home. 

On Tuesday evening, John and I had a free event to attend through Legacy Lawyers. It was a Prairie Christmas hosted by Jeff Gould. It was cute, and funny, but it got long, and the crowd was really old. So, at the intermission break, we busted out of there and went home. It was a little bit of a bust. But, we tried!

On Wednesday, we had our first Advent service. My group was serving the supper, so I had to get there early to prepare the Walking Tacos, and then serve and clean up. It's always a little bit of a crazy time, but it went well and we survived. Then, we had church, and finally home. 

Yesterday (Friday), it was unseasonably warm, so we decided to head to Falls Park to see all the lights. We were impressed with all the upgrades, and we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent a solid hour walking around and getting plenty of photo ops. The kids really enjoyed it all. They loved the lights, the photo spots, the falls, and they even rolled down the hill like a bunch of little kids. We did also buy them some Hot Cocoas, so of course that went over really well. I love these kind of Christmas things. 

Today, the boys decided to go up to the Watertown area and go ice fishing. They left around lunch time, and they won't be home until late. They have had some luck catching some small fish, but nothing worth keeping. But, they are having fun. They also bought a new ice shack this year, and John has it set up in the garage to test it out. So, of course the kids had to sleep in it last night in the garage. They said it was really fun and they enjoyed themselves. They lasted all night and seemed to really like it. 

Today, Emma and I decided to have a girls' day since the boys were gone. So, we headed to OakRidge Nursery this morning for Mimosas and Hot Chocolate (and Santa, which we skipped). We had a lot of fun, and we looked around and shopped while we were there too. I bought a cute Gnome with a kitty print hat on it, because Emma and I thought it was perfect for both of us. We also bought a cute wall hanging. It was successful. We also stopped at Walmart (which was crazy busy) and found a few clothing articles for Emma and then supper items since Emma invited Hannah T and Lily over for a sleepover. 

I picked up the girls around 1pm, and they have been out in the ice shack pretty much the whole time they have been here. They went outside for a while, but otherwise they have been hanging out in their private tent area. It's pretty cute. I'm making them tater tot hotdish for supper, and then an ice cream sundae bar later tonight. They are going to sleep in the ice shack, and I'm going to see if I can get the projector going out there for them so they can watch a movie. They are having fun. 

Then, we have church tomorrow, and Children's program practice, and then a 4-H meeting later. So, the weekend is busy, but we are having fun. 

Happy Holidays!

The ice shack 

Falls Park Family Fun 

Thanksgiving 2024

 Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and it always goes by in a hurry. We spent Thanksgiving Day in Brookings this year at Dennis and Jenny's house. We got there around 11:00 am, and enjoyed some time drinking a little wine, visiting, and helping get the meal ready. 

We are dinner at 12:30pm, and enjoyed a nice meal with way too much food again. It was delicious, and then we topped it off with pumpkin or apple pie. We also played Bingo again this year, with Dennis calling the numbers. We all brought Bingo prizes, so it was fun to see what everyone won and brought. After bingo, we watched some football, lounged around, and just enjoyed each other's company. Pretty much everyone was able to make it to Thanksgiving this year, so that was nice. We stayed until around 7pm, and then headed home for the night. 

On Friday, we enjoyed a nice day at home in the morning. We caught up with laundry, did some cleaning, and then packed up to go to Minnesota. We left home after lunch, and got to Mom and Dad's in the late afternoon. We unpacked, settled, ate some supper, and then we went to Sleepy Eye Brewery for some beer. The kids stayed home, and Michelle met us there. We enjoyed some beer and visiting and then called it a night. 

On Saturday, we went to Gaylord for Thanksgiving with mom's side of the family. It was a very nice potluck meal, and I got to see Grandma Mary and some of my aunts and uncles that I never get to see. So, we ate, visited, played some games, and then called it a day. I also got to eat some German Potato Salad, so that was nice. We left in the evening, and then Ryan made homemade pizzas for us at mom and dad's house while we enjoyed some more drinking and visiting, and some card games. 

On Sunday, we went to church, and then had our last Thanksgiving meal at home with mom and dad. We had another excellent meal, visited even more, and then we headed back to South Dakota. 

It was a great, busy, very calorie-filled weekend. We saw alot of people, caught up with family, and enjoyed some food and drink. We were very happy to get home, settled, and get ready for another week. 

Now, Christmas is only two weeks away, and time continues to fly by. We still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do, so I'm not sure when that is going to happen. But, I love this time of year. Our Christmas decor has been up for weeks already, I have been listening to Christmas music, and I am just trying to soak in this time before Christmas is over and we are in the dark days of January and February. 

Our Christmas Pots we made 

Thanksgiving Time 

Emma with Barb's dog

And Elliott

Catching up on the Standard 

Elliott Turns 10

 Well, Mr. Elliott turned 10 a couple weeks ago. We made a big deal out of celebrating him. We decorated the stairs to the basement, the doorway in the kitchen, and then kitchen table with streamers and balloons. We also sang to him, and then John had his Sunday School class sing to him as well. 

After church, we let Elliott run the show a little bit at home to play games and hang out, and then we helped Jim and Barb deliver Poinsettias, and finally we went out to eat at Sickie's to celebrate Elliott. 

Elliott is peak little boy, but he's growing into a little man. He is definitely maturing, and I am very proud of the little man he is becoming. He is still very sensitive at times, and he can over-react to things, but overall he's a happy boy who gets along well with others. He does well in school and piano, and has some good friends that he likes to hang out with. He is still too chatty sometimes and asks many, many questions, but I love his curious mind. 

Elliott's likes:

-Rainbow Loom

-Pokemon

-Legos

-Telling stories

-Soccer

-Baseball

-Dots Pretzels

-Singing

-Playing Piano

-Ice Fishing (and regular fishing)

-Camping

-Traveling

-Playing games on his Ipad

Elliott's Dislikes:

-Being asked to do chores

-Grocery shopping

-When people don't listen

-Reading, when told to do so

So far, 10 has been pretty good. We are starting to task Elliott with more responsibility and we are no longer doing things for him that he can do for himself, so it's been a little bit of growing pains and frustration, but we are making progress. He can now sit in the front seat, so Emma and him switch off days. There is also talk about a cell phone in the future, but we decided it's a little too early for that. But, he has chores, and he's expected to put his things away and help out around home, so we are making strides. 

John and Elliott bought an ice shack so they can go ice camping this winter, and Elliott is super pumped about that. They will get to sleep on the ice all night, and he can't wait. 

He's our little, sweet, sensitive boy, and we love him so much!

Elliott's Birthday Party

 Another Elliott birthday party is in the books. He was really indecisive this year, and could not decide what he wanted to do for the longest time. But, he finally settled on going to Dave and Buster's. 

So, Rachel and Jacob came home with us after school on Friday. The kids all played together for the afternoon, and then at 6:00 pm we had a reservation at Dave and Buster's. 

We ate supper there, and it was pretty decent food. The kids all got some pizza and buffalo wings, and I got a steak bowl which was really good, and John got a burger and fries, which was decent. We took our time eating and visiting, and then let the kids loose to play some arcade games. They had a blast, and they each got some good items from the store at the end. 

Dave and Buster's was a pretty fun place to go for a birthday, but it was pretty expensive. It's definitely a special occasion place only. 

Elliott also got some gifts from his friends. He got a Pokemon Advent calendar, a Charmander stuffed animal and a book from Jacob, and he got candy, gum, and Pokemon megabuild blocks from Rachel. We also enjoyed a cookie cake from Mary's Mountain Cookies. 

Jacob went home after Dave and Buster's because he had Hockey tournament the next day, but Rachel spent the night. We headed home, and the kids watched a movie and then went to bed. 

All in all, it was a great birthday party. The kids had fun and made some great memories. Today, the kids played in the basement (and destroyed it) and then had a Nerf war outdoors. We brought Rachel home around lunch time, and then ran some errands, cleaned the house, and finally are relaxing for a while. 

It's also Elliott's birthday eve. He officially turns 10 tomorrow. We plan to treat him out to supper with Grandma and Grandpa, and shower him with some gifts tomorrow. I cannot believe he will be 10 tomorrow. Time really does fly. 

But, I'm going to read a little, watch some SDSU football on TV, and just enjoy the rest of my Saturday. 

November Updates

 I keep trying to stay on top of blogging, and I keep falling behind. November is flying by, and next week is Thanksgiving already. It's hard to believe the holidays are already upon us. 

On November 2nd, we took Jim and Barb to a SDSU Football game in Brookings. I found $10 tickets online, and the 6 of us headed to the football game. We got really lucky and had a beautiful November day for the game. It was 50 degrees, sunny, and we had a blast. 

We all rode together in Jim and Barb's truck (we were supposed to take my car, but the battery was dead, so eventually I ended up buying a new battery for my car). We tailgated in the parking lot before the game, and ate some BBQs, chips, and fruit. It was pretty fun and the kids sure loved it. 

We made sure we were in the stadium plenty early to see The Pride play and march, and so we could explore the stadium a little and watch warm ups. Jim and Barb had not been to the stadium since it had been updated, so they really enjoyed seeing everything. 

Then we just enjoyed a football game. The Jacks pounded Murray State 52-6. So, it wasn't much of a game, but there was a lot of offense to watch, a really good halftime show by The Pride. We stayed for the entire game, and Grandma and Grandpa spoiled the kids with some concessions during the game. We all had fun, and hope to go again next year. 

After the game, we went to Dennis and Jenny's for a visit and some supper. We took a little farm tour and saw their new buildings, and then ate a nice supper. It was fun to catch up. Then, we made the trek back home. 

The following weekend, we went out to the farm to make Christmas Trees. I found a nice 4-H project where the kids could make Christmas Trees out of 2x4s. They did really well with the project, and even did all the drilling themselves, with some guidance from grandpa. It was fun watching them, and then they got really creative when it came to painting and decorating the trees once they were assembled. 

Samantha, Jeff, and Katie also joined us for crafting day, and helped make trees and just enjoyed visiting with everyone. We also ate lunch at the farm. We had some taco soup and fixings, and it was really good. It was a really fun afternoon of making trees, and then the boys went to the Ice Institute and spent some money while Emma and I just enjoyed chilling at home for the evening. 

The rest of November had been filled with Christmas decorating, episodes of Modern Family, outdoor walks when the weather is nice enough, and trips to the gym. 

We also have been to a couple movies this month. Elliott and I read The Wild Robot, which Elliott really enjoyed. So, once it was in theaters we had to go see it. Emma also came with us. It was a really cute  movie, and it had a been long time since we had even seen a movie in the theater. Then, a couple weekends ago, we drove out to Viborg to see another movie based on the book Lost on a Mountain in Maine. Elliott and John read this book together, and Barb really wanted to see the movie, so we all went to see it together. The Viborg theatre is pretty fun because it's $5 to see the movie, and then concessions are really cheap. And it's just really old and has a lot of character. 

We also had a fun evening because of Elliott's soccer team. We got to go to the Union Social, which is a new Sports Bar and Arcade in Harrisburg. They had a soft opening, and we got to go play arcade games for free and eat at the restaurant for 50% off each item. They also have a bowling alley, and we bowled a game for free as well. We had so much fun and it was great, cheap entertainment. It was a little loud and busy there, but it was fun. We had to cram it into a school night, but it was worth it. 

We also received free tickets for a Skyforce Game on the following night. The kids got to wear their YMCA jerseys and be on the floor before the game with the players, so they thought that was pretty cool. We also enjoyed walking around, and then had fun watching the game. And Elliott got thrown a basketball from the mascot, so he thought that was pretty cool. The Skyfoce aren't real great this year, so after the third quarter we decided to head home since it was a school night. But, we all had a good time. 

Needless to say, we have been pretty busy lately. It's been a good busy, but it keeps us moving. I can't wait for Thanksgiving next week, and then Christmas is right around the corner. 

Ready for a football game 

Go Jacks!