Christmas

This was by far the coldest Christmas I can remember. We have  had blowing snow and wind chills down into negative 40 below zero! On Christmas Eve morning, the winter snow blizzard was finally calming down. It was still single digit cold with some light blowing snow. Interstate 35 had been closed for the past 24 hours and was newly re-opened, but travel still was not advised. Mark had to start his morning pushing snow. He began at our house, then the neighbor lady, cow barn, Aunt Betty's, and lastly his parents. We decided to leave the shop drive until after Christmas. Aunt Betty's had snow blocking the exhaust on the furnace, which lead to the furnace shutting off. Fortunately both of the girls were gone for the weekend. Mark spent much of the morning working on that. He had to drive separate and arrived in Williams at 6PM. The kids and I made it to Williams just after noon. Everyone was excited for a Wahlert Christmas Eve with Noah. Levi took to Noah right away and was even climbing on his back. Grandma had lots of games and activities planned from the time we walked in the door. She had timed events and silly games unwrapping gifts with oven mitts on. It was fun and lots of laughs. Noah was a good sport and played along. We had a light lunch and gifts. In the evening we all went to the Williams church for the candle light service. Levi was part of the Christmas program as a little shepherd. He was so cute as were all the kids. It was so much fun to see them all dressed in costume bringing  back many memories of those same costumes we wore as kids in the program. The  angel halos and wiremen's outfits, we spent many years dressing the parts. I even got to be Mary one year. We had more food and games back at the house until it was time to head home. It was a sweet time having our whole family together for Christmas. I hope and pray for many more.

12/25/22 Christmas morning we gathered in the living room for stockings and gifts. This year we all got a lot for each other and everyone got so many nice things to enjoy. I think we went a little over this year in the gift giving.  Some that stood out, Luke's American cowboy hat from Jayden, Jake's bull horn mount from Jayden. Noah's favorite gift, according to Jayden was the pillow I had made for them with engagement photos. With a little help from Jayden I got a neat new top and jeans from Mark. Mark got lots of clothing and tools. We then watched our church service on tv and then had brunch. 

At 5 we had Christmas at Karen and Orrie's. All the families were there with babies, except for the Payne family. The food was amazing with homemade noodles, mashed potatoes, sides, rolls, turkey, pies, cakes, cookies, and more. The gift opening is a big event when you have over 25 people. This year was a first with White elephant gifts. It was full of fun and laughs. Some people went all out and filled their box with all kinds of great things. Some were not so exciting, such as a box of metal hangers or a box of safety glasses. Then there were the funny and embarrassing ones. The hot item was a $50 bill. In the end Melinda took it from Luke, who ended up with a strange snow globe. It was new, fun, and saved everyone having to spend money and try to find the perfect gift for one another. Santa even paid a visit. The joke was on me because I didn't know who Santa was!!! It took me a minute to figure it out, how embarrassing.

12/26/22 The day after Christmas we had nothing planned. Noah spent most of his time in the basement playing the XBOX and in the evenings he and Luke would play until midnight, that's when their internet gets cut off. Today everyone was ready to get out of the house. The kids, Jayden, Jake, Luke, and Noah went to Ames to the rec center and did some working out. The boys lifted weights and Jayden made some laps and lifted some light dumbbells. They went to El Azteca for supper at Jayden's favorite restaurant.