Nelson Family Blog: Christmas 2022 (and a winter storm)

Hello. I'm a little bummed because Christmas is officially over, Christmas music is off the radio, and I already miss the Christmas season. I don't know why, but I feel like Christmas just flew by this year, and I didn't even get everything accomplished that I wanted to. But, we did have a great Christmas, even though we had to adjust our plans.

But, backing up a bit. The last time I wrote, it was the kids' Christmas program. They did a great job (like usual) and told us all the great Christmas story. It was great, and I was very proud of all the kids (but especially mine :) After the program, we took some great pictures, and then Jim, Barb, Katie, and the 4 of us went to Dynasty for supper. It was a delicious end to a great day.

Last week flew by. I only had to work Monday through Wednesday, and then I was home with the kids, who had Thursday and Friday off from school. On Wednesday, all of us went Christmas caroling at Dow Rummel, and then we went to Janet's house afterwards for a Choir Christmas Party. It was pretty fun, and we all had a good time.

On Thursday, we had a winter storm move in, so I was pretty happy to be able to stay home with the kids. We had snow, and then the winds blew around 45 mph, and we had some whiteout conditions and travel was not recommended across the state. We had some crazy weather, and people getting stuck out on the roads, and just some scary things. Travel was not recommended through Saturday morning, so the kids and I literally stayed in the house for 2 days. But, we had a good time. We crafted, watched some Christmas movies, played legos, played games, had reading time, and of course had some Ipad time. I also got some projects done, such as hanging a shower curtain, lots of laundry. defrosting our upright freezer, cleaning out our front closet and the Harry Potter closet, and a few other things. It felt good to get some things done.

On Thursday evening, we opened gifts at home. The kids were super excited, and they made a good haul. They were totally spoiled, but they appreciated their gifts and spent a lot of time playing with them. They also bought John and I a couple gifts with their own money, and they were so excited to give them to us. They were so adorable. They were almost more excited to give us their gifts, then open their own, almost.

Because of the weather, we flip-flopped our holiday plans. We were supposed to head to Minnesota on Friday, but we decided (actually mother nature did) to stay in town and go to Minnesota over New Year's weekend. So, on Saturday, which was Christmas Eve, we headed to Jim and Barb's house. We watched the Vikings play, and then we opened presents and had an appetizer lunch. After presents (which everyone got spoiled) and a last second Vikings win, we enjoyed just hanging out and visiting. We had an awesome nacho supper and then we headed to church at Grace Lutheran Church in Parker. It was a nice service, and we even lit candles during Silent Night at the end, and Elliott thought that was the greatest thing ever.

On Sunday, John and I sang in the choir at church, and then we headed back to Jim and Barb's house for a ham dinner. The kids spent the night there from Christmas Eve, and had a great time. After dinner, John and Emma went ice fishing, while Elliott and I headed home. We all enjoyed our Christmas Day, and then ended it together at home with a Christmas movie. It was a nice Christmas.

We all also had Monday off. We spent the day doing a little shopping and cleaning, and just spending the day together. In the evening, Jim and Barb came to pick up the kids who are spending the week on the farm. They are off school all this week, and John and I work, so they are out there for the whole week. We've been checking in with them, and it seems that they are having a great time.

John and I are enjoyed some adult evenings, with errands, eating out, and just relaxing at home. I miss the kids, but it is nice to be able to just do adult things for a few days.

So, we have one more Christmas to go. We will head to Minnesota this weekend, and do Christmas with my side of the family. It does not feel like a normal Christmas this year, but it's been great and we get to spend it with all of our family, so I would say we are pretty lucky.

Merry Christmas!!