Holiday Bits and Pieces

What happened? When I was a child, it seemed to take forever to get to Christmas each year. Now - "Snap" - year gone by. Is it retirement that does that? Weeks are no longer split up into Work days and Weekends. I'm glad I have a watch that tells me what day it is. Lots of days seem like Friday. 😆 

Thanksgiving at the Archers, Foxes, and more!

Entertaining the kiddos at Thanksgiving

We alternate holidays with our children/spouses and gkids with the other side of their families. It was our turn for Thanksgiving this year. 🦃  

Thanks to Niece Barb and her husband Mike for hosting the eight of us at their lovely home in Norwalk for Thanksgiving. We celebrated with them and their children Greyson and Mandy, Barb's mom (Paul's sis) Carol. Members of the Fox family - Jean Fox (Paul's sis), her husband Dave, their daughter Annette, and her husband Jeremy with kids Megan and Caleb were there from Webster City and Minnesota. A good time was had by all!

Prime Rib time!

So 

On Black Friday, we had our 🎄Christmas Celebration! All eight of us - we added Baby Reece a month past Christmas last year. We planned around naptimes (grandkids and grandfather) to avoid crabbiness. The meal - with centerpieces of Paul's Prime Rib, and Pat Bullock's Scalloped Corn. Yum!

Pookie saves the day - note Nell has Amy's beloved Pookie stuffy after forgetting hers at home! 

Next, we opened presents that were stacked under the small but festive Christmas Tree. This year I put it up downstairs - to protect it from our little crawler and seeker, Reece. Corey played Santa. Nell enjoyed helping everyone open gifts. That evening we played with new toys - it took a team to assemble the light-up race track. It was a big hit! 

Amy and Corey flew back to NYC early Saturday morning. They had arrived on Monday evening, and we enjoyed hanging with them for a couple of days before the STL Goldsmiths arrived. A highlight was lunch at the Angry Goldfish and visiting the MacRae Park lookout - with a view of the city. 

Nell and Reece had fun with Amy and Jud's old toys

Jud, Kara, Nell, and Reece stayed through Sunday. We went to the Science Center in downtown DSM on Saturday (we loved it) with lunch at Big Grove Brewery in Sherman Hill. That night we celebrated an excellent Cyclone Football win. 

Science Center Fun

On Sunday, Jud and Kara gathered up the considerable gear it takes to travel with two young children and two doggos. A trip to St Louis takes us just over 5 hours. It takes them more like seven with stops to eat and stretch their legs - tending to a three-year-old and a little guy who will be one in January. 

Archie and Charlie

Paul and I will head west to Colorado for Christmas - Denver and Vail to "group up" with our family there. We feel so fortunate to be included in that gathering. 

This time of year is not easy - for many of us. It's set up to be a special time for families and friends. It's hard not to think of those who are no longer with us. I don't know about you but I breathe a sigh of relief when we get beyond the holiday frenzy. Be kind to yourself! 

Our "not fam" family! 

Speaking of kindness, we were invited to our longtime friends' Christmas family gathering last weekend in Minnesota where they all live (we prefer living in the south...of the frozen tundra 🥰). We wish our kids/gkids could have joined - alas they live too far away. It's like an ongoing present to have a group like this - including all generations. Merry Christmas!