We left for Kansas City the afternoon of the 23rd, and drove the 11 plus hours and got there early in the morning. I was surprised to have a full welcoming crew. Matt's parents, Jenny, and Madisen were all awake to welcome us. Here is some of the fun we had on the drive:
Christmas-Eve Morning snuggles with Grandpa.
Morning boob tube.
Little sweetie face with a big boy haircut.
We miss our big tub. Sure loved Grandma's!!
Last minute shopping. Where's Grandpa? I couldn't see him.
Slaving, as usual.
All the chiefs overdid the shrimp. It was good anyway.
Sampling.
Feeding teddy bear some apples.
Jenny approves.
Not the holidays with out a lil' Meyers bubbly.
Matt's lemon tart made from our lemons from the yard. A success after 4 other failed lemon recipes.
Hunter and Madisen wondering when dinner will be ready.
Tweedle dee and Tweedle doo.
Merry Christmas!!
Jenny brought poppers from South Africa that contained these lovely crowns.
The King and his lovely wife.
Proof I was there.
The boys were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve. They were extremely disappointed that it was was just pajamas.
They decided that maybe pajamas weren't so bad. Eldon decided Santa's cookies looked pretty good.
Waiting for St. Nick!
Many hours later.....
Santa came!!
Love this bug.
It was all a blur.
Aunt Jenny is a great help!
Captian America reading Thomas with Grandma.
Matt got his dad some wire cutter/strippers like ours that we broke. He will have to bring them with when he comes to visit!
The shooting range. Trying out the Nerf guns.
Watch out Jenny!!
Gathering around Grandma's Crème Brûlée
Brûlée-ing the Crème Brûlée The 26th, we drove with Matt's parents to Fargo all crammed in together. Jenny, Hunter and Madisen headed back to South Africa after their long stay in the States.
Here's Great-Grandma Elaine Adsero with Bennett, Eldon and Lincoln. Great-Grandma gave them these cute stuffed animals for Christmas. They were extremely pleased.
Richard's brother, Jim (in the green) lives in the same apartment complex as Great-Grandma.
House that Laila's dad (Peder Brakvatne) built and flipped so they could build and live in the following home:
Home Laila grew up in.
We took Great-Grandma Adsero and Uncle Jim to "The Shack". The waitresses all knew and hugged Jim and brought him 3 Mountain Dews cause they can never keep up.
The Brakvatne siblings. Laila, Rolf, Karen, and Eilif
The siblings with spouses. Richard and Laila Adsero, Rolf and Diane Brakvatne, and Karen and Jerry Huseth.
Andrea and Josh Zosel hosted the get-together at their place. Andrea is Jerry and Karen's daughter. I didn't get a good photo of them so I stole these, and a few others from Andrea's Facebook. Josh, Johann, Amelia and Andrea are pictured above.
Matt with his cousin, Scott Huseth (Andrea's brother, Karen and Jerry's son). Missed getting a picuture of Shawna, Scott's wife. I wasn't very thorough. Talking and eating too much instead.
Eldon, Amelia, Bennett, Brittney (Scott's daughter), Eldon, and Johann making their own fun.
Matt's first cousins, once removed. Brittney, Amelia and Johann.
David Brakvatne (Laila's cousin Matt had never met), Rolf, Erik Brakvatne (Rolf and Diane's son), Diane, Matt, Eldon and Richard's leg.
Eilif, Jerry and Karen.
Richard, me, Karen, Jerry and Eilif playing "Heads Up".
Eldon wearing the delicious meatballs we had for dinner.
Playing "Heads Up". David, Laila, Rolf, Andrea, Matt, Erik on couch with Diane.
Matt has always been sad that he didn't get to go to his Grandpa Adsero's funeral, so we went and visited him. It took Richard and Matt 20 minutes or so to find the grave. They about froze to death cause it was 0 F out Sunday morning.
See?? 0 degrees.
The kids were pretty much crying, they were so cold. Never would have guessed we lived in Calgary for almost 2 years. Gotten to be weak sauce.
Sugar beat factory on the way to Laila's parent's graves.
Brakvatne graves. Matt is wearing his Grandpa Brakvatne's hat from Finland.
Laila's mom.
Laila's dad.
This kids, and Matt by the grave. We didn't bother getting the cry babies out of the car this time.
Sleep fest on the way back to the hotel.
The plains.
Had dinner with one of Richard's sisters, Ann and her husband Rick Blotsky.
Met up for lunch with Matt's brother, Jared, and his kids Hanna and Noa on our way back home through South Dakota.
Lincoln, Bennett, Hanna and Noa.
Hanna and Noa opening gifts.
Packing up.
We came back on the 31st so Matt could chill for a few days before going back to work. By chill, I mean build me some shelves in a couple closets. We opened gifts from my family when we got home on New Year's Day. Second Christmas.
Building the new toys.
The marble racer got too tall for "Optimus Prime" to reach.
Robot construction.
Finished.
Lincoln had a hard time throwing away his Santa beard advent calendar so we took a picture before we threw it away. Christmas is now done. It was a good one. Looking forward to 2015!!
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