Family Times

I must be a delinquent blogger! I keep putting it off, thinking I'll have more time the next time
I sit down at the computer. Meanwhile, the weeks slip away and the news I should have posted
gets pretty old.

Justin & I did have a wonderful week with Dirk's family over Thanksgiving. Annette was able to attend a grandparents' day at Thor & Anika's school, we shopped & shopped, we enjoyed two
stops at a favorite downtown eatery in Rapid City (Bully's Blends), we played hide the thimble
(or whatever else we would choose to hide), and we made gingerbread houses! Yay--the kids
would probably say that was the highlight.

Justin & Dirk spent almost a week hunting, with Dirk shooting one deer and the rest of the shots proved to be more practicing at shooting in the hills. Justin says it is different than prairie hunting and I believe him.

We had a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast at the home of Nancy's brother, Ted and his wife Jan.
They make great hosts, have a cozy & beautiful home, and Jan and I got to talk quilting a bit--fun!

CHRISTMAS
This past week Lance's family and Grandma Lillian joined us for two days of celebration. All the ladies pitched in with the cooking, dishwashing, cookie baking & decorating, so everything went smoothly. Carrie prepared her first turkey and it was delicious! Tori & Logan got to initiate the new kiddie air mattress sets Grandma Annette had bought. Tori's was "Princess" and Logan's was "Cars"--winners both!

Christmas Day evening was the highlight as Grandpa Justin read the Christmas accounts from Luke 2 & Matthew 2 while Tori, Logan,
Carrie & Gretchen acted out the stories using Annette's large ceramic nativity. I guess even Lance helped out by holding a star
above at the appropriate time (we snitched one off the Christmas tree). Annette brought a violin out from behind the couch, Lance
tuned it and refreshed his playing from years ago. The fiddling came back pretty quickly--Annette was pleasantly surprised. So with Lance on the violin, Carrie on guitar and Annette at the keyboard, we sang and played "Silent Night". It was a precious memory to me and one I will never forget.

We even enjoyed THAWING TEMPERATURES while Lance & family were
here. What a welcome treat after the frigid and stormy days we have had this month. Warmest Christmas greetings to all who read this blog.

Fun at the Farm

Last week Annette spent some days in N. D. with Tori & Logan. Gretchen wanted to do some
serious sorting in the apartment with her hubby's help. So Lance took some days off from work and Annette took the kiddies to the most fun place that was close by--the Berg farm! (Thank
God for a wonderful hostess--Judy!

We drove North on Wednesday morning, picked up Gr-gramma Lillian and descended on the farm. When Aaron's girls came running out of their home, it was hugs and squeals all around--pretty cute! The kids ran and played all day, splashed in the shark wading pool, carried umpteen little containers of water from the pool to "wash" the sidewalk, blew soap bubbles which the wind delightfully carried away, enjoyed wagon rides, visited the woods, picked wild flowers, read stories, slept overnight in the big house. In other words, we all had a great time! With little Jacob in the mix, there were 5 kids, ages 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5.

Lance & Gretchen did get a lot of work accomplished, but said it was also like a second honeymoon just having the apartment to themselves.

And Great-grandma Lillian proved up to it all on Wednesday as she watched the kids, helped
keep track of all 5, and got in a little visiting too.

Judy did a great job of planning kid-friendly meals and just keeping everyone happy. Thanks,
Wendell & Judy, for letting us enjoy two days at the Farm!