Rolling Home

 We left for home early Sunday morning.  This was my view from the rear view mirror.  It was cold!

 

We were so sad to leave, but so happy / fortunate to celebrate Christmas with the Baumann clan.  What an awesome time we had!  

We arrived home around 5pm on Monday evening.  The last hour almost did us in.  Funny how that works. We were beyond ready to get out of the car.  The kids were awesome travelers again, and David did an amazing job at the wheel barely letting me take a turn (no complaints from me on that!).  And we only had one puking incident.  Just as we entered int Idaho Natalie got car sick - poor girl.  After an unexpected, extra long stop to clean up, she was fine the rest of the way.

Fire and Ice Fest

On our final full day in Minnesota we ventured over to my sister Jen's house to attend their annual Fire and Ice Fest.  We have heard lots about this, but have never been around to witness it.  It really was quite spectacular to see an ice castle / igloo being built in person.

The one down side was that it was COLD.  It was a beautiful morning for skiing, but the temperature dropped 20 degrees by the time we arrived at Jen's house.  Brrrrr...

The girls spent a lot of time in the tent (equipped with a stove and snacks) to keep their fingers from falling off.  Ryan doesn't seem to be bothered by the cold, and was thrilled to be playing hockey and riding on the sled behind the four wheeler with the other boys. 

Doesn't her little stance just scream "Sassy". 

Kendall taking a spin with her Auntie Jen.

Chuck's brother Dave sculpted the Space Needle!

The ice castle taking shape.

Natalie titled this "Frosty the Cat".  So clever, that girl!

We ended up leaving early as the temperature continued to plummet and the winds started picking up...and we were freezing!  Once the castle was complete they lit off fire works!  I saw video, and it was awesome! So happy we could be apart of it.

Extraordinary Skiing

When I was growing up we did a lot of cross country skiing in the woods.  I loved it so much.  I haven't been skiing in years, mostly because I don't have skis anymore (something to change in the new year!).  My mom has been talking about this Ski Shack in the woods near the cabin for a few years now, and I was really excited to check it out. A few local people started a non-profit to get more people skiing.  You walk into this unlocked "cabin" that is filled with ski and snow shoe gear, pick your size and hit the beautiful trails out the back door.  It's the most amazing thing!  They have enough ski gear for hundreds of people to ski at one time.  So cool.

Abby,  Mary, Ryan, Kendall, my Mom and I got our gear on and away we went.  It was Ryan and Kendall's first attempt at cross country skiing.  I was so impressed.  Sure they fell down, but they got right back up and kept going.  They loved it!  I stayed with Kendall (lollygagging extraordinaire) most of the time so didn't get to see Ryan in action all that much.  Abby said he did great, and really picked up his speed toward the end.  Not surprising.  I'm sure he had to be the first one to finish the trail!  He was so mad when we had to leave.

Kids on skis is the cutest thing.  Seriously.  I loved watching these two ski!

Kendall was so awesome on skis!  I couldn't believe how well she did. 

Watching Hockey

I really hate hockey.  I have no interest in the sport what so ever.  But, when the opportunity arose for us to go watch our nephew Gunnar play hockey we decided we couldn't miss it.  The extra time in the car to get there was not ideal, but well worth it.

Ryan was mesmerized watching kids his size skate around the ice (it really is amazing).  Kendall played and danced with Evelyn the entire time.  I'm pretty sure she didn't even know we were there to watch hockey.  And Miss Natalie spent her time making friends with the little boys. 

After the game we went to Gina and Grant's for pizza and to watch the Gophers play FOOTBALL!

Eleven and Two

David and I celebrated our 11th wedding Anniversary on December 27th.  It was extra special as we were able to celebrate our nephew Zac's 2nd birthday which happens to be on the same day!

And More Memories

And the final pictures from our amazing time together!

Ha. Ha.  Love this picture.  Trisha's subs were to die for!

Happy 2nd Birthday Zac!

Bejeweled!

Football!

Cards!

A ballerina in boots!  The girls donned the tutus everyday.

Books!

Snuggling Buddies

Grandpa Ken took Natalie in one day to watch a show and hopefully take a nap.  It worked, and it became Natalie's nap time ritual.  And Grandpa's too.  Natalie was actually better at putting Grandpa down for a nap!

The Best Time

Ben and Trisha invited the adults over to their house for dinner on the 26th.  They arranged for 2 babysitters to come to the cabin to watch ALL the kids AND drove a bus over to pick us all up so none of us would have to worry about driving.  Talk about service!   The Best Time is an understatement.  We hadn't laughed together like that in a LONG time.  So much fun!

Thanks Ben and Trisha for your awesome hospitality...and toilet paper (inside joke)!

 

Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve

Cousins Abby and Andrew. 

Andrew and our chauffeur, Alex.

Christmas Continues

Being together was the best Christmas gift we could have asked for.  We had such a wonderful time playing, laughing and eating together.