Heading Home to a New Year

We left Grandma and Grandpa's house on Sunday afternoon but not before a visit from Santa. He was tired from all that Christmas work, but he found a few gifts he forgot to deliver to his favorite Schultz kids. At first Hattie was standoff'ish, but within minutes she warmed right up to him. She was singing him songs from Frozen and she sang him "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". She even had to give him a hug and kiss before he left. I hear from a little bird, that Hattie was the highlight of Santa's holiday season. He talked the the kids about Disney World, their new house and school and all sorts of things. He even asked Hattie to work on getting potty trained before next Christmas. Before Santa left he gave a very special gift to our sweet niece, Shelby. He had her acceptance letter to the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Business. She was thrilled, and we were thrilled for her. Now if only Santa could pay tuition.

After we said our good-byes and gave hugs we headed to Mondovi to see Grandma Fran. The girls love her so much, as do we, and I can only hope that someday they will have wonderful memories of their great-Grandmother. We were able to have breakfast with her and visit for a while before we hit the road to get back to Illinois. We promised to visit again in the Spring, but most likely it will be June for Shelby's High School Graduation. Cheers to 2014, all the good and overcoming the bad. May we all continue to be blessed in 2015.

Schultz Family Christmas

Well, it was another cracker jack Christmas for the Schultz family! We traveled safely up north. Spent the night at a hotel in Mason City, Iowa. Ate Casey's Pizza for Christmas dinner, all because Mitch had to work in Marshall Minnesota, on the 26th. Fortunately, Shelby drove to Marshall to meet me, we left Tootie's car with Mitch, and then Shelby and I took the kids back to Montevideo.

Friday was pretty low key...Spaghetti for dinner. All the kids played. Dave got home from work and wasn't feeling well. So he went straight to bed. Todd and Lori arrived around 9, so we had a chance to really catch up with them. Then we all played Cards Against Humanity. The next morning Dave was still really not feeling well. He has spent 3 of the last 4 Christmases dealing with somehing medical...and now he is 2 for 2 on visiting the local ER. He and Tootie, went to the ER around 11:30 on Saturday, while Christmas dinner was being served at noon. They got back home around 2:30, and the diagnosis was a bladder infection. So went opened presents and spent the rest of the day without Grandpa. Thankfully on Sunday he was feeling much better and got to join us, and see the kids for a bit before we headed out.

The kids got lots of wonderful gifts. Frozen night lights, new dance bags, Flashlight friends...they never want for anything with all of our wonderful family. The gift I was most excited about this Christmas was the gift for my nephew Justin. My wonderful brother in law, Jeff, who works for the  NBA helped me score two tickets to the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game the end of January. I'm really hoping that Mitch's work travels will allow him to join Justin for the game. They aren't just "tickets" they are  VIP tickets in the Treasure Island Club with complimentary food and beverage. Justin said he had been trying to get tickets to go see his idol, Lebron James, play but even the standing room only tickets were already up to $80 a piece. He was thrilled!

One of the highlights of the weekend was playing the games that Aunt Lisa brought. The kids really enjoyed them. You had to stuff a marshmallow into your mouth and read something on a card. Everytime adding another marshmallow, and everyone had to guess what was being said. It was a hoot. Bradyn, Leah and Kiersten really enjoyed it, and Justin and Mitch sure were good sports. Hattie thought it was hilarious, and subsequently probably ate a good 10 marshmallows. Oh well, it was the holidays!

Overall, it was a very nice time. Hopefully next year Grandpa can make it through the holiday healthy!

First Christmas on Southbrooke

Our first Christmas in our new home was a hit! Kiersten wrote the note to Santa to put with the cookies all on her own. I was a proud mama. The girls got so many wonderful things from their list. Santa must have thought they were REALLY good. They also got a few things from Mom and Dad too. It really did seem like a Frozen Christmas. There were Frozen costumes, Frozen pajamas. A Frozen Castle, a Frozen book, a Frozen Karaoke machine. I think I'm ready to "Let it Go", Lol. But the girls sure do love it all. It was a very low key morning. After gifts were wrapped, we cleaned up and started assembling. The girls got to play for a little while, before we had a delicious brunch with homemade biscuits and gravy and some fruit. Then we had to quickly finish packing. Mitch had to work in Minnesota the next day so we left town shortly after noon. We stopped for dinner at a Casey's and had Pizza and then made it to our hotel around 8. We checked in and hit the pool. The girls were pretty excited. Unfortunately with the hustle and bustle of the holiday we forgot to pack diapers and a winter coat for Hattie. Thank goodness for the swim diapers and two diapers I found in the van. Regardless, we stopped at Walmart first thing in the morning for a new coat, diapers and wipes. It may not have been ideal to be on the road but it was a Merry Christmas all the same!

Myerscough Family Christmas

Our Myerscough Family Christmas is always a good time. Probably because it's so small, but we always enjoy it so very much. Maybe because there is no rush. We got there around 1, and put Hattie down for a nap. The other kids played a bit. Mom had lots of appetizers out. We snacked and visited. Around 3 Hattie woke up, and by 4 we were opening presents. Our gift this year was supposed to be the Disney Vacation but mom just couldn't stick to the plan. Leah, Macy and Colby all got iPads, and some books, and a bag of clothes. Kiersten got her Isabelle, American Girl doll, Hattie got an Anna from Frozen Doll with a costume, they also got a book set and a bag of clothes. Gigi went overboard for the grown ups too. We are spoiled rotten by Gigi and Papa, that's for sure.

We had dinner around 6, ham, potatoes, vegetables and what not. For dessert there was rum cake, cookies, a variety of sweets and by 7:30 we were on the road headed for home. This year we tracked Santa on my phone...kids loved seeing where he was, and were anxious to get home and to bed, so he wouldn't pass us by.

Gingerbread 2014

When we moved to Decatur in 2011 I started this tradition with the girls. Now they look forward to it, and I'm not gonna lie...I do too! It s a little tricky, now that there are three girls that want to roll the dough, and three girls to fight over cookie cutters, but we still made it work. They loved decorating them. Well, at least Leah and Kiersten did. Hattie enjoyed the sampling, LOL. I love that we have something we can do together every holiday season. Someday maybe I will get brave and make my own gingerbread dough, for now I keep using the pre-bagged mix. Oh well, you do what you gotta do.