Christmas on the Farm

This (now past) year, our plan was to host Susan's family at our home in East Grand Forks on Christmas Eve and then travel to my dad's farm on Christmas to spend a few days there. It turned out that Susan's family was not able to make it (but will the first weekend in February, when we'll have our "Christmas" together), so we had a quiet Christmas Eve with just the kiddies. We did go to my dad's on Christmas Day, though. My stepmother was with her ill brother in Bismarck, so it was just my dad, my two sisters (from Nebraska and Oregon), and my fam--another small-scale, quiet get-together. Mrs. Claus made scarves for the girls:

And Grandpa and Beverly gave personalized sleeping bags to the girls:

Here's a pic of the fam:

Here's a pic of my nephews Aaron and Ryan with their dad Ron, my brother-in-law:

Aaron, Ryan, and Ron were not able to attend, so it was truly a much quieter Christmas than many years past. Sandy and Susan took over cooking duties for the most part--and Sandy cooks much like my mom, so it was nostalgic to get to eat her meals. We had brought all the girls' snow gear for sledding, but at 46 degrees, there was no snow available in the pastures for such fun! We did get a chance to see my uncle Shine one day and my aunt Penny and her kids and grandkids while in the McGregor area. We also celebrated Suzanna's birthday early so that her grandpa and aunties could watch her open her presents.

Other than having some family members missing for the holiday, it was a pleasant Christmas--very relaxing and very family-oriented. We were at Dad's from the 25th until the 29th, on which day we left at 5:00 A.M. (yes, "A.M."!) to take Sandy to the airport in Minot. It turns out that her plane had been delayed in Bismarck the night before, so she wouldn't be able to fly out of Minot until close to noon, anyway! But we didn't stick around with her to wait for the late plane. We were in EGF by 10:45 A.M.--yes, "A.M."! We spent the day reorganizing our house to make room for the Christmas loot!