Christmas in Iowa

Matt and I are on a rotating holiday schedule with our families for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We spend one of the two major holidays with one side of the our families and alternate based on the year. This year it was our year to spend Christmas in Iowa.

Our trip was filled with multiple Christmases, too much food, games, relaxing, family (and lots of it) and shopping. It was a short visit (Friday-Monday) jam packed with activities. We were both completely exhausted by the time we got back to Minnesota on Monday evening.

Friday night, we got to town and celebrated Christmas with my siblings (Robert, Jeni, Joe, Allie, and Hillary) as well as our nephew, Aiden. This is a tradition we started last year in which we go to Robert and Jeni's house, eat dinner (pot luck style) and then open presents and hang out. It is always a good chance to get together, catch up, and just relax before the holiday festivities. Matt and I got nice gifts from the gift exchange...Matt = drill bits, Heather = Cookie Baking Cookbook and Yankee vanilla scented candles...we were both in heaven.

Saturday was by far the busiest day of our trip. It included brunch with Robert, Jeni, Aiden, Hilllary and my parents. Lunch with Joe, Allie, Hillary and my parents. Church at St. Pat's. Gaffey Christmas at my parents house. Aiden opening his presents after all of that and then calling it an evening.

Sunday (Christmas) was one of my favorite days! It was very relaxed and filled with family time. We ate breakfast and then opened presents. Matt and I both got very nice things including a Craftsmen Professional Lunch box and drill bits for Matt and I got a "Walker Home, Est. 2011" sign made by my favorite designer, a snowman to add to my vintage Christmas collection and some jewelry. After gifts, we went to my Grandpa Bob's house to show him wedding photos and just hang out with him for a bit. Then we went home, had a variety of foods for lunch, played sequence, and just hung out. It was great! The evening ended with a steak and potatoes dinner followed by watching the movie "A dolphin tale" as a family. When I think of Sunday, it was exactly how Christmas was supposed to be...filled with special family moments, relaxing, full of food, games, fun and laughter.

Monday....another Christmas tradition for my family is Day After Christmas Shopping in Cedar Rapids. It was great. Joe, Allie, Hillary, my parents, Matt and I all made the trek and stocked up on a bunch of Christmas decor for next year. I am so excited for all of the new Christmas decor and entertaining pieces that I got both shopping the day after Christmas and as Christmas gifts. Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite things to do so this gives me something to look forward to.

Now we are back in Minnesota recovering from our trip to Iowa.

We asked Aiden to smile for a photo and this is what we got....silly Uncle Joe and Aiden.

All he wanted for Christmas was a box...



Our first Christmas together as husband and wife.



He is going to be a track star some day!

He loves his new chair.

Matt and Abby taking a nap!

Aiden and his mommy!

Christmas Eve

Robert and my mom

Me and my nephew Aiden...love him!

Jeni and I on Christmas Eve

Joe and his kids, Lucy and Jax

Allie and I on Chrsitmas Day!

The newly engaged couple

Married and enjoying a 4-wheeler ride.

Holiday Traditions

Matt and I have several holiday traditions that we do with his family that we really enjoy. I love family traditions. I find them to be very special and they really help make the holidays even more special! Sometimes things get lost in the hustle and bustle of the holidays so having holiday traditions helps keep the spirit of the holidays alive.

Here are some pictures from our favorite holiday traditions in 2011...

1) Put up Christmas lights....the goal is always to get them up before the snow flies. This year that meant they went up in the middle of November. However, they do not get turned on until the day after Thanksgiving.



2) Get Christmas Trees from Famers Seed in Faribault, MN on the day after Thanksgiving. I love a fresh, real Christmas Tree. We are lucky to have vaulted ceilings in our living room so we can have a large Christmas tree. This year we got an 8 foot tree!
 

3) Dinner in Downtown Minneapolis and the Holidazzle parade. We normally eat dinner at the Hard Rock but their Downtown MPLS location has been closed so this year we went to the 8th Street Grill. It was absolutely delicious and I would highly recommend it and hope we go there again next year. Another great addition to this tradition this year was Auntie Ann, Uncle Ed, and Rhea joined us. These are three of my favorites so it was a great addition to our tradition.

4) Rice Park lights....after the Holidazzle parade we drive over to St. Paul to check out the lights in Rice Park. We haven't always been able to find Rice Park (sometimes we are directionally impaired but we try.) There were two activities we added to this tradition this year that I hope continue to be apart of our annual tradition: ice skating in the outdoor rink in St. Paul and a horse drawn carriage ride.

5) Baking Christmas cookies and treats together.