Despite kicking things off with a challenging road trip (due to Hudson, not the weather) we had a wonderful time in Minnesota over the Christmas holiday! One hour into the trip I was ready to turn the car around. Hudson, who is usually our all star traveler, was CRAZY crabby, and whinny, and just generally not happy about being strapped into a carseat in a moving vehicle. AND I forgot my cell phone. I know it would sound very normal and wise to be "unplugged" for 10 days, but the truth is I really like my cell phone!!! And road trips are the best time to chat with family, catch up on texts and messages, and google random stuff. Oh and they provide access to youtube videos of "garbage trucks picking up garbage" and "fire trucks responding" which would have bought us at least 15 minutes of silence from the backseat. Regardless of our rough start, we arrived safely to the warm and welcoming home of Colin's cousin Erik and his wife Kiki (THANKS for hosting us!!). We had a wonderful time with them and then were able to connect with Hudson's Great Grandma Sowles for a bit. It was a great morning in the cities and Hudson enjoyed played hide and seek with his Great Grandma...thank goodness he had worked out all his crankiness in the 13-hr car ride the day before :)
Then we headed up to Duluth where the party really began! There was caroling and ice skating and hikes and games and church and good friends and family and amazing food and lots and lots of love!
Hudson with his Great Grandpa.
We started a new Christmas Eve tradition, family caroling! A wide assortment of instruments were used, some more successfully than others...
The boys got matching pajamas and were allowed to open a few gifts early. Their distinct personalities were noticeable even opening gifts, N was easily excited and instantly loved every gift and the wrapping they came in, while Hudson took the whole event a little more seriously.
YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
This boy is nothing but smiles!
The amazing pillow pad from Linnea.
Hanging with "Gamie" excited about presents!
Grandparent love!
Great Grandpa was able to spend a lot of time with us and was in good spirits as he marked his 90th Christmas...these guys are so blessed to be in his arms!
After 7 days in MN it was time to head home, 16-hrs of flat-land driving. While we're always trying to do as much as we can while we're home, this time we think we nearly succeeded...we came home fairly exhausted and fighting colds, but very happy. While we did miss spending time with many of the cousins, we hope to catch up the next time we're headed home. What a Christmas!
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