Winter Games 2017

Living at the Lakes in the summer is full of excitement and we have really discovered some fun ways to stay cool in the heat. Living at the Lakes in the winter is a little different, however, and you have to do some searching to stay busy in the cold months. This past weekend was the annual Winter Games and it did not disappoint! We all found some fun ways to stay busy and get outside to enjoy our recent 10 inch snowfall. 

 

 Festivities for us included sledding, petting sled dogs, playing bean bags, flying kites, drinking hot cocoa with whipped cream, building a snowman, a little cross country skiing, attending a concert, and even participating and winning medals in a 5k. 

 Needless to say we are tired, our boots are wet, and we are still warming up. 

But we will still be ready for next year!

Meet Rex

 We surprised the kids on Sunday night by picking up our new puppy, Rex, a day early. 

The kids were beyond excited and Marie finally knows what it means to cry tears of joy...she was thrilled!

 This little guy is playful, sweet, and loves being around other dogs and people. He is a lot of work right now with potty training, but the kids are being big helpers, especially Marie. 

The boys are great at running around and making Rex chase them. This in turn tires him out! 

Maya is slowly accepting him, letting him into the family and even allowing him to play with her. She is definitely more playful since his arrival but also a touch jealous. 

He is enjoying his first winter in the snow but doesn't love the cold right now. We took him for an adventure on the iced over lake this week but wanted to be held a lot!

Welcome Rex! We already love you so much buddy.

Minnesota Getaway

We enjoyed a quick but fun-filled trip to Minneapolis to visit uncle Nate and Don & Jean.  

For Christmas, Nathan wanted the kids to come up to the Mall of America and enjoy a day at the Crayola Experience. 

 

They colored, made their own crayons, played on the jungle gym, and let their creativity flow. It was so much fun and even interesting for the adults. 

After that, Marie and Bennett chose one ride in the mall. Bennett wanted the log ride and Marie picked a roller coaster. The boys spent some time in the Lego store while the girls visited the American Girl store.

After a busy day, we enjoyed dinner and down time at Don and Jean's house. 

 On Sunday, we took a trip to the science museum in St. Paul. The kids loved the dinosaur exhibit the best and also had fun at the sports area testing their balance, speed, and vertical jump.

Giving Back

 Nearly 2 years ago, Brooks was a sick little boy in the Sanford Children's Center. 

We were scared, nervous, and hopeful for the day he would be a silly little 2 year old boy. 

And when that day came, we were going to give back to the hospital and say "thank you" for saving our little boy.

 

 So, after Christmas we took a trip to the hospital. 

This time, we had bags of presents to share and we had 3 healthy kids walking in with us. 

What a moment. 

Our hearts were so full and we were overwhelmed with so many feelings of gratitude.

This was the perfect way to get some closure, move forward, and yet remind ourselves of all the other families dealing with sadness and sickness during the Christmas season.

We hope that our small gift gives even a few moments of happiness.

Winter Break

We enjoyed our break from school and work with a lot of fun activities. A trip to the nature center, swimming pool, movies, and a New Year's Eve Party too!

 These crazy kids stayed up til waaaay past midnight and rang in the new year in style...we had 16 kids, 8 adults, and too many noisemakers in the house but it was fun!

We had ourselves a merry little Christmas

Get ready for picture overload 😅

Our Christmas was so.much.fun and full of every emotion possible I think. 

That's kind of what I love about it...sometimes I think we can get wrapped up in the "perfect" Christmas expectation - perfect outfits, perfect pose by the tree, perfect cookies, perfect meal, etc. etc. etc. The problem with expecting perfect is you are let down by the reality which you are living in...anyway, I vowed to myself this Christmas to NOT get wrapped up in expectations and simply live in and soak up the beautiful normal reality we have right in front of us...and you know what? I wasn't disappointed, I was surprised.

Christmas break started out strong with a quick visit to the Van Meeteren family for pizza, snow, class parties, and a visit from Aunt Tina and Uncle Nate. These kids love visitors and overnight visitors even more. 

We played in the snow and played games inside, opened a few presents, did happy dances (mainly Brooks, but we all joined in) and played monster. It was a perfect way to start our Holiday.

Next we enjoyed an evening of ice skating. This is always exhausting but we all love it - even Brooks insisted on skates this time. Mara and Nate were there to help out too.

After ice skating, we made hot cocoa, grabbed cookies and blankets, and plugged christmas lights into the truck...yes you read that right...plugged lights into the truck. Then we took a tour around the lakes to look at Christmas lights. 

Christmas Eve was spent relaxing, playing outside, hunting, and resting. 

We joined the family in Spencer for church and presents. 

 

 The kids were a big help with the babies. Unfortunately they were kind of sick and not feeling the greatest, but they did find a few smiles. 

 Of course the kids loved opening up presents. Bennett's favorite was a fireman suit, Marie's favorite was her "adventure day" ticket, and Brooks is in love with his new shirt with a picture of him and papa on it.

  That night, we drove home and got ready for Santa's visit.

Christmas day we woke up and enjoyed our warm house while it rained and iced outside. 

The kids were very surprised by their Santa gifts as well as a surprise note regarding a new puppy on the way!

We opened presents, played, stayed in our jammies, and truly enjoyed our time together.

 

The next day was our Christmas in Sheldon.  We played games, ate our tummies, full, opened presents, and played some more! 

Our kids were more than tired on the way home that night!

This was such a wonderful Christmas. We are blessed and have such a large, loving group of people around us. It's so comforting to know that there is always someone there to lend us a hand when we need it and we can do the same for them. 

Merry Christmas!