Christmas with the Froehle's at Grandview

We started a new tradition last year with the Froehle's for Christmas--and that is we celebrate the weekend before Christmas at Grandview Lodge! It's fun for everyone.......the kids get to play in the water park, jumpy houses and arcade and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Jake can relax and enjoy their weekend!

We arrived Friday evening, as Bishop had school and his party! The Elves visited again for a "bedtime tuck in" and Bishop was SOOOOO excited to see them! Nora was a bit more hesitant and felt more comfortable when I held her (just like last year)! The Elves even recognized us! ;)

The kids were so excited for presents and they got to each open one up on Friday night!

Saturday was a fun day of swimming, jumping in the bouncy house, playing in the arcade and hanging out! Some friends of ours happened to be up there and it was so fun for the kids to have other friends to play and swim with!! We were all excited to see the Steffen's! Bishop was a bit reluctant to go down the big slide---but once he did that's all he wanted to do! It's especially fun that he can swim and be on his own a bit more and I don't have to be stressed out the entire time! Nora had a ball going down with mom or dad too!

Dad's and their daughters!

Bishop, Nora, Amelia and Teddy...Logan was still busy swimming

The arcade was a huge hit this year! We spent our fair share of quarters there--but it was fun and the kids were happy!

Logan and Bishop playing ping pong!

On Sunday Morning Santa was at breakfast again. Bishop was excited to see him and sit on his lap.....and he wanted to make sure Santa knew he what he wants for Christmas (a Kendama)! :)

Merry Christmas from the Froehle Family!

Driving the race car in the arcade

A highlight from last year was ice fishing and the horse drawn carriage.....but the lake wasn't frozen yet, so there was no ice fishing this year. Bishop said that was ok since he only caught 2 fish last year! Ha! Grandpa, Grandma and Jake took off on Sunday and we stayed one more night. It ended up being a fun family night. The kids swam and played until they crashed! It's the best way to kick off Christmas celebrations and we're all excited for the week to come!

Christmas Concerts and Parties

Nora brought her teacher gifts in this week since she'll be home next week and her 2 Pre-K teachers were so cute--they sent a thank you picture! :) Nora adores Ms. Molly and Ms. Ciara and she can't wait to be in Pre-K full time (Jan 4th)! :)

It was a busy week of preparing for Christmas, getting ready to head up North for the weekend and celebrating with concerts and parties! Siena texted me on Wednesday night asking if I would come to her and Maia's concert on Thursday morning! I was able to make it work and was so happy I was able to see both girls before they performed! :)

Bishop's teacher sent me this picture--4 boys playing during recess!

Cal, Bishop, Charlie and Silas

On Friday afternoon Bishop had his "New Years Eve" party at school! Being the room rep I planned the party and it was fun being there to help finish off their day before the 2 week break!

Excited boys! Cal, Bishop and Charlie

The Limbo!

Pin the nose on the reindeer

Bishop's concert was on Wednesday in the morning. The Kindergartners all sang together and they sang 6-7 songs! I recognized a few of the verses from Bishop's practice, but not all of them! :) It was such a heart warming concert and so sweet to see the kids perform!

Sister Time. Change of Plans for the weekend. Kids sing in church and 3rd visit to Santa!

Shelly and I have started a new tradition for our birthdays that we spend time together instead of just giving gifts to each other. November got to be a bit busy for both of us, so we were finally able to find an afternoon to go shopping in December! :) I always LOVE this time together, and appreciate it even more now as we have kids and life gets so busy! We had lunch at Ham's Sandwich Shop and did some shopping at the mall! Happy Birthday, Shelly! I love your friendship so much and am so thankful for you in my life!

While we were shopping I got a call from Nora's school--she was running a temp. :( Luke and I had plans to go to a play that night and my parents came up to watch the kids. Nora had a fever and cough so we decided to skip the play and my parents went up to Shelly's house for the night so they wouldn't catch the bug Nora had. Nora had croup (got steroids for it on Thursday) and while her cough seemed better during the night she came down with a high fever. Poor girl was miserable when the tylenol and advil wore off! 

Luke and I also had plans with friends on Saturday night (wine tasting), but that was cancelled by the other couple as they had a sick daughter too! We wanted to focus on getting and staying healthy before Christmas so we hunkered down and enjoyed a weekend at home together instead!

The kids were scheduled to sing in church on Sunday and Nora appeared to be feeling well enough to do that. She didn't "enjoy" it, but I don't think that was because she wasn't feeling well! ;) Most of the 3 year olds looked a bit perplexed standing in the front of church.....but Bishop got into it and was singing along! It was fun that they both could be in front of church together....their last opportunity for that is in the spring and after this Bishop won't sing in church (unless he's signed up for choir).

After church Nora said she wanted to go to Macy's Santaland--see the Elves display and visit Santa. We did that, grabbed some lunch at Panera and then went home to rest and relax!

Sister time is the best!

My sick baby girl!

Silly kids before church!

Nora wasn't "having it!"

Santaland at Macy's!

Mom and dad aren't needed in the picture anymore! :)

Although our plans changed for the weekend it turned out to be a nice, quiet weekend at home....we were able to all slow down for a couple of days before the rush of Christmas comes again! Nora's fever finally broke Sunday night and she was well enough to go back to school on Monday. Makes me even more thankful for healthy kids--it's so hard seeing them sick!! On to the last week before Christmas break!!

Second visit to Santa and The Wizard of Oz

Nora's school invited Santa to come visit so on Wednesday after school Bishop and Nora were able to visit Santa again! Nora wants "blue markers and white markers" and Bishop wants a Kendama for Christmas! 

On Thursday we went to the Children's Theater to see The Wizard of Oz! We went to dinner at Muddy Waters before the play. The kids loved the play and afterwards Nora said "I want to go to play everyday!" It was a neat experience and such a great story! It was a fun family night!

Nora's good friend, Ashton!

Bishop and Nora with Santa!

Before the show!

Kick off to Christmas

On Wednesday night Bishop had a playdate after school with one of his friends so Nora and I made Christmas cookies and enjoyed getting ready for Christmas! She was such a great helper--until she burned her finger on the pan (and it blistered)! Poor girl has had some bad luck with burns!

Friday night my HS friends went out for dinner! It's always such a fun time to re-connect with these life long friends! Luke had a whiskey party that he took the kids to so I was thankful he allowed me to spend a time with my friends! We met for HH at Eat Street Social and had dinner at The Copper Hen in Mpls!

Saturday was a busy day! We started the day going to the annual Toys for Trees event hosted by Coldwell Banker Realty. The kids got to see Santa for the 1st time, have their faces painted, eat a few cookies and pick out our tree! We picked another good one and the kids were awesome helpers decorating the tree! We even had time to go out for lunch before Grandpa and Grandma came to bring them to their house for a sleep over!

That evening we hosted our friends for our annual Christmas Dinner! There were 21 this year and it was a very fun evening! Raul cooked a delicious meal and it was fun catching up and connecting with everyone!

I met Rich and Eileen on Sunday to pick the kids up and we came home and made more Christmas cookies and then delivered them to some neighbors!

Licking the batter is the best!

Reindeer cookies

Bishop and Nora adore our neighbors!!

It was a fun "kick off to Christmas" weekend and we are excited for what the next month will bring!

Thanksgiving in Cold Spring

We woke up Thanksgiving morning to a light dusting of snow. Our neighbors invited us for coffee and hot chocolate so we stopped down to their house before taking off for Cold Spring to celebrate Thanksgiving!

We had a nice time in Cold Spring with the Froehle's. Rich is working on building a new cabin so we walked up to check that out and had a delicious meal and a nice relaxing time being together.

Jake's birthday was Friday so we celebrated together on Thanksgiving evening. On Friday we went for a walk down to the lake, had a little lunch and packed up to head to Owatonna for our second Thanksgiving celebration!

Coffee and Hot Chocolate with the neighbors!

Bishop and Grandpa standing in the back of the cabin

The front of the cabin--it sits on the top of a hill overlooking the lake

Nora loves riding the horse!

Bishop created a "bed" for Teddy and secured it to the banisters and dropped Teddy in....and he didn't break it!

Happy Birthday Jake!

A family selfie at the lake!

Standing on the ice with a little help from Dad!

Cuddles with Gma!