Month: December 2021

Uncategorized /

Christmas Day 2021

Christmas morning was spent at home.

Here are the “read” gifts they received. This year we opted for “practical use” material.

The “want” gifts.

ETA 12/27/21: Shecklet #1 finished his LEGO set in no time, Shecklet #2 can’t wait to use his new ski gloves (he wore a hole in his old ones,) Shecklet #3 found the perfect place in her room for the fuzzy purple rug, and Shecklet #3 has been having fun taking pictures with her camera.

The “share” gift. I may or may not have gone a little overboard here, but the deal I got on Perler beads was too good. 40,000 beads should keep them busy for a while, right?!?

After lunch, we headed south to spend the afternoon/evening with Jake’s family. Everyone was there – including Tippi!

Merry Christmas!!

Uncategorized /

Christmas Eve 2021

We attended 4pm mass at our parish to celebrate Christmas. Aunt Larissa joined us for mass and afterwards we had heavy appetizers for dinner. Jake returned to church to run the cameras for streaming the 10pm mass.

Uncategorized /

Gingerbread houses – 2021

We decided to try something new and hot glue our gingerbread houses together before decorating them. Since we didn’t plan on eating them, it saved in frosting and time! Win-win!

After the decorating was completed, we polled several family members and here’s how the results came out:

Best use of frosting: #4 (Shecklet #3)
Best use of candy: # 1 (Shecklet #2)
Best traditional house: #3 (Shecklet #4)
Best whimsical house: #2 (Shecklet #1)

Uncategorized /

Snowflakes

I came home from taking Shecklet #2 for a haircut and found these three making snowflakes together.

Uncategorized /

Ping pong in the house

Jake and I have been talking about updating the basement space so the kids have more age-appropriate options for passing the time. Not that nerf wars and building random forts aren’t fun, but we recognize that if we want our kids to enjoy spending time at home (and welcome their friends,) we need to create an environment that supports those things.

We asked our friends if we could borrow their pickup truck and off we went to purchase a ping pong table. The boys had a hunch something was going on when we left, so since they were wide awake when we got back home, they were put to work with helping haul in the parts and assemble the table. We’re looking forward to lots of friendly competition over Christmas break!

Uncategorized /

Cookie and house decorating

Our friends the J’s hosted us and another family for an afternoon of sledding and cookie/gingerbread house decorating. It was SO much fun! The table was decorated in such a festive way and the treats, including a hot cocoa bar, were amazing!

Uncategorized /

2021-2022 Ski/Snowboard season

Mother nature gave us several inches of beautiful snow, so Jake took three of the kids on their first trip to Trollhaugen for the season this week. He went with Shecklet #3 last night and Shecklets #2 and #4 today.

Oh and Shecklet #4 found $20 on the slopes! She bought a treat to share and a hot cocoa for herself 🙂

Uncategorized /

Sweet new baby

My good friend and her family welcomed a new baby in late November. I was able to meet her today, catch up with MS, and get to see my godson as well!

Uncategorized /

PPFL – Astrid’s Story

Prenatal Partners for Life was a huge support to us during our pregnancy with Astrid as well as the time after her death. Mary, the founder of PPFL, asked if I would write about our time with Astrid for her to use in their fall newsletter. I was honored to be able to share about the short life of our little girl and the impact she continues to have on all of us.