Off and Running

Yes, I'm still here- I hope I haven't lost any of my loyal readers. We had a wonderful Christmas! We spent the weekend visiting with Bridget, Steve, and Maren at Mom and Dad's, with some basement work mixed in for fun. We got the pro level (pre-tiling step) poured on Christmas Eve day, then headed to Grandpa and Grandma's for the Christmas festivities to begin! The kids had so much fun opening presents Christmas morning. Bennett got some neat truck books, trains, and trucks, and playdoh was a hit with Annalise. We celebrated Christmas in Okabena on Christmas evening, and the cousins had so much fun playing together, and with Grandpa. We headed home for a night in our own beds on Thursday, and then turned around and drove to Walnut Grove, for Darci's wedding activities.

Dustin and Darci's wedding was really nice, and Mike was the hardest working usher ever (since his nephew Cody was pretty shy, and only seated a select few). The kids stayed at the wedding dance until 11:30, and were the cutest participants in the dollar dance, dancing in their footy pajamas. The Wilder Inn in Tracy, MN (which proclaimed itself "very nice" right on the sign) was our home away from home for two nights. Bennett didn't do as great as I had hoped with sleeping on an air mattress, and ended up sleeping on me, and kicking Mike out of our bed, into Annalise's bed during the night.

New Year's Eve was celebrated with Chad, Karen, Katie, and Eric in Lakeville. We had a big sleepover party. The kids did a pretty good job going to bed, and then we were able to enjoy an amazing meal of ribs and accompaniments, followed by playing Battle of the Sexes, Apples to Apples, Spoons, Guitar Hero, and a little Wii. Annalise was ready to get the cinnamon rolls in the oven at 7:30, and after a quick breakfast and packing up, we headed to G and G's to pick up Shug, and have a short visit, before heading home to begin the mountains of laundry, and finding places for all of the new toys.

I forgot to mention that I was able to see Stokes and Andy while they were back to MN, and we went out to eat and have a few Morgan Cokes (except Stokes) with Danielle, Mark, Hope and Chad. Mike stayed home with the kids, and hopes to see Stokes on her next visit home (or we'll go visit Oregon instead).

Mike went back to work yesterday after what seems like an eternity, and it was hard having him gone. The cabinets were delivered to the garage this morning, and we'll get them into the house tomorrow hopefully, after the walls are painted. Bob, our cabinet installer will be here on Monday morning, and Shane, our countertop guy will be here on Wednesday morning to measure. So things are really coming together!

Pictures will be added shortly.