Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 came and went with the usual whirlwind!

We celebrated with our kids on Christmas Eve, starting with lunch, appetizers, and gifts in the afternoon, then church and dinner. Since I have several services to play for (4:00 and 10:30), we have to fit everything in between my mad dashes out the door with armloads of music. We had the added distraction this year of a non-heating hot tub, a plumber trying to figure out the problem and offering advice, and then a decision to drain it. Always something!

The tree was overloaded with gifts, as usual,

and the table looked great!

The guys spent some down-time before the grand opening.

Kyle found his favorite chair,

and Corey played Santa.

Charlie was the star attraction as he celebrated his first Christmas.

Between teething and a bad cold, we were "mopping the deck" with kleenex all afternoon. Poor baby! He was in a great mood, though, and had fun learning how to open the packages.

Hmmmm, wonder what silly remark Chuck just made?

He loved these little characters on wheels - thanks, Phebe!

He also loved the wrapping paper!

He'll be hammering on this workbench before we know it!

Charlie loves his cousin, Maddox!

So big!

Maddox is really good with him, and he had fun helping Charlie play with some of his new toys!

Corey still plays a mean drum.

See the expression in Maddox's eyes?

Corey caught it perfectly in his present to us, a 16x20 original oil painting! It's now hanging in our entryway, and it may find it's way to the mantle after all the Christmas decorations are put away. Awesome!!
Chuck's brother, Ken, and his friend Kim joined us in the evening for a ham dinner. After dessert, Jenna, Andy, and Charlie headed back to the Cities so they could get packed up for their Christmas Day flight to Pittsburgh to visit Andy's family. We picked them up and took them to the airport around noon and then went to Corey's for more presents and lunch.

Corey is a great host, and he makes a fantastic carmel latte!

Kyle entertained Maddox, or vice versus?

He really gets into opening gifts!

Corey got him an easel with all the accessories. Maddox will be able to paint right along with his dad!

Oh, a shirt - how boring!

A Spiderman hippity-hop!

What could this be?

Joyce and Paul joined us for a lunch of chili, cinnamon rolls, pineapple, and cheese sticks (sounds like a CF school lunch!).

After lunch, we all piled into cars and went to a movie. The guys went to True Grit, and Joyce and I took Maddox to Gulliver. We missed our usual gathering with the Catlin clan this year, but they were in Illinois visiting Tom and Kim. We'll get together in January!

Chuck and I took a quick trip to Two Harbors on Monday and Tuesday. We were going to go up on Sunday and do some skiing at Lutsen, too, but plans changed because we had to hang around to deal with the hot tub issue. When we discovered on Monday morning that we couldn't get a technician to come out right away, Chuck bought a space heater, set it up under a canvas to keep eveything from freezing up, and off we went.

We stopped at Scenic Cafe for an early dinner. What a beautiful setting, and even better food!

We brought lots of presents for Chuck's mom, some for Christmas and some for her 85th birthday, which she will be celebrating next week!

It was such a quick trip that I didn't even take any pictures of all the snow. We'll have to get back up north again this winter, hopefully for some skiing next time!

Now it's about time to take down all the decorations,

and put them away for another year.

The house always looks so bare after all the decorations are gone, but it's always good to start fresh in a brand new year.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

Happy Birthday, Chuck!

We braved the cold, snow, and bad roads on Sunday to travel to Mall of America for a family birthday celebration for Chuck's (gasp) 61st birthday at the Cadillac Ranch, a new restaurant that just opened about a month ago.

HOW old is that dude?

Maddox was entertained for awhile with some coloring, but they only gave him one crayon - how uncreative! Orange got pretty boring after awhile.

Jenna and Andy forgot toys for Charlie, so Andy found a ToysRUs close by and bought him an early Christmas present. I think our kids had this same toy!

Ummm, how many birthdays have we celebrated together? I think about 38 or 39.

Kyle always comes up with some interesting cards.

Chuck's cake was a little the worse for wear. It had kind of a rough trip - first, I dropped it in the driveway before we left Cannon Falls (it actually flipped upside down), and then Kyle sat on it when he slid into the booth at the restaurant. Good thing it was only one layer. It may not have looked so great, but it sure tasted good!

There, that's better.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Another One Joins the "60" Club

Our good friend, Roger, finally joined the rest of us! He's been the baby of our Gourmet Group, and he's been told that he will be driving the rest of us around in a huge Cadillac in our "old age."

Only 6 candles? Guess we all know how to count by tens. :-)

My trusty timer worked again. The Lindors are missing,

but we'll get the whole crew together again soon.

Happy Birthday, Roger!

Making Friends with the Baby in the Mirror

Jenna and I spent the afternoon shopping at MOA yesterday, and when we took a break in the GAP dressing room, Charlie discovered a baby in the mirror! He was so funny, and, of course, I had my camera handy!

Hey, who is that kid?

Can I touch him?

He looks like fun! He even smiles!

How about a hug?

Thanksgiving

Wow! What a great Thanksgiving! Our house was overflowing on Thursday, and we actually had 4 little ones running around, too (well, Charlie isn't quite running yet). People started showing up around 10:30 for some fantastic appetizers and some boring football, and dinner was served around 2:00.

Fortunately for me, everyone brings something. Pickle roll-ups anyone?

I put an appetizer table in the family room this time, and it sure helped the congestion in the kitchen.

That still seems to be where everyone gathers, though.

Teddy once again carved the turkey. I'm so lucky to have a professional on hand for this job (not my favorite). I think he was about done, here - that poor bird looks pretty picked over! It was delicious! My one glitch in the dinner was the mashed potatoes. I cooked them in two pots since I didn't have one that was big enough, and the first pot I checked was totally done so I drained all of them and put them in a huge bowl. Well, the 2nd pot was NOT done. Lumpy potatoes, anyone? Even my mixer couldn't get those lumps out. Oh well....

It was fun having Tom, Kim, and Amariah here from Illinois.

Seal of approval! Oh, by the way, check out the SNOW on the deck - looks more like Christmas than Thanksgiving.

Amariah was so cute in her turkey bib.

And, of course, Charlie stole the show.

Maddox and Corey posed for a few pictures,

and one of my goals for the day was to get a family picture for this year's Christmas card. This one did NOT make the final cut! Actually, everyone cooperated really well, but we just had to do one "goofy" picture. Some things never change!

Charlie finally got to eat his dinner long after everyone else was through. He actually thought this plastic banana looked pretty good!

Hmmmmm - not bad!

Ahhh, carrots, rice cereal, and real bananas - that's much better!

Chuck got into the feeding action, too. I think Jenna's trying to train him for doing some daycare. He draws the line at changing diapers, though, so it may be awhile before he does more than an hour or two.

What a great day! We are so thankful for all that we have, and for the chance to spend time with family!