Our Northern Christmas

Our Christmas up North this year with Eric's side of the family was on December 30th and 31st.  With BLISTERING cold weather (about -15 degrees), we piled into the jeep and headed off to Nana and Bumpa's house.

For the first few miles, we could barely see out of the windows (our five warm bodies in the vehicle and the crazy frigid temp outside drastically inhibited our views!).  But, with a few scrapes of the windows (from the inside) with a credit card, some wipe-downs with Ramsey's winter stocking hat, and then a turn to head North, the issues subsided and became manageable.  COLD, but manageable.  :-)

We arrived to warm greetings and hugs.  And food.  Lots and lots of food!!

Before things got too crazy, we wrangled the kids and got a few pictures.

Then, we wrangled the grandparents (*wink*) for a few more.

 Good thing... because it did get crazy (in a good way)!   Isaac became Connor's airplane and was getting spun around.

Ramsey was using The Force on everyone.  The lovely Miss Sadie sat back and watched the chaos.  :-)

Soon thereafter, we chowed down on the holiday tradition (pizza!) and headed downstairs to open presents.   Of course, the kids goofed around even more (Isaac was some sort of a "pet" to Connor in the pic below).

Isaac had to make sure he could still fit inside the end table.  I'm not sure if he will make it next year!  

 With what could be a case of mild claustrophobia (!!), Isaac needed to escape.

 Ramsey gladly took his place.

 Then decided ten seconds inside the standing chest was enough!

 There were times for happy smiles, intermittently throughout the evening, of course.

 Uncle Troy told Ramsey "secret stories" about Star Wars too.

His reward was a bow on his head.

 Uncle Cory was anxious to open presents (as was everyone else!).

 So, the kids doled out the gifts to everyone and made their piles.

 Since Ramsey is the littlest, he got to open up the first present of the evening (a V-tech music mixer).

 After each gift, hugs and thank-yous were given.

 As was "The Force". 

 Since pre-teen boys are a bit difficult to buy for, we gave Isaac a money tree.   He'd been wanting to get a hedge hog for a pet (not sure if that's still in the mix or not).

 Regardless, we thought cold hard cash could go towards his "hedge [hog] fund".   Bad pun?  Wuh wuh.

 Connor was excited for his gifts!  His gift from Uncle Troy, Auntie Sarah, and the kids was a bluetooth speaker.  We spent much of the evening listening to tunes, provided by "DJ Connor".
He was pleased to get two new games for his XBox One (Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and Call of Duty WWII).  They definitely gave him big smiles!

While watching others open gifts, Ramsey and Eric played Star Wars.  Ramsey sat between Eric's legs and steered the Millennium Falcon, using Eric's feet as the blasters.

 In this picture, I think Eric thought one picture was enough! ha!

 More gift-opening....

 By the time all of the presents had been opened, the kids were exhausted... and very very happy!

 That evening, we enjoyed the time together, hanging out.  We watched TV, played games, and visited.

 Ramsey wanted to learn how to play Skip-Bo too.  Sadie and Nana amused his curiosities and gave him his own pile of cards.

 New Year's Eve day was another hang-out/fun day with the fam.  The kids played in the house (lots of Hide & Seek, Star Wars, and general gaming).

Riggs was in heaven to be able to play with Max and with the kids.

Ramsey has an affinity for butter.  At one point, he grabbed Nana's butter dish and took some bites off of the stick.   After it was taken away from him, he found it again and and tried to "hide" underneath a chair and snarf more of it.  He really thought he was being sneaky.

The drive home was another frigid experience!  It was -15 when we were getting ready to leave Nana & Bumpa's house.  The poor Jeep was crying and didn't want to start and had to be jumped (odd that it started just fine the day before when it was colder).

We drove home with the heat and defroster on high the entire way home.  And, when we did arrive that evening, it was -22.  Brr!!!  

(Incidentally, New Year's Day was -28. Egads!)

Nonetheless, we are so thankful for our family and the blessings that we have!  We are thankful for the time that we have with each other. I may say that a lot, but it comes from the heart.

Happy New Year!!!  Our best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2018!