Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
A secret tip
Grandpa Heidt. William was again Mr Fearless - trying all kinds of
different moves on and off the sled. Amelia was, again, not so
impressed. It would seem we have one warm weather daredevil and one
cold winter daredevil!
While we were sledding at the hill, I spied something I've never seen
before. The family of four was using a secret ingredient to enhance
the speed of their sledding....
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Things I thought I would never say...
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas day
This year was a little different. Our family stayed in a hotel with a pool. So, we got up in the morning, helped ourselves to a little continental breakfast and then hopped into the pool. That is a first for me! Seven degrees outside on Christmas Day and our family was in the pool.
The next morning, we had to hop back over to Grandma Nona and Grandpa Budd's house to get a picture with all the great grandkids. At least the baby was cooperative! Our two were not.
The next morning, we had to hop back over to Grandma Nona and Grandpa Budd's house to get a picture with all the great grandkids. At least the baby was cooperative! Our two were not.
After our photo op, we hopped back over to the McGarry's house for Christmas Day (or Christmas v.2). This year was somewhat subdued as my grandpa needed to be transported to the hospital in my hometown. We found out while we were on our way to North Dakota that he was on his way to Minnesota (although, this was no surprise and even expected). It just wasn't the same knowing we weren't all together and I think everyone was concerned about him. However, this did not stop us from overeating at all. Or gleefully tearing off paper from packages. Or even from talking nonstop about engines and train cars. 
The kids work together
William stopped after he opened this Thomas track. He played with it all day and even most of the car ride (6 hours) the next day.
We always like to help other people. Especially when it comes to opening their gifts
I guess Megan needed some help too?
Look! You got gloves! Aren't they cute on me?
Nevermind, you take them back
William did his share of helping also
Grandma, Amelia, Megan and Gran Gerry
Mama and Amelia make a good team
The kids work together
William stopped after he opened this Thomas track. He played with it all day and even most of the car ride (6 hours) the next day.
We always like to help other people. Especially when it comes to opening their gifts
I guess Megan needed some help too?
Look! You got gloves! Aren't they cute on me?
Nevermind, you take them back
William did his share of helping also
Grandma, Amelia, Megan and Gran Gerry
After presents, we settled down to some real work of eating another huge, delicious lunch! Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas
Christmas is such a special time of year for our family. We have a lot of big and little traditions we attempt to squeeze in every year. Tradition calls for us to hit the Mexican restaurant in Grand Forks, North Dakota for lunch. A HUGE lunch. We eat salsa, chips, and burritos until our sides creak. This year was no exception.
Table for 16? No problem
My grandma, aunt, mom, sister and I help put dinner together. I'm using the term "help" loosely this year. I think my main duty was putting jelly into serving dishes and transporting item after item to the dining table.
That leaves everyone else in charge of entertaining the kids, which mainly consists of keeping them out of Grandma's china cabinet. It's harder than you'd think.
My poor cousin Kyle. William took a liking to him and snuggled right up next to him on the couch to watch some TV. And then proceeded to talk his ear off and wiggle like crazy. He was a good sport (Kyle).
A glimpse at the future.
I'm not sure what this "game" was. I didn't know it was going on, so I can't explain it to you. I can tell you no Christmas sweaters were hurt as a result.
More "games" with Grandpa
Christmas Eve calls for us to be with my mom's side of the family. Everyone eats again until they are in pain. Then, Grandma brings out dessert. After two rounds of dishes (dinner, then dessert), it is finally time for some family pictures. Although I remember this as tortuous as a child, I love this tradition now. I love being able to look back and see how everyone has grown/changed over the last year, year by year. However, this tradition is a great source of stress for me as well. I KNOW our family's picture is going to be taken MANY times over the Christmas trip. We have anywhere from 3 to 5 Christmas gatherings to attend, all involving food (which means I can guarantee at least one of us will have spilled). It is my own particular....specialness that requires me to have enough coordinating Christmas attire with for each gathering (and occasionally a spare for the kids). I want us to LOOK Christmasy AND I want us to coordinate. I also want to be able to tell the Christmases apart by the photos since they all tend to run together. This requires a lot of planning to put together. I'm not even going to try and estimate the number of hours I spend on putting the Christmas clothes together.
Me and the kids
A family picture - Christmas Card 2011?
Another option
My attempt at the kids together
My uncle's family
Getting this many people in a picture is chaotic
My mom's family
Sweet, patient boy
Here's everyone!
After all the pictures, it is FINALLY time for some presents! Amelia was slow to warm up, but caught on VERY fast. We had to watch her like a hawk.
Amelia LOVED Mrs Potato Head
Reading a new book. Everything else pales in comparison to a new book
There isn't such thing as too many times. Megan takes her turn. Note all the still wrapped packages surrounding Megan. These kids will stop EVERYTHING to read.
Aunt Kaye shows off her preburned Lefse apron
William LOVED his racecar blocks. I was a fan of this abstract interpretation.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Table for 16? No problem
My grandma, aunt, mom, sister and I help put dinner together. I'm using the term "help" loosely this year. I think my main duty was putting jelly into serving dishes and transporting item after item to the dining table.
That leaves everyone else in charge of entertaining the kids, which mainly consists of keeping them out of Grandma's china cabinet. It's harder than you'd think.
My poor cousin Kyle. William took a liking to him and snuggled right up next to him on the couch to watch some TV. And then proceeded to talk his ear off and wiggle like crazy. He was a good sport (Kyle).
A glimpse at the future.
I'm not sure what this "game" was. I didn't know it was going on, so I can't explain it to you. I can tell you no Christmas sweaters were hurt as a result.
More "games" with Grandpa
Christmas Eve calls for us to be with my mom's side of the family. Everyone eats again until they are in pain. Then, Grandma brings out dessert. After two rounds of dishes (dinner, then dessert), it is finally time for some family pictures. Although I remember this as tortuous as a child, I love this tradition now. I love being able to look back and see how everyone has grown/changed over the last year, year by year. However, this tradition is a great source of stress for me as well. I KNOW our family's picture is going to be taken MANY times over the Christmas trip. We have anywhere from 3 to 5 Christmas gatherings to attend, all involving food (which means I can guarantee at least one of us will have spilled). It is my own particular....specialness that requires me to have enough coordinating Christmas attire with for each gathering (and occasionally a spare for the kids). I want us to LOOK Christmasy AND I want us to coordinate. I also want to be able to tell the Christmases apart by the photos since they all tend to run together. This requires a lot of planning to put together. I'm not even going to try and estimate the number of hours I spend on putting the Christmas clothes together.
Me and the kids
A family picture - Christmas Card 2011?
Another option
My attempt at the kids together
My uncle's family
My Grandparents and their grandchildren (missing one great grandson). Notice neither John nor I are wrangling our children?
Getting this many people in a picture is chaotic
My mom's family
Sweet, patient boy
My immediate family minus my dad who was....not cooperating. Note how John and I aren't holding our kids in this picture either.
Here's everyone!
My cousin Ashley's family. This is the first time I got to meet her precious baby boy. He was so sweet and good! He also had the most DELICIOUS chunky baby thighs I've ever seen.
After all the pictures, it is FINALLY time for some presents! Amelia was slow to warm up, but caught on VERY fast. We had to watch her like a hawk.
Amelia LOVED Mrs Potato Head
Reading a new book. Everything else pales in comparison to a new book
There isn't such thing as too many times. Megan takes her turn. Note all the still wrapped packages surrounding Megan. These kids will stop EVERYTHING to read.
Aunt Kaye shows off her preburned Lefse apron
William LOVED his racecar blocks. I was a fan of this abstract interpretation.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
On the move
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Amelia sleds!
Grandma and grandpa have SO much snow !!! We had to take the
opportunity to teach our snow deprived kids how to play!
opportunity to teach our snow deprived kids how to play!
Grr..
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
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