Every year we spend Christmas eve and day in Thief River Falls
at the home of Dave's Aunt Noreen and Uncle Howard.
The girls refer to it as "the ranch" because the aunt and uncle
have two horses. Feeding the horses with apples has become
as much a Christmas tradition as the food and presents,
although, as Jenna firmly told us on the way there,
"I no want to feed brown horses at ranch."
This was where Dave spent his Christmases as a boy and it was such fun to watch Emily and Jenna run up and down,
and play peekaboo/hide-and-seek around, the same staircase
that had, in years past, entertained him
and his young brothers and cousins.
After dinner on Christmas eve, the gifts were opened.
It was way past the kids' bedtimes and they were almost too
groggy to fully enjoy their toys and games but nothing would
have made them choose sleep over this!
See Kate's expression: can't you just hear her saying, "Ooooo!"?Princess lacing cards (above) and a dalmation-and-vet-kit
(below) from Auntie Laura and Uncle Kum Kit.
Dolls from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Arne
On Christmas morning we returned to the ranch where
the kids got to enjoy their new gifts. Jenna and Kate took
turns using the portable feeding chair, made possible by
staggered mealtimes but there were times when they wanted
to be simultaneously fed and Kate never minded sharing.
Emily and Jenna served us morning tea from their
new tea service cart from Grandma Mae.
More lazing and visiting with family after Christmas lunch
and some walks in the snow.
Rommegrot for tea.
The rommegrot, incidentally, almost didn't happen.
Misplaced in the flurry of Christmas eve activity, it spent
the night under the Christmas tree, disguised as a Common
and Slightly Suspicious Plastic Bag of Unknown Contents.
It was only discovered later the next day,
to much celebration and relief.
The rest of our time away from home was spent
relaxing comfortably in Dave's parents' house
where, after another Christmas feast, we took some time to remember why we celebrate Christmas. Jenna and Emily
put together a birthday cake for Jesus and Jenna, initially very
enthusiastic about decorating it, mournfully said when it was
completed, "I no want to give birthday cake to Jesus."
We reassured her that, as Jesus no longer ate cake
(or, more specifically, mint brownie), He wouldn't mind if
we ate it, which cheered her up considerably.
A birthday song for Jesus.
I love Jenna's tiny toes, all tucked together under her! Then we opened another round of presents, late(ish) into
the night. Here is Jenna, opening the only toy she requested.
I'd resolved within myself that she was unlikely to develop a
bad nutrition philosophy simply because she owned
one of these, so I bought it for her.
The next day, she put aside the fries in a gift box and
handed it to Dave, saying, "I give my lellow (yellow)
french fries to Jesus."
We sacrifice what we treasure most, I guess.
A couple more pictures of gifts from family out of town:
a wooden high-chair from Grandma Mae, with its basket
filled with what Emily considers suitable food for babies
- donuts,) The bathtub is from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Arne, which goes very nicely with their new dolls -
apparently this is the year for equipping the girls for
babysitting lessons! Kate is in the picture for size reference,
although this is also useful as evidence of her wrongfully
and inconsiderately taking away Lana's shampoo and
moisturizing lotion bottles - how will the poor doll
complete her skin-care regimen now?
And arts and crafts supplies- one can never have too many of these. Because arts-and-crafts stuff is so highly
esteemed as choices for entertainment in our home,
and because I've realized that quite a few of you reading
this might be parents of small children, I thought I'd do my bit
to promote some of these wonderful things. So here is a
more detailed description of the items in this picture:
leaf and ocean fish rubbing plates and twistable crayons
(ingenious) from Uncle Nathan and Auntie Joy; double-ended
Crayola highlighters; washable (very important) fruit-scented
Mr Sketch markers - Jenna's favorite markers - and watercolor painting set from the girls' friends Lily and Peter
and mess-free colorless-till-they-touch-the-special-paper (that go with the special paper at the top left corner)
from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Arne.
Upon our return home, girls got to open and play with
their Dress-up Box, the
contents of which I'd been working on
in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Even Kate was not spared
and for a while was forced to try on ill-fitting headwear
and skirts and be subject to magical spells. Here she is
retaliating, proving that even babies are a wellspring of
creativity and resourcefulness in finding new uses for
everyday weapons (in this case, wands). En garde!
Thank you, all, for the greetings, Christmas wishes,
email messages, cards and gifts!
Only 360 more days till next Christmas!
Three quarters of a year old! Kate claps, waves (and says)
