A Minnesota Christmas

 After all the hype, and hoopla, Christmas has come and gone. It's sad how quickly it's all over. This month has been a total blur of activity, but it's sure been fun. 

Last week, on a week night, the kids, John, and I hopped in the car in our jammies with some hot cocoa and drove around to see some Christmas lights. We found some really good ones, and even found the Candy lane lanes and Penguin lanes. We all really enjoyed the trip. 

The kids enjoyed their Advent calendars this year. Elliott had a lego one and enjoyed building new legos every day, and Emma had a fidget Advent calendar. They were a big hit again this year. 

Two Sundays ago, December 19th, was the Children's Christmas program. My parents came to town for the weekend, and Jim and Barb made it to the program again. The kids did really well with their parts and songs, and seemed to really enjoy it. I always love watching the Children's program, and they always put on a really good show with a really good message. 

After the Children's program, we went to Dairy Queen for supper and an ice cream treat. Emma even got to sit with some of her friends at Dairy Queen, which she thought was awesome. 

Last week, the kids only had school on Monday and Tuesday, so they went out to Grandma and Grandpa house for the rest of the week while John and I worked. In the evenings, John and I got all the gifts wrapped and enjoyed a nice supper out at 41 Taphouse. It was really nice to have some quiet evenings before all the Christmas crazy. 

On Thursday, I worked, and then when I got home, we got all the gifts ready, went and got the kids, and then had our Christmas celebration at home with the kids. The big gift of the year was a Nintendo Switch, which has been a big hit with the kids. They have loved Mario Kart and Minecraft. I think we are creating monsters, but they sure love playing their games. They also got some huge Swishmallow animals, candy, art supplies, and some other odds and ends. They had a great Christmas, and got very spoiled. 

On Friday, which was Christmas Eve, we headed to Minnesota after lunch. In the morning, the kids played Nintendo Switch, and then we packed up, ate some Tacos, and then headed out. We got to my parent's house at around 3:00pm. We unpacked, changed clothes, and then headed to church at 4:00pm to see the Emanuel Children's Christmas Program. After church, we went back to mom and dad for snacks and apps, and eventually some games and drinks. It was a really nice evening. Rachel and Elena eventually showed up as well, and the kids had a lot of fun playing together. 

On Christmas Day, we went to church at 10:15am, and then came back for a Christmas Day dinner of Ham balls, potatoes, and lots of good sides. Carlos joined us during the day, as well as Ryan and Emily. We had a nice day of opening gifts (including white elephant which are always fun) and then of course games, and too much food and drink. It was a really nice Christmas Celebration, and everyone stayed until around 10:00pm, then it was time to put some very tired kids to bed. The kids got spoiled once again and had a great day. 

On Sunday, John and I went to the Vikings game at US Bank Stadium. We had a really good time. The Vikings didn't play great (big surprise) and they lost, but we really enjoyed our experience and we would go again in the future. We parked at the Mall of America, and then rode the light rail, and we had seats up in the nose bleed area. But we could still see the field pretty well, and we enjoyed the atmosphere. After the game, we had to stand in line quite a while before riding the light rail back to the mall. We ate at Bumps in Glencoe on the way home, and then ran into a snowstorm for the last 30 miles home. 

The kids had a great day with my mom and dad while we were in the cities. They went over to the shop for a while and played some games and had some good bonding time. 

On Monday, we came back to Sioux Falls. The roads were a little icy and kinda crappy in some spots, but we made it home by 2:00pm. We spent most of the day unpacking, taking down Christmas decor, and then finally relaxing. 

I have this entire week off with the kids. Today, we have done some cleaning, and blogging, and the kids are playing a little Nintendo Switch. Then we have big plans to go clean church, maybe some lunch at Fizoli's, and then maybe some swimming or Air Madness or something. We are going to have a crazy week that is all over the place, but that's ok. Then on Friday, we will have Christmas with the Nelsons. 

Ready for the Christmas Program 

Time for presents!

Pokemon Cards 

Opening the Nintendo Switch 

Trying out the new games 

Christmas in MN 

Coloring Party 

These two were cute together 

Elliott's sled 

Go Vikings!!

Christmas Happenings

 Once again, I am a little behind on blogging. We are 11 days into December and we have been all about Christmas in the Nelson Household. Our Christmas decorations have been up since before Thanksgiving, and we have been keeping busy with advent calendars, daily readings, Christmas crafts, and outings. Whew. 

The big excitement in our house right now are the Advent calendars. Emma has a fidget one, and every day she gets a new fidget. Elliott has a Lego Advent Calendar, and he gets to build a new lego item every day. Those are usually opened first thing in the morning. We also have a reading Advent Calendar, where we read a bible passage or story every day, and then they can color the picture by that day so we know where we are at. They seem to be enjoying that one as well. And lastly, we have an activity Advent Calendar. Each day has a slip of paper in it that describes a Christmas activity that we can do that day. So far, we have baked cookies, watched a Christmas movie, drank hot cocoa, colored Christmas pictures, and played some games. The kids really enjoy this calendar. 

I also rediscovered the Visual Arts Museum. I ordered some really cute take-home crafts from them, and then the kids worked on them at home. Elliott made a snowman, and Emma made a reindeer. They both did a really good job and really enjoyed the crafts. This past week, we went to the Museum and actually did the craft there. We made presents and some Gnomes, and they turned out really well. John even joined us (since his office is right next door), and he helped us craft and then we drove through Falls Park to see the lights and then we also checked out the big tree at the Washington Pavillion. It was a fun, but chilly, evening. 

Last weekend, we went to Jim and Barb's to make some holiday cookies. Our oven is being a little fussy, so we brought our stuff out there to do some baking. It was fun. We made some sugar cookies, almond bark pretzels, spritz cookies, and chex mix. It was a pretty successful afternoon. 

This weekend has been a busy one. The kids had a snow day on Friday, and they called school off on Thursday night already, so we packed up the kids and ran them out the Jim and Barb's house so John and I could go to work. On Friday, it snowed about 8 inches, and was blowing and not the nicest, so it was nice the kids weren't in school. John and I ended up going to a concert by "For King and Country". It was a Christian Christmas Concert, and it was really good. It was supposed to be Emma and I at the concert, it was going to be Emma's first real concert. But, she was stuck out on the farm, and the roads were a little too bad to drive out there to get her. So, John and I had supper at the Blue Rock Bar and Grill and then went to the concert. I felt bad, because Emma would of loved it. But, we will just have to find another concert to be her first concert. 

Today, we went to church in the morning to clean the school and decorate for Christmas. I also decorated my table for Advent by Candlelight, which is tomorrow. After all that, we ate lunch at Slim Chickens and ran a couple errands before finally getting the kids from the farm. They had a blast out on the farm. They played in the snow, got pulled behind the Honda in the sleds, and just had fun being spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. They were happy, but tired kids when we got them. 

Now, we are finally settled in at home. The laundry is going, the kids are relaxing with their Ipads, and John and I are just enjoying some quiet time in the living room watching "A Christmas Story". 

Tomorrow is going to be a really crazy day. We have to be at church at 0740 because the choir sings in both services. We will go to Sunday School/Bible Study in between services, and then the kids have Christmas program practice after church until 1:00pm. After that, I have Advent by Candlelight starting at 3:00 pm. Meanwhile John and the kids have a 4-h meeting at 5:00pm. It's definitely not a lazy Sunday for us. I'm not sure how we have so many things piled into one day, but it's going to be crazy. 

The rest of the week should be a little better. We actually have most of our evenings free this week, which is really nice. We sing again at the Wednesday evening Advent service, and other than that we have an open week. 

Next weekend, we have a wedding, for John's friend Brandon. We also have the Children's Christmas Program next Sunday, which is always a good time. My parents are planning to come to town next weekend, so it will be busy, busy, busy. 

Overall, things are really good here. We have really busy weeks, but we are all enjoying the Christmas season and trying to soak it all in before it's all over. 

Shopping with John, always an adventure 

Elliott's snowman 

Emma's reindeer

Baking cookies 

Craft night 

Elliott's finished products-he loved it 

For King and Country Concert 

Thanksgiving in Minnesota

 On Friday, I had to work. John stayed home with the kids and built Legos and just enjoyed being home with the kids. I had a nice, steady day at work. I got off around 1:30pm and then headed to the gym before going home and packing and heading to Minnesota. 

We left home around 3:45pm with a very full car. We stopped to fill up in Windom, and then we stopped to drive through the light display in Sleepy Eye. We were pretty impressed with the lights, and the kids really enjoyed it. 

We got to my parents' house around 7:00pm, and we had a great supper of homemade soup and grilled cheese. Elliott opened his gift from Grandma and Grandpa (a power ranger sword) and the kids played while we played some Sheepshead for a while. It was nice to spend some time with Mom and Dad before everyone was there and the craziness started. We played Sheepshead until around 11:00pm, and then we called it a night. 

Saturday was the Thanksgiving celebration. While mom and dad got things ready in the kitchen, I got the kids outside to burn off some energy and play catch with a football. It was actually pretty nice outside, so we stayed outside playing for a good hour. Eventually John and Grandpa joined us, and even Ryan for a little while once he got there. 

After Rachel, Carlos, Elena and Emily arrived we ate dinner. It was another delicious Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. I brought a huge Pumpkin and a huge Pecan pie, buns, and some beer and wine. We all ate too much good food. We passed the afternoon with some games and cards, and I made some time to play with the little kids as well. Elliott opened a couple more gifts, and everyone enjoyed the day. 

We did make it outside again in the afternoon to throw airplanes with the kids, and to throw the football around again. It felt really good to get up and move around, and the kids really enjoyed the activity. 

Toward evening, we ate a light supper, and then everyone went home. We enjoyed just sitting in the living room visiting and relaxing until we were all too tired and went to bed. 

Today, we started off with church at Emanuel (we haven't been there in a long time!). Then after church we stayed to help decorate for Christmas. We hung up the lights, set up the tree and decorated it, and helped clean up afterwards. Back at mom and dad's we made a french toast, egg, and sausage brunch, and then we packed up to head for home. 

We had a really good holiday weekend, but it is really nice to be back at home. I missed my home. We got home around 5:00pm, and then unpacked, did laundry, made lunches for school tomorrow, did piano lessons with Emma, did some reading, and now we are finally relaxing after the kids are in bed. What a weekend. 

This next week will keep us busy as well. I have three late shifts, and mid-week Advent services start this week, and a couple church meetings for John and I. We will not be bored. 

However, I am loving all the Christmas lights and music going on right now. We are totally in my favorite time of the year!!

Sheepshead with the family 

Grandma with her Grandkids 

Tea Party Fun