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!