A Minnesota Christmas 2023

Another year, another Christmas spent in Minnesota. We did the typical Minnesota Christmas trip this year, it as just a little shorter than usual. We headed to Minnesota on Sunday morning (Christmas Eve). We got to my parent's house around 11:00 am, and got our meat and cheese tray all ready to go, and then enjoyed a little lunch, wine, and conversation. 

At around 2:30pm we all got changed and headed over to church. John, Rachel, and I joined the choir for the program, so we had to head over early to practice with them. At 4:00pm the Christmas Program started. It went pretty well for such a small group of kids. The choir sounded okay, we definitely could have been a little more polished. But, overall, it was good and enjoyable. 

After the program, we headed back to Mom and Dad's for more food and then present opening. Once again. the kids made a good haul and really enjoyed all their gifts. We had some things double up, but everyone still loved their gifts. We also did white elephant gifts again, and we had a lot of fun with that. 

We got another 365 day dad joke calendar, so those will be continuing for another year. Sorry to all my coworkers and friends. 

We spent most of the evening visiting in the kitchen and having some beverages while the kids watched a movie and relaxed. Overall the cousins did pretty well, but the age gap is starting to show a little more. Emma and Elliott were both annoyed with Elena more this Christmas than in years past. They don't enjoy the jumping, yelling, and just crazy things Elena does as much as they used to. They will be better again in a couple years when the age gap isn't such a big deal anymore. It also teaches my kids some patience and understanding as well. 

On Sunday, we went to Christmas Day service at 10:00am. After church, we had a nice Christmas Ham and potato dinner. It was nice to eat real food again and cool it with the snacking and munchies. After dinner, we played some games, and then we had to get packed up. There was some ice and snow hitting the Sioux Falls area, so we had to leave a little earlier than expected. We made it back just fine, and enjoyed having a little time to unpack and settle in before getting ready for the next week. 

On Tuesday, I had to go to work, but John and the kids were off. They played with toys, ate lunch at Dairy Queen, and then I met them at the Bethel Gym in the afternoon to shoot hoops and get a little exercise. After that, John drove the kids to Jim and Barb's house for the rest of the week, and I went to the gym. 

John and I missed the kids, but we had a good week of suppers that the kids wouldn't like, went out for a date night, and just enjoyed some quiet evenings. The kids had a blast out at Jim and Barb's house for the week. They did a lot of sledding behind the Honda, went to a movie, went to a Pokemon card event, and more. I think they are always going to remember these weeks at their grandparent's house, such good memories!

Present Time 

 

A Nelson Christmas

 We had our Nelson Christmas on Friday, December 22nd. It was kind of weird because the kids had a full day of school and I had a full day of work before the festivities. 

The kids had a full day of school, but they didn't do much schoolwork. They had their secret santa presents, went caroling, and had a pizza party. I did work, but got off a little early and was able to help gather presents, food, and pack up before getting kids from school. 

Once school was over, we picked up the kids and headed straight to the farm. We enjoyed some games and conversations until Jeff and Samantha arrived. Then, we ate. We had a nacho bar on the table again, along with soup and a Norwegian pudding dessert. It was a nice supper. And of course, we also did gifts. 

The kids (and us) got spoiled again. There was plenty of cash given, along with lego sets, craft mats, books, stickers, games and more. We all had a pretty successful Christmas. 

After the gifts, we played some of the new games and the kids put together some of their toys. 

On Saturday, we had Christmas at home with the kids. We opened gifts right away in the morning. Everyone made a good haul and got what they wanted (I think). I got an Apple Watch from John, which I love. The kids made off with Legos, games, toys, and gift cards-they didn't suffer. John is still hard to buy for, but I did my best. 

We also went caroling with our church choir at Dow Rummel. There were only about 10 of us that showed up, so we sounded a little rough, but I think the residents enjoyed it. We sang about 10 Christmas Hymns, and then both kids played their Christmas songs on the piano, which they were really proud of. 

After the caroling, we went to Sickies for lunch. We all had some burgers and then shared milkshakes at the end. The kids loved that!

After Sickies, we went back home to enjoy our Christmas gifts, relax, and watch some Christmas movies. We enjoyed a nice quiet evening before the frenzy of Christmas Eve and Day. 

December Catch Up and a Christmas Program

 Well, I missed out on all of December of blogging. To be fair, December did seem crazy busy this year, but I still need to get better at keeping up on my blogging. 

December was filled with a really busy work schedule (end-of-the year surgeries and being short on nurses was a bad combination), Emma's basketball games and practices, archery practice, Christmas program practices, and some Christmas shopping and outings. 

The weekend of December 15th was a busy one. On that Friday evening, we went on a bus tour of Christmas lights throughout Sioux Falls. John's work paid for the bus, and we were all invited to attend. It was pretty fun. The kids had fun with some of the other kids, and we enjoyed seeing some really nice lights. Sometimes it was hard to see through the windows, but we didn't have to drive and it was fun. 

On Saturday, my parents came to town to visit. I won tickets to Christmas at the Cathedral through work, so John and I decided to send my parents to it instead of going ourselves. They were a little hesitant to go, but then they loved it. They said it was a really nice show, and the singers were really good. After the show, we went to Lupulin Brewery for some drinks and pizzas with the kids. We enjoyed the food, beers, and played some games while we were there. 

After all that, we went to the Stampede Game at the Denny. John and I picked up some free tickets earlier in the week at Juice Stop, so we decided to check it out. We all enjoyed watching some hockey for a couple of periods. The Stampede are terrible this year, so it was 2-5 when we left after the second period. 

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing at our house. We watched a little football, a little Home Improvement, and then we called it a night. 

On Sunday, we went to church, and then served Bible Study Snacks. Mom and dad enjoyed helping us with that. After church and bible class, we had a nice Sunday brunch. At 3:00pm we headed back to church so the kids could play their piano pieces before the Christmas Program. 

The kids' Christmas Program went very well. Their piano pieces were excellent, both sets of grandparents were there, and they both nailed their speaking parts and songs (Elliott did completely forget the beginning of his part, but once he was prompted he did great, it was just nerves). 

I was very proud of both kids and how well they did. After the program, my parents headed home and we went out to eat supper at Dairy Queen at the request of the kids. 

This was a great kick off to the Holiday Season. 

We attended a Live Nativity this year 

Father and son watching some Home Improvement 

Christmas Sweater at the Stampede Game 

Our Bible Snack spread 

Christmas Program ready 

Thanksgiving and Elliott Turns 9

Well, we blew through another major holiday, and it went by in a blink. We celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend. 

On Thursday, we headed to Brookings to Dennie and Jenny's for Thanksgiving.  We had a nice day at Jenny's house. We ate some good food, played a couple games and watched football. It was a little weird because Katie had to work and Jeff and Samantha didn't come, so it was basically us, Malia and Andy, and Dennis, Jenny, Jim, Barb, and Jenny's parents. So, our kids were pretty bored. They did go in the basement for a while and watched TV and hung out down there when they got sick of all the adults. 

In the late afternoon, we left and headed to parent's house. Neither John or I had to work on Friday, so we decided to just head to Minnesota early. We got to my parent's house around 7:30pm and then had a pizza and watched some Home Improvement. 

Friday was Elliott's 9th Birthday. I really cannot believe he is 9 already, and he is getting so big! He is super into Pokemon and Legos right now, and that's pretty much what all his birthday gifts consisted of. John and I got him some Pokemon cards at the card store, an Advent Marvel Lego Calendar, and a Lego Meck. He loved all of it. He is also still very cuddly and lovey, and he can still be sensitive at times, which Emma can prey on at times. He loves spending time with his friends and having sleepovers, and he also loves to sleepover at Jim and Barb's house because he knows he will get spoiled there. He does well is school, eats like a horse, and has adult-sized farts now, which is great. But, we love him and he really is the best 9 year old boy around. 

On Friday, mom had to work and dad had some cooking to do, so all four of us headed to New Ulm. We went to the rec center and played some basketball. It was pretty fun to shoot around and burn off some energy. Once we got hungry, we headed to the Kaiserhoff for lunch. It was delicious. I had a Rueben and Chicken Spitzel soup, John had a brat burger, and Elliott had an adult sized cheeseburger and fries and Emma had chicken and fries. It was a good stop. We also went to Walmart to do some Black Friday shopping and then we stopped at the New Ulm Clinic to visit mom and see where she worked. 

After visiting mom, we went back to the Rec Center for open swim. We had a blast swimming there. Emma really liked the obstacle course, and Elliott liked the slides and the zip lines, and John and I liked the hot tub. We swam for a solid 2 hours, and then decided it was time to go back to my parent's house. We stopped at Caribou for a birthday drink celebration for Elliott, and then we headed back. 

We had some Spaghetti for supper, and then the kids stayed with my parents while Ryan, Emily. Cody, John and I went to Sleepy Eye to the brewery. We enjoyed some beers and visiting for a couple hours. It was really nice to be able to catch up in a smaller setting. 

Saturday was Thanksgiving with my family. We ate at noon and enjoyed some great food and wine. We also just visited, played some games, and Elliott opened some more gifts. It was a pretty chill holiday, but we all had a good time. 

We headed back home Saturday night, we were ready to be home again. We unpacked, settled in, and then called it a night. Sunday was a catch up day. We did laundry, cleaned, and got ready for another week. We did go to Bethel in the evening and played some more basketball, to give the kids some practice. We ended up scrimmaging with the Tomczaks for 2 hours, it was really fun. 

Emma had a basketball game Monday night, and they won by 2 points. It was really stressful at times, but it was a fun game. 

Now, we are getting ready to say goodbye to November, and we are in full Christmas mode around here. I love this time of year!

Elliott's 9th Birthday Party

 We celebrated Elliott's birthday a couple weeks ago. He wanted to have a couple close friends over and do some laser tag. So, he had Rachel and Jacob over, and then Emma joined them on their birthday adventures. 

We picked up the kids around 5:30 pm, and then headed to Triple Play Card Store. They were having a grand prize drawing event. So, the store was packed. The kids had a lot of fun looking through card and choosing some out. Then, they had some door prizes at 6:00pm. Elliott actually won a door prize, and of course he picked a Pokemon booster pack. But he was so excited he won something. We did not win the grand prize drawing, but each kid got a Pokemon Tin filled with some goodies, and they were pumped. 

After the card store, we went to Fizolis for supper. The kids enjoyed some pasta and breadsticks. Then, we headed home for presents and cookies. After all that excitement calmed down, John took the kids to Galaxy Gaming for 2 hours of laser tag. And I cleaned up and enjoyed a quiet evening at home. The kids loved the laser tag. I guess there were some teenagers there that were cheating, but overall the kids had fun. 

They all got home around 10:00pm. So we let the kids watch a little TV and settle down for the night. The next morning, Jacob had to leave at 7:30 am for hockey, so Rachel, Elliott, and Emma enjoyed some Nintendo and playing time. 

Overall, it was a great birthday party. Elliott really enjoyed himself, and says he wants to do the same thing again next year. We all had a lot of fun, and it was fun to watch Elliott have so much fun.