Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday!

We have had an amazing couple of weeks! Brian’s company shuts down between Christmas and New Year’s. I was only scheduled a few shifts. So we have had lots of time to hang out! The boys have gotten in some fishing.

Christmas Eve we hung out at home in the morning, then we went to Dora & Fred’s for a yummy dinner. My parents were there as well. Gifts were opened. Kids played. It was wonderful!

Kiddos at home in their Christmas Eve attire

We drove home in snow. A bit slow going, but we made it safe and sound. Then Adam had to get ready for Santa to come! He got a plate of snacks all ready, then cleared off the fireplace so Santa could make it out of the chimney. He decided on the perfect spot to put the snack so Santa would see it, then we made sure the path to tree was clear of toys. It was so cute!

Snack for Santa

Fireplace is cleared of toys and the doors are open. C'mon in Santa!

Christmas morning Brian and I woke up and we were wondering why Adam wasn’t up yet. Finally, he came into our room and gave us the report: “Santa came! He ate his snack, filled the stockings, and put presents under the tree!” Clearly he had been up for a while. 🙂

We opened presents and had some breakfast. Such a nice family morning. Then we packed up and headed out to my parents’ house. We hung out with my parents, Brian’s mom & Fred, and a couple of my uncles. Another nice day!

I was supposed to work the next morning, but luckily, they were overstaffed and I was able to have the day off! I decided to hit the grocery store, because my brother and his family were coming up from Omaha on Friday to stay with us for the weekend and my parents would be coming too. They ended up coming Thursday night which was great!!

So on Friday the Omaha Tracys and us Aanderuds moseyed over to the Mall of America! We did some shopping, perusing, lunching, and rode rides at Nickelodeon Universe. Allison was awesome! She rode in the stroller part of the time and I carried her in the carrier part of the time. She had so much fun that she barely napped all day. Adam rode on some rollercoasters and had a blast with his cousins.

We got home and said hello to my parents, then had tacos for dinner. Pretty cool meal to make for 11 people! We opened presents and chatted the evening away. The kids entertained themselves by playing the Kinect.

Tracy Grandkids: Ashley, Lauren, Taylor, Adam, & Allison

Saturday was a beautiful day! We walked over to Staring Lake Park for some sledding! The kids had such a ball! I don’t know how many times they went down the hill, but they kept on smiling.  After sledding, Brian ran home to grab the snowmobile and took the kids on rides. Emilie and I each took it for a spin too! It’s pretty fun!

Adam & Taylor!

I threw together a couple pans of lasagna for dinner, then after dinner we decided to go bowling! So much fun! And my dad is so good at bowling! Who knew?! This was Adam’s first try at real bowling and he loved it!

Adam. Good form!

My dad. Who knew?!

My brother and I.

Sunday we got up and went to the Pancake House for breakfast. Yummy as usual! The Tracys then packed up and hit the road back to Omaha. It was such a nice weekend with them and I can’t wait to get together again! 🙂

We spent New Year’s Eve at home. We’re getting old. And let’s face it, it’s nice to be home with the family and it’s safer. 😉

I decided we should do fondue for dinner. We did chicken and steak for dinner. It was delicious! Then we did pound cake and strawberries in chocolate fondue! Also way yummy!

Adam thought fondue was pretty cool!

Chocolate fondue with strawberries and pound cake. SO GOOD!

Cheers to 2014!

After the kids were in bed, Brian and I played some games and managed to stay awake long enough to ring in the New Year! Happy 2014!

We went out for dinner and more bowling with our good friends, Steve & Allyson on New Year’s Day. It’s always nice to see them. And they’re having TWINS this year!!

Brian was scheduled to head back to work on January 2nd, but it was his birthday! So he took another day off. During the day I made him his birthday cake. It turned out pretty well! We went to Wildfire for his birthday dinner. Delicious as always!

Brian's cake. No frills. Just lots of frosting. 🙂

Now it is the night of January 6th, Monday. Adam was supposed to head back to school today, but the governor cancelled school for the whole state today cuz it’s so freakin’ cold! We received word this afternoon that Eden Prairie has canceled school again for tomorrow because it is supposed to continue being so freakin’ cold! Adam is pretty disappointed. He has been looking forward to going back since last week. Oh well. Here’s hoping for Wednesday!

I am heading to the Pink concert tomorrow night and I am SO excited! She is my favorite! I saw her in March and it was incredible! Can’t wait to see her again. I’m sure she’ll have some opinions about the ridiculous cold we are having. 😉

Hope everyone has had a lovely holiday season! Stay warm!