With most of the packing done and Thanksgiving over, we are ready to move onto Christmas. I haven't done a stitch of Christmas shopping, so I've got a lot of work to do on that end. But Koda is ready to snuggle by the tree.
When David took a job with Whirlpool, that last place I thought I'd find myself was the Laundromat. But actually we are waiting for our new washer and dryer to be delivered and it's going on three weeks now. I really didn't look forward to having to take all our clothes to the Laundromat but I actually grew to love it. They have a giant machine that can wash six baskets of clothes at once. And then throw them into 2 separate dryers...everyone done in about an hour. It's incredible.
We didn't get to make ginger bread houses with Oma and Poppy this year. The kids were really missing the tradition. So they all put together this little dinky train. It wasn't quite the same, but they still had fun with it.
Some of our new friends, the Lundts, invited us over to decorate cookies. It was fun to get to know them, visit their farm and enjoy some treats.
And then my family arrived for Christmas! It was great to have them here for a week. It definitely made us more motivated to get everything unpacked. Oma was happy to have both her grandsons to snuggle with.
We took a trip up to Holland, Michigan to visit the Dutch shops. It was a surprisingly warm day and lovely to walk the town. I can't wait to go back in the Spring to see all the tulips!
We all had to try on some wooden clogs. I can't imagine having to wear those all the time.
Then a visit to Kilwins for the win with some chocolate treats! The giant turtles are my favorite to get.
Christmas morning before all the craziness started. I thought everyone would wake up super early, but it actually wasn't that bad this year.
We went bowling at Revel and Roll and Poppy and David were team captains. Poppy picked all the granddaughters to be on his team. And I'd like to point out that I beat everyone!
After bowling we headed to the arcade to play some games. This was the highlight for Lane and Dallin.
Another day we headed to the Air Zoo, which is an air and space museum. It was not super exciting for everyone, but it kept us entertained for the day.
I did love this quote on one of the walls talking about space exploration. It's true that our imagination can sometimes take us farther than our knowledge.
When I asked my family what they wanted to do when they came to visit, my dad said he just wants to relax and put a puzzle together. So, we did. This one took a couple of days.
After my family left, we decided to go snowboarding. I was skeptical because there are no mountains in Michigan... and when we got there, this was the "ski hill". But it was a great beginner place for the kids. They've been before, but it has been several years. Dallin didn't even remember going. We got them all an hour lesson with some instructors and then they were on their own. Some loved it more than others.
After snowboarding, we headed home to celebrate the new year. We went to some new friends home, the Fords, to play some games, but then came home for the big count down.
I think I say this every year, but boy was this a hard year. Globally, locally, as a family and personally it was hard. With selling our home, continued job searching, our "nomadic" summer, COVID, moving far from family and friends, new schools, new everything. It has been a year of growth and learning. Even though at times I doubted, I know the Lord's hand was in our lives. He blessed us in ways we didn't necessarily ask for, but we were always taken care of. we look forward to a new year in our new home. We want to explore all that Michigan has to offer!
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