Santa brought the best gift ever this year. We’ve not all been together in five years! Long overdue, but super stoked to welcome the family back to their original home & most of all….each other!
Here is all the random fun we packed into a very short time! So proud of our kids & very grateful they are all happy, healthy, loved & loving….awesome humans on so many levels.
Two trips to the airport on Christmas & we all enjoyed a nice taco dinner (a family staple at our house) & opened gifts. So glad Jordan got to come this year…her first visit to Kansas; Leia’s been here a few times before & always love, love having her here too. Our family is complete with these two!
The next morning, we made another wonderful trip to the airport…Emma, Claire & Sara were arriving!
Our family isn’t what I call “game players”…except the boys. They love arcade games but mostly competing with each other. This years internet craze was called “Boxbollen” & I bought one for all of us to play with. It was a big hit! (And Claire even proved she could box in a costume…of course she can!)
Luke’s gift this year was a miniature Space Invaders game. They removed the life-size one at the casino…the one that spit out tons of money to Luke & Pete over the years. This one doesn’t do that, but he had a good time playing it anyway.
And, they always drag out their old Nintendo Tetris game….this was played all the time!
It was snowing by the time we got home…Emma’s first snowfall! Jordan, Luke & the girls bundled up (it felt like 22 degrees outside) & went out to play!
We were all a bit worried about Luke’s back & eyesight... Claire liked playing it too!
The Uncles were great to wrestle with!
Once in awhile things chilled out…but not often.
There was lots of kitty-love from the girls!
Surprise balls….
A small problem shows up in giant form…Luke & Jordan took a walk down our country road & were followed back by this huge dog. Who stayed. On the porch, just sadly looking inside. They took him back to where they thought he came from, but no one was home & he followed them back once again….not leaving for rest of the day. We couldn’t let the cats out & decided to not let the girls out either. It didn’t look mean, but would jump all over you & he was a huge dog…some kind of Mastiff. We’d messaged the neighbors but no one knew him. He stayed in our garage overnight with water, but we knew he’d have to go the next day. We were having our big party, with lots of little kids…no place for a lost dog with an unknown temperament & bad habits of throwing his 100 pound body weight at the first person walking in front of him. The next morning after making several phone calls, Luke & Jordan took him to the Animal Shelter in Lansing. Danny posted signs all around the road.
The next morning someone called us who owns one of the houses, but only goes there a couple of times a week. It was their dog. I guess it was a happy ending, although we all wondered at the owners care of the dog when no one had come looking for it the previous day or night, & why would ever leave a dog & not show back up to the house for a couple of days? At least he wasn’t dumped out here like so many dogs & cats are in the country. We’ve owned & loved a few of those in our lifetime.