now that the family was home from their ski trip….the family gatherings had to begin!

craig's mom's: 

the traditional fondue that happens every year.
 


my niece morgan reading the christmas story in the bible.

sean got a remote control helicopter and it was the hit of all the toys.
and then it got stuck in talby's hair.


the duerksen grandkids…all grown up.
seriously.

craig's dad's:

there was smoked brisket and creamed corn.
sean shouted "WHERE did you get this corn?!"  
he loved it so much he had to find out where it was made.
i told him and he didn't believe me that it didn't grow that way.
it was good.


daphne got to come out of her kennel at the end for annie to love on her.

daddies make the best jungle gyms.

the winter storms started in as we drove home from here.
and it continued all night.
craig's sister and her family ended up staying with us that night.
craig picked up his cousin at airport.
the rest of his family driving from california was stuck in traffic from the weather.
it took them hours longer than usual.

we went to church.
my kids were NOT well behaved.
oh well….this will pass.
 
 

 
   
this arrived in our mailbox on christmas eve:
 

a german magazine called Kid's Life used my pictures for their article on decorating with kids at home.
i didn't know they were going to use the picture of my neighbor baby London.  
what a nice christmas present!  
there were two other full page pictures also.  SO COOL!
and aunt peg was visiting…she speaks german…so she translated!  awesome.
thanks Kid's Life!

our kids opened their christmas jammies and a super soft blanket…just for them.
everyone loves new pj's.

 

christmas morning:



nice jammies….

sean got a stereo and some classic rock CD's – van halen & pearl jam. 
the stereo has a remote….score!
scott opened his gift and said "a football….thanks!"  trying to sound as excited as possible.
i said "you're welcome…there is something else in that box"
he found the iPod box and asked "this isn't really what it is…is it?!"
he was shocked.
that was fun to see.
and he gave me a big big hug…. i loved that.  

 
 
 
   
after we opened gifts and ate our christmas breakfast and had another cup of coffee,
we started to get ready to go to my parents.
we were packing our bags when they called and said they were snowed in.

change of plans.
not going to my parents.
we had snow and wind but they had LOTS of snow and wind and ICE.
 
we relaxed a bit and then headed back to craig's moms for lunch instead.
ALL the family had arrived now.

it was a FULL house.
 

then we decided to have the christmas dinner that we would have missed…at our house.
so we drove back home and i cleaned up for an hour.
craig shoveled snow.
then everyone in craig's family came here.  it was great!
nice to have everyone being flexible with plans changing.
 

they brought all the food.

i provided the cosmopolitans.
and cookies.

baby stella was our entertainment all weekend.


then we played several rounds of The Name Game.
do you play that game at your house?
Snot Dork-sen was the most original name…along side Mr. Noogie Nugget.
silly boys.

when i went to put the kids to bed everyone cleaned up my kitchen!
truly the best way to throw a party…they bring all the food AND they clean it all up! 
ha!