In early December, Sarah and Becky came over for a homemade "Let's Dish" morning. We made several freezer meals (beef stroganoff, chicken and wild rice casserole, quiche, and butternut squash soup). It was a successful day - we each went home with about 8 meals and they were all pretty good. As Josh says, "I don't want to eat freezer meals every night, but it's nice to have them on hand."
Links:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_wild_rice_casserole.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-beef-stroganoff-i/
http://www.food.com/recipe/wolfgang-pucks-savory-squash-soup-105112
A few days later, Sarah, Brandon, and Sam welcomed home little Henry, and Pitzl's had Evie a couple days before Christmas. We are so excited for both of their families!!
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| Christmas decorations in the play area |
We're also excited to welcome our own Baby #2 in early March. We're due on March 6, Josh's 35th birthday. This time around, we don't know if it's a boy or a girl, but we hung an extra stocking in anticipation of our new arrival.
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| We were excited to hang an extra stocking in anticipation of our new arrival (due March 6, 2014) |
Josh and I took Jesper to "Llama Llama Holiday Drama" at Stages Theater on Dec. 20. It was his favorite holiday book last year and we thought he would really enjoy the play as well. We were right - it was a hit! Jesper was enthralled with the play and clapped enthusiastically after every song. He sat on Dad's lap because he wasn't heavy enough to hold down the auditorium-style chairs.
About 45 minutes into the hour-long program, Josh looked at me with a slightly panicked look on his face and said, "I think Jesper just had an accident." I quickly took Jesper to the bathroom and changed his clothes. When we came out of the bathroom, Josh was waiting for us. He pointed to his pants and said very seriously, "We have to leave." Josh was almost as wet as Jesper had been! I almost joined in the wet pants club because I was laughing so hard. So funny!!
We also started the "Elf on the Shelf" tradition. Jesper named him "Elfie". Here are a few of the places he visited us this year.
Paul and Gail came to visit over Christmas for about a week, and Kai and Ashley were able to come for a couple days. Brett and Diana were about 36 weeks pregnant with their little girl, so they joined in the celebration over Facetime.
I went to the Christmas Eve service with Paul and Gail, and we spent that evening at our house. The menu was soups (chicken tortilla and chicken wild rice) and appetizers. We opened gifts and visited together. It was a great evening!
The next day, we celebrated Christmas at Brian and Nissa's house. I worked on a puzzle nearly the entire day, but was really proud of myself for finishing it before we left. :) Later in the week we also went to Devin's hockey game in Richfield, and Paul and Gail went down to Windom to visit Per & Kim for a day. Overall, it was a very relaxed, low-key holiday.
We had a wonderful time with family and are looking forward to a year of new joys, challenges, and adventures.
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