Winter fun

This past Christmas Eve we were at my parents here in Minnesota. Not everyone could make it because we were in the midst of snowstorm, but we still had a great time. It's tradition to go skating on my parent's rink. The "big boys" have a hockey game after the kids have their turn skating. This year the rink wasn't skate-ready yet, so the brothers play boot hockey instead. Pardon the shaggy looks- they worked up a sweat playing! ;)

Then we had dinner, opened gifts, and played games. Oh, and Santa made an appearance, of course. :)

I hope your holidays were wonderful and blessed.

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Merry Christmas

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Christmastime

I could write an REALLY long post about Christmas, but I'll keep it short for now. We are both from large families and the holidays are all about spending time with loved ones. This year we'll be with my (Laura) family here in Minnesota. I've already done a lot of baking- our freezer is full of sugary goodies. :) It's been a tradition for a few years now to decorate sugar cookies with my brothers kids. That's what the pictures are from. There is nothing like decorating cookies with Christmas music in the background, and laughing with the kids- notice the frosting on Davin and our niece- frosting 'war'. I thought they went pretty easy on each other. :D

Davin's off to play hockey and I'm wrapping some gifts tonight. Later! :)

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Chicago

We took a quick weekend trip to the windy city. It was our first time actually staying IN the city. Here's a few pics I took- at the Bean in Millenium Park, walking along Michigan Avenue, and on the Skydeck of the Willis (Sears) tower. We had a great time-even in the rain! :)

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Lawn Games

My brother introduced Monster Golf to my family several years ago, and no one is bored of it to this day! Davin brought our sets (3 of them) to his family camping trip a week ago. It looks like his family likes it as much as my family does! Seriously, these guys (and sometimes us girls) can spend hours playing this game with giant clubs and giant golf balls. This is just one of many lawn game we love!

Visiting Family in Upper Michigan

We took a vacation to Upper Michigan this past week to visit both my (Laura) and Davin's families. We spent every day at different family camps on Lake Superior. It was really windy so we couldn't go out kyaking or on the jet skis, but we still had a ton of fun in the sun with our siblings and nieces and nephews! On our last evening we went to visit my grandparents, who live on Lake Superior. Grandpa had lit the outdoor sauna for us, so we did the traditional "sauna and swim"- get super hot in the sauna, then run as fast as you can into the lake! There were big waves so we spent time surfing them! I took the chance to take pictures of Davin and my brother riding the waves- it made for great laughs! Here's some pictures from the trip- all the kids are nieces and nephews. Oh, and it seems I must always have the camera in my hands, because there are always WAY more pictures of Davin with the kids than me- I'll have to make sure Davin takes some more often! :D

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4th of July

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We spent the 4th of July at my (Laura's) brother's with his family, my sister's family, and a few friends. We played bocce ball, the kids played in the sprinkler (so did Davin!), and my brother grilled some amazing food! It was a day of fun, sun and laughter!

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