Christmas in Colorado

We were suppose to leave for Colorado last Saturday but ended up leaving after Dan's work party on Friday night due to a storm coming into our area. This doesn't bode well for a last minute packer but because of my children's persistence, I was mostly ready! :)

We drove through the night where we were greeted by some falling snow in Iowa and Nebraska. I don't know how many of you have driven through the night but Dan and I have realized that as we get a bit (just a bit) older, it gets a little harder to accomplish. We had breakfast in Nebraska at (eeeek!) four in the morning. We brought the dog with us as our dog sitting friends were going to be out of town, also. Our vehicle was a bit crammed with the giant dog but we managed. Santa, I need the Excursion - one size bigger than our current Expedition. I could really fit it all in then!

The heater in our Expedition decided to bite the dust in the middle of Nebraska on a very windy and cold day. We had been having trouble with it prior to our trip and Dan had done some trouble shooting to no avail. We only had 4 more hours left of our journey so we zipped up the coats and broke out the blankets. Plus, with 6 people and a large dog, just breathing helped to take the chill off.
We arrived in Colorado early afternoon to a houseful of people at my mom and dad's. We went to church with the family on Sunday, saw my nephew JD play hockey and then watched old family films of the 8mm variety.

Monday and Tuesday, Dan had to spend the day taking the WHOLE dash out of the car to get to the heater core. It was a huge project, but thanks to my incredible husband and Dad Edblad, they saved us more than a thousand dollars by doing it themselves.

We spent a few days with Dan's parents and sister and family. What fun for six kids to get to sleep by the Christmas tree! We ate prime rib and opened presents.
The whole week went way to quick and then it was time to head home. Our heater was blessedly warm as we traveled back through Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota!

Hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours was.

Chilly

It's been downright chilly here for the past week or so but you won't hear any complains from me. After all, the cold keeps the snow here and you know all about my affinity for the white stuff! :)

We just reached -1 and it's been -27 a few night ago with wind chills at -40. So, we have kept busy inside. I told the kids that today, we would finally pack for Colorado which goes so against my grain! :) I am a last minute packer but with the help of my children, maybe I will become a new woman - one who packs a few days before the trip!

I had a great picture of the kids playing outside a few days ago.

If you click on the picture, you can see the big, fat snowflakes up close! Beautiful, huh! :)

christmas

Whatever else be lost among the years,
Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing:
Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears,

Let us hold close one day, remembering

It's poignant meaning for the hearts of men.

Let us get back our childlike faith again.
Grace Noll Crowell

Christmas Traditions

As a family, we are trying to come up with fun and meaningful family traditions at Christmas time and, actually, all year round.

One of those traditions is decorating a gingerbread house each year. No, we don't bake the walls and do all that jazz ourselves. Grandma E has sent us a kit each year to decorate and it has been such a great time! Dan gets to put the house together and give his creative input in on how the house gets decorated and I take the pictures.

This year, we started letting the kids sleep under the Christmas tree on Friday nights. We knew it had to be on a weekend night because they do exactly what we thought they would and that is, talk and giggle and whisper late into the night. I've been tempted to do the same myself!

We attend a candle lit Christmas eve service at our church when we are home. Another fun time we have that started way back with my sister and her boys is piling everyone into the car for a ride around town to look at other's Christmas lights and decorations. There has to be Christmas music and a little hot chocolate in a thermos to keep the chill away.

We also like to bake cookies that the kids can cutout and decorate. This year, we had a cold and snow Sunday that was perfect for making sugar cookie cutouts and gingerbread men.

We have also been reading a Christmas story each night and putting a new ornament on the tree that talks about why we celebrate Christmas.

We will head to Colorado on Saturday to spend Christmas there with our families. May God bless you and your family this Christmas!

The perfect Christmas tree

Sunday, after church and a quick lunch we drove to our friends Dottie and Andy's house to cut down a tree. I happened to mention to Andy at church that morning that we were going to try to get a tree and he graciously said that we could come to their place and find a tree.

We didn't have to walk too far into the woods before Andy pointed out a tree that he thought would be great. It was hard for me to tell because it was about 40 ft tall and it's hard to actually see up that far. Anyway, they cut it down quickly and then cut off the top of the tree. Dan and I carried it back to the car with the kids tagging along. We tied it to the top of the car and away we went.

After a quick stop for a new tree stand, we did a little trimming and then we decorated it. I have to say that it is the most lovely Christmas tree we have ever had! It's around 11 ft tall and it is splendid!

I'm Thankful for...

I just want to say that I'm so thankful for many things. I'm thankful for the sweet innocent faces of my children, for intricate snowflakes and cold winter weather, for warm woolen socks, for a fire to take away the chill, for the fresh salsa John made and chips to go with it, for Diet Pepsi (I'm trying to quit!), for my down comforter to snuggle under, and for all the great fun family can have while under one roof.

For Thanksgiving this year, my twin sister, her husband and my nephew came up to visit us for a week. Dan' s sister, her husband, and our niece and nephew came for a few days. We had 13 under this roof and it was quite a time we had! We had an incredible feast on Thanksgiving day and rounded out the day with games, movies and more eating!

Friday, we drove to a neighboring town to see the fish house parade. In case you don't know what that is, I'll explain. Since it gets so darn cold up here, people drag little houses out onto the frozen lakes to fish out of all winter long. One lake close to us has around 25,000 fish houses on it during the winter. They even put up street signs on the lake so you know where to go! Anway, the parade featured some of these fish houses on trailers. It was a balmy 30 degrees the day of the parade so "out of towners" didn't get too cold! :)

After that fun, we went to another town to see them light up the town. We ate some warm mini donuts and stood by a bonfire. We were waiting for the fireworks but ended up leaving just before they started because everyone was tired and hungry. We played more games (apples to apples and up the river/down the river). A person (who shall remain nameless) couldn't contain his/her flatulance and cleared the room of people more than once. Ahhh, only in the presence of family...

Our guests cleared out of here Saturday afternoon. Remarks like, "I sure do miss everyone!" were heard uttered from each of our lips the rest of the day. We had an incredibly fun time and thank the Burchs and Torpys for their company!