Part of Shecklet #2’s birthday present from Aunt Larissa was a trip to Bad Axe for some axe throwing. They reserved a lane that held enough people to bring Grandpa Dave, Jake, and Shecklet #1 along, too. It looked like a lot of fun. I want to join them next time!
We hosted a birthday dinner for Grandma Patti tonight. Jake and the boys grilled salmon for the adults and we made mac-n-cheese for the kids. Larissa and the girls made cupcakes and they decorated them with green frosting (since it’s March.)
Our Shecklet #4 had her final single-digit birthday today! She requested mini hamburgers on Hawaiian rolls. We had a few family members over to celebrate with us on the 19th and then she skied on her actual birthday. Year #9 seems to be off to a great start!
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!!
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)
Grandma and Grandpa came to watch Shecklet #3 play a couple of basketball games today.
My MIL knows how much the Shecklets love homemade applesauce, so she sent us a bushel of apples from the orchard. It’s a fair amount of work, but the result is delicious.
I haven’t seen my aunt and uncle (my godparents) in over two years. A lot has happened to all of us during those two years. Seeing them today and being able to catch up in person was so good for my heart.
My aunt Deb gifted me a cedar chest that my grandfather made and several knitted items that my grandma and her twin sister made. I had asked her to write up a brief history of the piece, which will be a treasured piece of information about the chest that I will keep with it.
Here it is in its new location in our home.
Aunt Deb introduced me and the girls to diamond dots. (The peacock in the photo of the two of us was done by her.) She sent home three mini kits for us to try.
Ever since returning from his trip to NV, Shecklet #2 has been anxious to design and build a bike trail with jumps at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. He and his dad started some of the process at home.
Then they headed south to bring some of his vision to reality. Jake’s parents’ neighbor, who has excavating equipment, made short work of building the dirt jumps – saving Shecklet #2 many, many hours of work.
After helping, neighbor J enjoyed watching the Shecklets alongside Grandma and Grandpa 😊
And yes, that’s Shecklet #4 taking quite the fall, but she’s a tough kid and shook it off!
