Christmas 2010

The whirlwind that surrounds Christmas has just now come to a stop and the dust is beginning to settle.  We have been going, doing, baking, celebrating, eating, opening gifts, playing games, conversing, eating, partying, picture taking, traveling, and more eating for days and days upon end.  All of the above listed activities were extremely enjoyable and full of merriment though so it definitely makes all the busyness so very worth it.

Our Christmas festivities kicked off on Saturday the 18th with a delicious meal out at Minerva's.  Timberlodge has always been our Christmas go-to, however much to the girls' dismay, they closed their doors and we were forced to find a new dining choice.  Minerva's cheese spread and steaks was an absolutely spectacular alternative and the Christmas season was off and running...

Following our scrumptious meal and our torturous drive throughout town viewing all the fabulous Christmas light displays, we finally brought our anxious girls home to see if Santa had made his annual trek down our chimney.  Of course he had and smiles abounded.

Ella was thrilled to find the stopwatch she so desperately hoped for in her stocking...

And Lily was tickled pink with her Spongebob umbrella.  Even though there has been a surprising lack of rain over the past week, Lily has gotten quite a bit of use out of this present already.  Hopefully it doesn't get so much use that it isn't able to greet the first Spring rain...

We had a brief break in the gift opening action for a few photos...

And then picked up right where we left off...

Riding our Christmas high right into the 2 day school week, I attended Lily's preschool celebration...

And was also able to participate in Grace's final elementary school Winter party.  The 5th graders kept me so busy that I was unable to get off even one shot but I think that must mean a good time was had by all. 

With school out of the way for 12 full days, it was over the river and through the ginormous snow drifts to grandmother's house and the kids took full advantage of all of the Minnesota snow...

 

Once the outside play was complete, it was time to head indoors for DSI hide and seek.  Some of the more creative and innovative hiding spots were...

Under the three wise men's legs...

Under the Christmas tree (no small feat for a 20 year old man)...

And on the upper shelves of the closet...

Between games of hide and seek, we were able to squeeze in another round of gift opening...

And a few more photo ops...

Before it was time to gorge ourselves on prime rib and shrimp scampi...

Jeremy took a moment to showcase his keen and oh so holiday appropriate fashion sense...

Before we knew it, our time in STJ was over and after we wished our MN family a fond farewell, it was back to Sioux Falls.  We made a quick pit stop at home for some unpacking, reloading and a change into our coordinated Christmas best...

Following a joyous Christmas Mass, it was on to Nicole's for our final round of holiday cheer.  We were greeted by the Christmas cowboy...

And the good times continued to roll from that point on...

Eight days of celebration.  Eight days filled with all of the things I love most: family, food and laughs.  All of the gifts have found their new homes, all of the leftovers have been consumed, all of the order has been restored but the memories~those will remain within reach always.

This truly is the most wonderful time of the year and I am so thankful to have shared with the best people in the world.  Love, peace and happiness to you all.

And now, I really need a nap.

Christmas card outtakes...

Getting just the right Christmas card picture is always a big ordeal at our house.  Many attempts are made over the course of days~sometimes just a couple of days, sometimes several.  This year was no exception. 

Initially we selected a pumpkin patch as our setting...

which seemed like a fantastic idea.  This was our first pumpkin patch visit ever and we had visions of fields upon fields of glorious, bright orange pumpkins as far as the eye could see.  However, we arrived rather late in the season and imagine our surprise when we found that not only were most of the pumpkins missing and most likely well on their way to becoming jack o' lantern's, the ones remaining were half rotted and completely stinky.  While this was not exactly the scene we had hoped for, it did result in a photo that while not necessarily Christmas card worthy was definitely a moment worth capturing and remembering...

Disillusioned, I hung up the camera for that day resigned to plan B.  The next day brought sunshine and perfect fall weather and we were determined.  Our favorite park was calling our names and we shot photo after photo...

After many poses, cheeks aching from all the smiles and more mosquitoes than we cared to encounter, we felt quite certain we had captured some pictures that would adequately portray the happiness and joy we hope you all will experience in the upcoming holiday season and throughout all of 2011...

From me and all of my blessings to you and yours, Merry Christmas!

And suddenly it's almost Christmas...

It's absolutely unbelievable to me that today is December 1st.  Seriously, where has the fall gone?  It seems like just yesterday that I had the girls in the park, shooting photos and hoping for the perfect Christmas card picture.  How is it that I blinked and now it is time to send out those Christmas cards?  In the mail they will go but in the meantime, enjoy one of the many that did not make the cut...

 

Grace is finishing up her all star volleyball season this weekend.  We are thrilled that the YWCA decided to offer another season of our favorite sport of all time and she will be bumping, setting and spiking for three more months.  It's going to be tough to top the excitement of her last game.  Grace's team was down, the score was 24 to 25 and Grace was up to serve.  She launched three awesome serves one right after another, including one ace, to win the game.  The crowd (well, the portion of the crowd that included Grace's family anyway) went wild and I do not recall ever seeing a more proud look on Grace's face.  It was awesome...

Before I knew it, Lily came home from preschool with a fantastic turkey hat....

And it was time for turkey...

Bracing ourselves against the frigid air, the Carter crew headed over to New Ulm and Aunt Kimmie's for a terrific Thanksgiving feast.  Feeding our faces, playing games and hanging out was the order of the day and we accomplished all three in rousing fashion...

Grace was most thankful to have the opportunity to put her fresh babysitting skills to use.  The girl just absolutely loves taking care of babies...

Friday brought about another day of celebration and after a long goodbye...

We headed west in search of another feast to conquer with the Kolb's.  After consuming vast quantities of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing that is seriously the stuff my dreams are made of, we bundled up and settled in to enjoy one of our favorite holiday traditions and the true start to the Christmas season, the Sioux Falls Parade of Lights....

The weather cooperated in a major way and my little tootsies barely even got chilled.  The girls couldn't have enjoyed themselves more...

And by the end of the parade, we were all properly in the holiday spirit.

Riding that wave of Christmas joy, we ventured to our local Lewis Drug for a visit with Santa and his reindeer...

Not only did the girls get to share their wishes with Santa and check out his reindeer but they also each entered a drawing to win a $100 gift card to Lewis.  Lily's luck was once again evident as she was selected as the winner.  I'm not quite sure she fully grasps the concept of money as upon hearing the news, she immediately informed us that she is going to use that money to buy herself a candy bar.

Our final holiday preparation tradition is the bestowing of ornaments which this year included: a soccer player for Ella, a volleyball for Grace, a tomato for Lily and a guitar for Jason...

And then it was time to put those new ornaments to good use and decorate the tree...

All in all, our holiday season is off to a fabulous start.  With all of the rushing, scheduling, shopping, baking, Christmas carding, cleaning and other various tasks that you may encounter in the time immediately before Christmas, it is entirely possible to become completely overwhelmed with it all.

However, among all of the hustle and bustle comes all of the excitement of decking the halls, the friendly but spirited debates on whether houses decorated with colorful lights or white lights are most festive, the delicious scents of Christmas cookies baking, Grace's intensity in finding just the right spot on the tree for each ornament, the joy on Lily's face when she woke up to the first real snowfall of the winter and hopeful, wonder-filled looks like this one... 

and it's simply impossible to not believe in the magic of Christmas.