December 24 was spent with Rob's family in Coon Rapids, MN.After some wonderful food and fellowship, we ended the day with great-grandma and grandpa singing carols and reading the Christmas story.
December 25 began with a morning swim with the cousins in the hotel pool and a few more attempts at family pictures. Then, we loaded up the luggage and headed off to be with my side of the family in the greater Minneapolis area. While packing, Griffen said to me, "Mom, we have 29 bags. As long as you count 29, we have everything." My, how life has changed!
Do you see how hard I try??? Along with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins, we had a special visitor on Christmas Day. Eli the Elf came to deliver bags of goodies for all.
Christmas evening, we all went to visit my grandma in the hospital. We sang carols and prayed with her. Though her memory has faded tremendously due to Alzheimer's, she asked several times to see the triplets. So glad she finally got to meet them!
Next, we headed east to Eau Claire, WI where we spent several days with my sister and her family. Besides just hanging out with family, a children's museum and nightly rounds of Monopoly Deal, Rook, and Scrabble proved to be the highlights of this leg of our journey.
December 29 we left Wisconsin and headed west to New Ulm, MN to be with Rob's parents and sister. On the way, we took a day to do a little shopping as a family at the Mall of America.
New Ulm greeted us with more presents, more snow, and more family!
On January 2, we once again packed up our 29 bags and said our good-bye's. One stop to fill up on gas reminded us that we were not in Kansas anymore when the washer fluid bucket was frozen solid.
With every yearly Christmas card I write, I am reminded of how quickly life passes by. James 4:14 rings so true this time of year - "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." From the tiny baby to the great-grandparents - we are reminded that our days are numbered. This serves as great motivation to serve God more fully this 2015!
In closing, here's a little New Years greeting from Taerik,
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