Iowa

 Last Friday, we were off on an adventure to Burlington, Iowa....our hometown.  It was a cloudy, dreary day, but the "H" bridge was there to say "Hello!"  We crossed the Mississippi River and made it to Grandma Ellie and Grandpa Walts House....

There we found Grandma Ellie, working away, preparing the "Swedish Meal."  She treated us to Swedish meatballs, Potatis Korv, Potatoes, Salad and Ostakaka.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

 

Christmas leftovers...

 Here is Grandma Sue, ready to open her gifts...

Bella fell in love instantly with Grandpa's new fur hat..

 Minnie had a nap during the gift opening...

 Luke, cutting those potatoes...

 The beggars...

 The sore loser in BINGO...

 There's another bingo winner!!

 Dad and his bingo prize.....a homemade Chia Pet...

Gifts and Bingo!!

 On Christmas day, the kids are used to opening presents at 7am....this year we made them wait until 9am.  Here is our beautiful tree....

and here's Ben with one of his presents...

 Anna with her new calligraphy set...

Luke was waiting patiently....

Courtney made Andrew a Packer blanket...

Later, we enjoyed playing BINGO....just look at all of the prizes!!

Courtney started with 8 bingo cards....overachiever!!!

Look who won the grand prize.....  Oh Yeah!!!

 
After bingo, we enjoyed the desserts!  Apple pies and Pistachio Cake!!

 Delicious!!

Christmas Day

 Christmas Day was full of food, as you can imagine....it was delicious!!

The whole gang pitched in to peel 10 pounds of potatoes....

 and here's the result....lots of fluffy mashed potatoes...

 The cooks in charge of noodles...

 Turkey, ham, potatoes, noodles, 7 layer salad and rolls...

 No one hesitated, but instead jumped right in line and filled their plates!

 The table was set...

 

and we Dined....

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

Weekend

 This weekend was a tiny bit hectic, but we managed to relax a little....

Bake a little....

and Ben received a very important email.....his acceptance to UW-Madison.  While I don't think he will go there, it's a big deal to be accepted...so, hats off to him-- he's worked hard in high school!!!

Snow Day!!

 Yesterday was a snow day for our kids and we sure took advantage of it!  I made some little banana breads....

Anna helped wrap some presents.....

and then the kids went out side.....Here is their snowman, and Anna's little snowman hat...

Here's Luker...

 Snowball Fight!!!  (Ben was working)

 and even a little fun with Bella....

 It was a beautiful and fun day!!

Snowman Nails

 Anna played basketball last night....the team got the win!!  The win was great, but she couldn't wait to come home and paint her nails to look like a snowman!!  They turned out great!  and guess what?  Today is a Snow Day...No School for us!!!

Can you find Bella's tail in the picture???

Ben's Latest Art Project

Here's Ben's latest Art project.  He brought all of these images and the various add ons together and

used Photoshop to merge them....