Suzanna's 11th Birthday!

Today's guest blogger is Suzanna, our new 11-year-old:

After I woke up, I went upstairs, and Mommy and Daddy gave me lots and lots of hugs and kisses. I helped Mom make a breakfast of ice cream caramel rolls (my request). While those were baking, Abigail and Hillary had just gotten up, so they were hugging me and wishing me a happy birthday, too. We ate our breakfast, and I asked if I could open presents. Mom and Dad said "yes."

I opened a present from my aunt Cheryl, and I got the movie Camp Rock and a savings bond. Then I opened a present from my aunt Sandy. I got a calendar, clothes for my Build-a-Bear, a sweater and shirt for me, and a homemade card. I had already opened some birthday presents from others over the holiday: from Mom and Dad, I got snowpants and a coat; from my aunt Cathy, I got a lettering book, a bouncy ball, magnetic bookmarks, and an iTunes gift card; and from my Grandma and Grampa, I got a pink quilted vest.

She looks as though she's getting as much joy out of trying to pop the packing bubbles as seeing what's inside the package from Sandy! Yes, her T-shirt does say, "I am going to be a Grandma." My mom had it made and wore it around after we told her that we were pregnant with our first child. After Mom died, we gave her T-shirt to that first child, Suzanna, who wears it often in memory of Grandma.

[Added January 2: Today from my aunt and uncle Cassie and Nick, I got cute red pajamas and a book: The Girls' Book: How to Be the Best at Everything.]

After breakfast I took a shower and got dressed. The night before, we had just gotten home from Harwood, so I helped unpack in the morning while Mom and Abigail went grocery shopping. Hillary went over to her friend Madeline's house. Our friend Jordanne came over to play just as Abigail and Mom were getting home. The night before, Mom had asked us what our favorite foods were. One of mine was nachos, so Mommy went to Taco John's and got tacos and nachos for dinner. While I was in the shower, Abigail and Hillary had been brainstorming about presents they'd like to give me (that they bthen ought while out grocery shopping). They came up with a couple things: a playpen for my baby doll Sophie and a couple baby outfits for her, too. I also got the movie WALL-E from them.

Suzanna was very happy with all her gifts. Here's she registering her excitement over having received WALL-E from her sisters.

After dinner we went downstairs and played with Jordanne some more. Then we had swimming practice. When we came home from that, we had a delicious supper of chili (my request) and cornbread muffins. Then we watched some of the movie A Christmas Story. We didn't get to all of it because some of us were falling asleep (I won't mention any names, Dad). 11 years old doesn't feel much different from 10, except now I don't get to eat off the children's menu at Olive Garden. Boo!

Susan made a wonderful birthday cake: chocolate with dulce de leche buttercream frosting (remember?). Does Suzanna look a year older to you? The last pic is of our three beauties, aged 7 (Hillary), 9 (Abigail), and 11 (Suzanna).

Treacherous Travels

The day started off peacefully enough: leisurely breakfast and delicious dinner served by Janelle (remember?), my playing with Austen and Jordan while the older kids frolicked in the snow outdoors, and leaving early afternoon in order to stop at a few stores in Fargo to exchange too-small clothing received as Christmas gifts. I was hoping that would take about a half-hour tops, but it was several hours before we were on the road for Bismarck. It was dark outside and cozy-warm inside, so all the ladies napped while I drove.

When we got to Bismarck, we went to the just-opened Olive Garden for supper. That restaurant has always been one of our favorite reasons to go to Fargo, and now it will draw us to Bismarck, too, I'm sure! Our friend Casey, a former Ground Round coworker from our university days, is a manager there, and we got to visit with him before and after our deeeelicious meal. Even though they had only just met him, each of the girls hopped up to give him a hug afterward. (Casey's response: "Your girls are awesome!")

When we left the restaurant, big flakes of snow were falling--the kind that look terrific when backlit by yard lights or snowmobile headlights and make winter feel all Norman Rockwell-y when viewed from the comfort of one's own home, perhaps with a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate on the stove, and Christmas carols playing on the Victrola. But also the kind that aren't all that fun to drive over when they have accumulated on the streets and started to turn slick and icy. We had a few errands to run: fuel up at a gas station, stop by a grocery store for ingredients for tomorrow's breakfast, drop off a Christmas gift for our nephew Arron in Mandan. Did I mention that Mandan is a city built on several steep hills? That fact is made abundantly clear when its streets are filling up with the kind of snowflakes that were falling tonight.

But that was heavenly driving compared to the return home on I-94. It usually takes just over an hour to get from Mandan to Dickinson. Tonight it took two hours. The wind was whipping the snow around in swirls that covered the windshield and blocked my view of the highway. The snow was also drifting across the road, making it impossible in places to see the lines marking the lanes of the highway. I had to stop frequently to chisel ice off the windshield, and once I pulled over to join a couple other drivers in pushing another car out of the ditch. It was stressful, to say the least, and the muscles in my shoulders and neck are in knots. But we're home safely now, and the vehicle is unpacked, and everybody is either in bed or on his way. Fun as it is to travel and see friends and family for the holidays, it's always good to be back home!

These Friends = Family

After breakfast and games and goodbyes with the gang in East Grand Forks, we headed off to Harwood, ND to the home of our dear friends Jeff and Janelle and their kids (to refresh your memory, read this, this, this, and/or this). We have been friends with them our entire married lives, and no Christmas is complete without a stop by their home . . . because they not only give us gifts but also feed us delicious food, put us up in their comfortable home, and entertain us. What could be better?!

Janelle prepared a great supper, after which we exchanged gifts in the living room. Jeff and Janelle are godparents to Suzanna, whose birthday is in just a couple days, so they gave her a birthday present, too (a beautiful necklace). Then there was much playing and visiting. And, after the kids went to bed, more visiting and just a little bit of imbibing (Baileys Irish cream, a tradition of sorts for us--just ask Jeff, Janelle, or Susan about Winnipeg!). We'll leave midday tomorrow, allowing us time to do some post-Christmas shopping and exchanging of gifts that didn't fit and still make it home tomorrow night. Christmas isn't Christmas without seeing Jeff and Janelle, so now we can bring closure to the holiday!

Rule of thumb: the blondes are ours, and the brunettes are Jeff and Janelle's. Here, Megan looks on as Jordan (in the green) and Austen (in the blue) open gifts. In the corner of the pic are Hillary and Abigail (wearing the spectacles).

Hillary looks on as Jaden opens a gift. They're the same age, and tonight they're sharing Jaden's top bunk (Jordan sleeps in the bottom bunk). For now, their sleeping together is cute, but in a few years, I'm calling a halt to that practice! (P.S. The gratuitous crotch shot is of Jeff.)

For Christmas Megan had gotten a video game designed to teach one how to play the guitar, and here Abigail is trying it out, pushing buttons on the guitar to correspond to prompts on the TV screen as a song plays. Jeff and Megan are searching for a new selection of songs for the game as Suzanna looks on.

When you're as cute as Austen, you can sit on the furniture with impunity.

Here's Suzanna opening the lovely necklace that her godparents gave her for her 11th birthday. Suzanna has always referred to Jeff and Janelle's kids as her own godsiblings, and now even Abigail and Hillary call them their brothers and sister. We're just one big happy family! (Is the key to family happiness seeing one another only once or twice a year? Hm . . .)