Our Christmas adventures began with a road trip to Grandma's on December 23rd. The luggage barely fit! We brought everything from gifts and snow clothes to the dog! (Thanks, Grandma, for letting us bring our beloved dog so she wouldn't have to spend Christmas alone.)
It is always fun to play with the cousins!
Uncle Ben was such a sport to play Candy Land with the youngsters.
Aren't they cute?
Our next stop (after a good night's sleep) was the Hogle Zoo.
Isaac dubbed our outing:
The Polar Bear Express
(December 24, 2012)
Grandpa Thompson and I took all the kids who wanted to go to the zoo.
Our littlest trooper took a nap on the way there.
It was a blizzard outside, so we were among the few visitors to brave the trip that day.
Because of our courageous adventure, we became the recipients of many perks,
such as hand-feeding the giraffe!
I think this is what the giraffe would call a "Christmas tree-t!"
Brigham offered to tote our littlest adventurer on his shoulders,
which was great!...
...except that he is so tall
he had to remember to duck through doorways
... or run the risk of knocking Rylee right off.
She became aware of this fact
and would remind him with a yell, "duck!" each time they reached a doorway.
She was happy to finally be "the tallest!"
"I'm bigger than you!" she would say to each of us.
We were surprised to see the tortoise move so quickly to be fed. He is a strong guy! His name is "Kronk" and his shy friend is named "Izma."
We had such a fun time at the zoo!
We decided Christmas Eve day is the best time to go visit the animals,
...especially when it is stormy!
Grandpa even joined in the snowball fight.
next stop...
Christmas Eve
at Grandma Thompson's
for Lutefisk dinner!
It was a lovely, joyful meal!
The lutefisk was the best we have ever tasted.
I washed mine down with Grandpa's delicious grilled salmon,
boiled potatoes and carrots, and lots of melted butter.
The flat bread, made by Uncle Rolf, was delicious!
There was time for a few games, a gift from grandma, then on to meet the cousins, aunts, and uncles
at Mormor's
Kids dressed in new jammies from Grandma, eagerly await a visit from Santa.
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| Cute Thompson Cousins. We turned out all the lights and sat very still, pretending we were all asleep in bed. (Santa has very poor eyesight) Then we watched as Santa carefully brought in presents and laid them under the tree. Rylee was sitting on my lap and covered her eyes so Santa wouldn't see her, and occasionally she would peek between her fingers at him. Grandma and I laughed and almost scared Santa away!  Santa came... and left... and ere he drove out of sight, he said, "Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!" ... And then we came to the much anticipated |
Christmas Morning:
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| Opening Stockings at Grandma's |
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| Don't they look thrilled? |
Mormor came to visit. We love Mormor!
It was a lovely day to play in the snow:
A wonderful Christmas was had by all.
...and then Dec. 26th, we partied with more cousins on our way home!
We played games and went sledding with the Owens.
Isn't she such a cute little Mallie-bear?
And a sweet owl, Anna!
Can you see the frost on Isaac's eyelashes?
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| Zipping down the hill was a blast! ...and then we went home...  ...to our frozen wonderland... ...for more adventures. Happy New Year, everyone! |
What a great tradition! I think it's just as wonderful the way you have chronicled your holiday! Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Wendee! It looks like you all enjoyed a wonderful time this Christmas! Thanks for your cute card. We enjoyed reading all your details! Loved it. Miss you!!!
ReplyDeletePS Were the sledding pics taken at the elementary school near my parent's house? It looked very familiar. :)