A Belated Moberg Christmas (and Birthday)

Faithful Reader, you'll recall the blizzard that swept through the upper Midwest on Christmas, thwarting our Noël plans with Susan's family. Well, it affected our plans with my family, too. My sister Sandy from Omaha, NE had planned to come to ND, and we were going to join her at my dad's home in Tioga the Sunday after the 25th for our family's own Christmas celebration (Susan, the girls, and I with just my dad, my stepmom Beverly, and my sister). The weather that weekend canceled that plan, so Sandy arranged to come to ND this week instead, spending Sunday through Wednesday with our dad and Wednesday through tomorrow here with us. And today Dad and Beverly came to Dickinson so that we could have our belated Moberg family Christmas supper and gift-opening this evening at our house.

Because Susan had to work today, Sandy and I planned tonight's supper, shopped for the groceries, and started the meal. (Once Susan got home from work, she took over for me in the kitchen.) In the photo above, imagine a clock face with the girls standing at 9:00. At 11:00 (near Hillary's left elbow) is a cauliflower/broccoli salad that Beverly brought. Just beneath the plate at 12:00 is a French onion/green bean casserole. At 1:00 is a plate of lefse that Sandy made and brought for us. At 5:00 is a platter of chicken legs that Sandy fried. Above the plate at 6:00 is a covered bowl of mashed potatoes next to a bowl of gravy. At 7:00 is a bowl of whipped cream (that I made) for the bowl of strawberry Jell-O with sliced strawberries in it at 8:00. That was our supper menu!

Our dessert was an angel food cake with almond-flavored powdered sugar icing that Beverly made for Suzanna's birthday. We were supposed to have it at our original Christmas get-together on the 27th, at which point it would have been an early birthday celebration for Suzanna. Because of the weather, Beverly ended up freezing the cake and bringing it today, so we had a belated birthday celebration. It didn't matter to Suzanna; she just enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa here for her "birthday."

Suzanna with Grandma and Grandpa Moberg

Usually my dad, stepmom, and two sisters buy separate gifts for our three daughters at Christmas. This year, they and Susan and I pooled our money for one high-end gift for the girls: a Wii console, accessories, and games. They have played with their friends' Wiis when visiting their homes, so they know what a Wii is all about, and they love it. However, I told them once upon a time that they didn't need to own their own Wii if they could just go to a friend's house and play with that friend's Wii--so they've never pestered us about buying one. Thus, they were not at all expecting a Wii when they opened the boxes containing all the Wii-related items. In the photo above, Abigail and Hillary's faces say it all, and Suzanna is doing a happy dance! They're absolutely thrilled! (Thank you, Cathy and Sandy, for suggesting, price-checking, purchasing, wrapping, and delivering!)

The girls got to look at the Wii tonight but not play; they have school tomorrow and needed to get to bed so they could get up in the morning. I'm sure the Wii will be operating by tomorrow evening, though. After Susan and the girls head off to school in the morning, Sandy and Dad and Beverly plan to go their separate ways so that I can leave at noon for a meeting in Wibaux, MT. Life goes on. But what a nice break we had today for a belated Christmas celebration with the family!