The big, long, Christmas post

This post (like many before it) is extremely overdue.  What can I say, 2013 is already off to a busy start!  (And yes, a post/pics from our great night ringing in the new year will be forthcoming)  And because there are about one million pictures in this post, I'll try to keep the words to a minimum!  And since pictures are from about three or four sources (cameras, phones, etc.), there may be a few repeats or out of order pics... I tried my best to keep it chronological!

We had a wonderful time heading back to the Twin Cities for Christmas.  Thankfully Matt was able to take a few days off so we were able to stay for almost a week!  The trip out was VERY eventful (read: AWFUL) to say the least, but after hours in line and a several hour delayed flight (plus an extremely tired and fussy child), we made it safely to Minnesota late Thursday night/Friday morning.

perhaps hour 1.5 of line waiting?!?

The weather in MN was as to be expected... cold!  It was a white wonderland for sure with temps never getting out of the 20s while we were there.  The pond behind the Larsons' home was frozen solid, so Matt took Sammy out for a little sliding around the first morning there. 

And then came the visitors!  Benjamin loved getting to spend time playing with his family while we relaxed for our first full day of vacation :)  He also loved how good Mimi was at saving all her own kids' toys so he'd have a gagillion to play with while there.  Lucky kiddo (and smart Mimi!)!

Saturday we headed to the Galleria in Edina to see Suzie play fiddle with the ASI Spelmanslag (and St. Nick!).  We also met up with David and Emma who had just driven into town.  Benjamin got to show off some of his still-developing walking skills and was SUPER pumped about meeting Santa (well, ok, let's say he wasn't scared) ;)  {We had tried to take him to a sit-on-the-lap-for-a-photo place twice, but both times the lines were too unbearable.  We were so thankful this Santa just happened to be line-free!}

That night we hung out a bit at the Larsons before all the siblings met up downtown at Sara and Dave's loft.  It was a fun night hanging out with the siblings (and getting tasty grub at the Butcher and the Boar)!

the brothers played a little Lord of the Rings Risk... pretty exciting stuff!

The next day we drove out to the Nelsons to have a big family Christmas with the Vandervort side.  Benjamin loved all the attention, and he especially loved singing Christmas carols with the whole family while dad played piano.  What a treat!  (Benjamin even joined in on piano for a few tunes)  It was a long day for him, but he was a trooper, even opening up his presents and playing with the new toys, er, tissue paper!

Emma was so sweet with BW all day!  Fast buddies!

a little snippet from the end of a song...

 

On Christmas Eve morning we headed over to Suzie and Steve's for a delicious breakfast (yum caramel rolls!).  And after heading back home we took Benjamin out on the ice with David and Emma's amazingly trained dog Wilson.  Emma even got Wilson to pull Benjamin in the sled!  If only the wind chill wasn't 5 degrees, perhaps we could have stayed out there for a bit more than ten minutes :)

 

That night we all got ready and headed off to Eaglebrook Church, where Sara's husband Dave's father is the pastor and Sara sings on the worship team.  It was so neat getting to see their church home!

We then headed home and enjoyed a delicious lobster and steak dinner! (And a few games, always fun!)

Christmas Day was finally upon us, and it was filled with lots of joy.  It was so special to share Benjamin's first Christmas with his wonderful Minnesota family who love him so much.  We had a wonderfully lazy day and enjoyed opening presents with everyone and even celebrating my birthday! 

Oh, and I got to talk to these fools who were taking a break from all the hot sun in Cabo! 

On our last full day, Mimi was kind enough to throw Benjamin a pre-first birthday party!  Knowing how much he loves Winnie the Pooh, she decked the house out in Pooh gear!  And sweet Mimi even made a lactose-free cake for Benjamin.

And at about 3:30am the next morning, we woke up and headed out to the airport.  EARLY!!!!  Benjamin decided to roll with it and stayed awake until we got on the plane when he (FINALLY) dozed off right before take off.  Thank the good Lord for that.  :)  He of course woke up after about an hour or so, but we were thankful for the peace and quiet at 6am no matter how short it was!  He was a real trooper though, despite our grumblings about how much we hate flying with a baby/toddler. :)

When we got home, he went straight for the guitar!  In my head, I just kept singing, "Reunited and it feels so good!" 

It was a merry Christmas indeed.  We are so thankful for such wonderful family.  And we're especially thankful for such a wonderful little guy who makes us laugh and smile SO much!