(Post-)Christmas on the Farm

Susan, Hillary, Suzanna, Zoey, and I hit the road on Friday and headed to my dad's home in Tioga, ND. My sisters (Cathy from Belgrade, MT, and Sandy from McGregor, ND) were already there. We ate supper together and finalized plans for our weekend.

Yesterday we drove out to our family farm, where Sandy now lives. She has a side-by-side (UTV), and she used it to pull us on a sled through the snow drifts in the alfalfa fields and down the gravel roads surrounding the farm. It was the same metal sled upon which my sisters and I used to pull each other behind the snowmobile when we were kids!

Afterward we made a taco bar for our (post-)Christmas meal and then retired to the living room to open our Christmas stockings (yes, Santa visited us again, this time on the farm!) and visit by the Christmas tree while enjoying our margaritas. It was fun to hear Dad tell so many stories from his youth.

This morning we attended church in McGregor, where Sandy is the organist (as our mom used to be!) and where our family went to church while I was growing up. The church served soup and sandwiches afterward, so we stayed for the meal and visited with community members and relatives whom we don't see often. Then we went to Tioga to see Dad one more time before returning to Dickinson.

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Saturday was a beautiful day to be outdoors.

Sandy is in the cab of the side-by-side to drive. This is Susan, Hillary, and Suzanna, sitting in the back to monitor me on the sled (being pulled by that chain).

And here I am on the metal sled, ready for Sandy to hit the gas!

This is Hillary taking a turn on the sled. We were near my uncle's house--those are his trees behind Hillary. He lives a quarter-mile up the road from the farm.

A family photo in two unstitched parts (this one and the next pic). Sandy is the selfie taker. There I am, raising my margarita glass next to Cathy, Susan, and Suzanna.

Hillary is seated to Suzanna's left, and Dad is seated to Sandy's right, which completes the family meal photo.

Sandy's Christmas tree ... with Zoey in the foreground looking on!

Sandy at work, playing a prelude before church on Sunday.

Hillary and Suzanna with their grandpa (and with Zoey).