Noe

I neglected one important December happening (sorry, Noe - it wasn't intentional). A few weeks ago, we had a visit from Noe, our 2002 exchange student from Paraguay, and her fiance, Zach, from Rice Lake, Wis. It was fun to see her, and also exciting to hear her news. Noe met Zach in the fall of 2001 when she was going to school in Rice Lake, before coming to us in Cannon Falls. A summer 2011 wedding is being planned, possibly here in the USA!

It was so much fun to re-connect!

Noe - good luck with all of your plans, and keep in touch!

December Happenings

BEWARE before reading: This post is really long!

We have had a very busy December, and I haven't posted anything all month. So....I decided it's time to get caught up. Here goes:

Chuck celebrated his 60th birthday on the 14th, and we decided his gift would be a flat screen TV. I shopped a bit on the day before Thanksgiving and got a really good deal on a 52" Sony Bravia. Fortunately, our friendly tech specialists, Andy and Corey, were available for installation, and they got everything hooked up in just one night during the first week of December.

We would probably still be working on assembling the stand!

The satellite guy came out a few days later and hooked up the hi-def stuff, and we're all set!
What a difference from our old big box TV!

We started a week-end of birthday celebrating by having dinner at Meglic's on the 12th.

Sally and Dick joined us for a great meal, and Sandy, as usual, outdid herself!

We then headed to our house for dessert, and to Chuck's surprise, there was a whole houseful of people all waiting to help him celebrate and to witness him blow out the candles on his cake.

He did it!

The next night, we celebrated with the family at El Gatto, a new restaurant at Calhoun Square.
I'm sure Maddox must be saying, "I can't believe they're BOTH 6o!"

Then, on the 14th, Chuck and I headed to his all-time favorite restaurant, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, for a fantastic meal! I guess he's now officially joined the ranks of the 60 club.

The next night, I got to go to Maddox's first daycare Christmas program.

He did such a good job! He knew all the words, and when the little boy next to him got a little carried away with one of the songs, he turned to him and said "Shhhhh!" So funny!

He sure made a cute little reindeer!

Our kids (and one dog) all made it to our house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, although my siblings all wimped out. We had a lot of snow, and Andy had a good time playing with Crosby in the backyard. Jenna and I just took pictures out the kitchen window.

The tree, as usual, was loaded with packages.

Maddox always has fun playing in "Phabe's room," as he calls it.

His favorite presents were "a big Woody and a bit Buzz," both Toy Story characters, and he thought they might enjoy some food at the Barbie snack bar.

Then, he decided to take them on a road trip - what an imagination!

It was finally time for presents, and the first gift went to the youngest memeber of the family. Crosby got a HUGE bone in the shape of a candy cane. He loved it (but then he had to return to the mudroom).

Vikings gear was a popular gift this year.

Maddox got an Adrian Peterson jersey from Jenna and Andy.

Looks good, Maddox!

He wore it for awhile, and then decided he had on way too many shirts .

Maddox's next gift was a digital drum set from Grandma and Grandpa.

Awesome - a noise toy!

Kyle got a Favre jersey.

Jenna got some camisoles for nursing (Chuck didn't even want to look!).

Maddox was a natural at the drum set. Corey could even hook up his I-pod to it and Maddox could drum along with the music.

After the gift-opening, Andy, Corey, and Chuck played a game of RISK,

and Jenna modeled for a Christmas "belly shot."

All the guys tried on their Vikings gear,

and I finally got in one of the pictures with all of my kids.

Jenna and Andy posed for their annual shot in front of the Christmas tree.
We had a very relaxing couple of days, and even though we missed a big crowd, it was fun to just hang out together.

On Saturday, the 26th, we took off for Two Harbors to see Chuck's mom and then do a little skiiing at Lutsen. The roads were still a bit iffy, but we made it.

Jenna and Chuck were dressed just alike, and even had matching bellies!

We had a condo rented at Schroeder, about 10 miles south of Lutsen, so after having dessert and gifts at Grandma Flo's, we continued on north for the next part of the adventure. Corey and Maddox joined us late Saturday night, and we all got up early Sunday morning to get ready for some skiing and boarding (except for Jenna - she had to be an observer this year).Maddox was quite the dude in all his winter gear.

Jenna waited in line with him at the rental shop while we bought lift tickets.

He got totally outfitted with boots, helmet, and the smallest snowboard they had.

Maddox was so patient as Corey got him ready to go.

And they're off!

Doesn't he look like a pro? I got some video, too - so cute!

Corey had to carry him to the "moving sidewalk" to get them up the hill. No chairlifts on this run!

I went to the top with them and caught the two dudes taking a break before heading down the hill.

Maddox lasted for over an hour, but then he hung out in the chalet with Jenna while we took a few runs. Then, we headed to Moose Mt. on the gondola. Jenna bought a gondola-only pass so we could all have lunch at the new Moose Mt. Chalet.

Maddox thought the gondola was pretty cool, but he couldn't figure out why the windows were open when it's so cold outside (it cuts down on the sway from crosswinds).

After lunch, we posed for a family shot on the deck outside the chalet. That's Lake Superior in the background. Jenna took Maddox back down the gondola and then to the condo for his afternoon nap, and we continued to ski for the rest of the afternoon.

Chuck was having boot problems, but he hung in there!

I had a great time on every run. Ahhhhh- skiing at 25 degrees is the best! No cold toes, no cold fingers, and no lift lines! We were surprised that it wasn't more crowded right after the holidays, but we certainly weren't complaining!

On Monday, we stopped again at Chuck's mom's house for a quick visit since she didn't get to see Maddox on Saturday. To entertain him, she dragged out some old cowboys and Indians that Kyle and Corey used to play with.

Here's Maddox and his Great Grandma Flo. Cheese!

Maddox also discovered the furniture that our kids used to hide in.

He thought it was pretty funny when we closed the door and Chuck couldn't find him!

We arrived home Monday evening, and then I was off on Tuesday morning to help Jenna pick out and buy paint for the baby's room. Part of our Christmas present to her and Andy was the purchase of the paint and then the labor to go along with it. It turned out to be a bit more in the labor department than I bargained for as I spent 3 days prepping, taping, and painting!

Joyce came over on Wednesday to help, too.

Jenna thought she was going to do a lot of painting, too, but since I wouldn't let her on the ladder and she had trouble bending for the low stuff, she ended up cleaning the refrigerator while we worked!

We did let her on a chair in the closet.

Here's the crew.

We got the primer and two brown walls done on Wednesday, and then I returned on Friday to finish the two green walls.

Time for a second coat. What a job! The previous owners were VERY sloppy painters, so there were many different shades of paint on the woodwork. It looked good, though, when we were done.

Jenna was excited to hang the baby's first outfit in the closet!

Pictures of the finished product will come later!

On Thursday, I took Maddox to the Children's Theater in Minneapolis to see Cinderella. What a blast! I was able to buy a "lap ticket" for him for a reduced rate, and he sat perfectly still on my lap for the whole show!

He found a Star Wars book in the gift shop,

and we shared a giant cookie at intermission.

Afterwards, we were able to go to the stage door and meet Dean Holt, a former 1st grader of mine (can you believe it?), who played the part of Pearl, one of the evil stepsisters.
Maddox's comment was, "Oh, he's the one with the big lips."

That night, New Year's Eve, we went to Stangler's for our annual fondue party with our gourmet friends. Corey and Heidi were stuck without a babysitter, so Maddox joined our party at about 10:00. We were going to play some games later in the evening, but Maddox became our entertainment.

He had fun with all the old Fischer Price toys that Stangler's have for their grandsons, plus he found a few other things to play with, like this Russian nesting doll.

He had fun just hanging out with the big boys, too!

Just after mid-night, I set up my camera with the timer to take a picture of everyone, and look - great shot of everyone except for me with my eyes closed! Guess I'm lucky I made it into the picture at all. I actually have another good one of the adults, but Maddox took off at the last minute so there's an empty chair in the picture. Oh well, those timers work most of the time!

So....Happy New Year, and I'll definitely try to keep up more often on the blogging. This post took me WAY too long to do!