Christmas Trip to the Midwest

One of the things the girls looked forward to most (Abby remembered this from the last two winters) was sledding! Luckily, Minnesota got snow for us just in time and we were able to go a couple of times. Sophie had never been before and she loved it too. It was nice to have the time to do something as a family of four that we all enjoyed.

Here is Hero Daddy with his girls. He was a good sport and did a lot of carrying and pulling up the hill with his girls in tow. I wasn't as generous. Typical. :) Cute picture, though!

Here we stayed closer to our house for a quick little of the snow. Thanks to Chois for some snow gear for Abby and thanks to Noni and Papa for storing the snow gear that fit Sophie, Tim and me. We have winter jackets and fleece hats and mittens for the winter here in London, but that's it. Boots and waterproof winter gear isn't needed (except for the last week, if you have been watching international weather - we have experienced the worst winter weather in 30 years here).

Two days after we arrived in MN we had a birthday party scheduled for Sophie. It wouldn't be her actual birthday for another week, but I was afraid that it is too close to Christmas for us to have a big party on her day. I am more of a planner for these events than just one giant shopping trip to Target the day before, but this time we pulled it together quickly! Here Sophie was a bit overwhelmed by the group standing around her singing "Happy Birthday" or maybe she was nervous about getting both candles out on the first try.

Our friends and family have experienced a baby boom recently: Karla has a brand new baby girl, Aliza, Julia and 8 month old Colin and Pam with almost two year old Avery!

Daddy and the birthday girl in the living room at my parents' house. They were kind enough to provide the house for several get togethers during our time in MN.

You'd think since I write this blog I might be a bit more discerning with the pictures I choose of myself. Anyway, Sophie really enjoyed opening presents this year and got pretty good at it by the end of all the birthday and Christmas festivities. Abby and Liam are helping her out here.

We were so happy that the Sieberts were able to join us from Hudson. Last year many people weren't able to make it due to a snow storm - not this year! We always love seeing Molly, Derek, Aidan and Liam. Hopefully this year their drive was a bit shorter - just to Maplewood instead of Eagan. What cute boys!

Uncles Hyung and Tones (with Baby Aliza) hanging out by the food.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus paid a visit to the girls at Noni and Papa's house. They were fantastic and gave Abby and Sophie tasty candy canes and awesome golden reindeer antlers headbands that they wore through the rest of the holidays (including a doctor office visit). We took a picture of the Claus' with the girls, but it magically disappeared from the blog posting. Apparently the someone wanted the evidence to be minimal.

Due to the snow, we had to completely reschedule the Iowa part of the trip. Instead of traveling down to Ames late on Christmas Eve and continuing down to the Quad Cities on Christmas Day, we made the entire trip down on the 23rd. This long trip made us nervous both because of the age of the girls and the fact that Sophie gets carsick. We loaded her up with her medicine and off we went! By the way, my family couldn't have been more wonderful about us completely skipping Christmas with them. We felt like if we didn't leave when we did, we may not have gotten down to Iowa at all and my sister, Hyung and my parents were very understanding.

Sophie enjoyed playing with Mommy's winter hat as a form of entertainment for awhile.

Eventually both girls were talked into a nap and Tim and I got a little peace and quiet for awhile. However, it is important to point out that they were fantastic the whole trip. In fact, as we were nearing the exit for Davenport Tim and I both praise the girls for being so nice to each other during the 6 hour car ride (Abby had just shared her beloved Baby with Sophie) and Abby piped up, with matching hand motions: "It IS a Christmas miracle!" Yes, yes it was...

The not-getting-carsick-Sophie with her beloved Otter, aka "Ah-Ya". Her only complaint throughout the day was her left ear. She'd stick her teeny finger in her ear and say "A yittle bit hurt". I brought her to urgent care that evening and she had a nasty double ear infection. Poor little monkey. Thank goodness for travel insurance!

Jennifer, Julia and Tim plus their families all went to visit Grandpa Mike on Christmas Eve. We did a few things around the house for him and opened presents too.

There was a dogpile on Grandpa Mike's couch. Sophie decided it was a good idea to stick close to Uncle Ray through the entire visit. Abby, as usual, liked Ben's lap and Ben was happy to oblige.

Grandma Anne and her grandkids: Ben (11), Sophie (2), Colin (8 mos), Katherine (8) and Abby (4)

I brought a giant box of Christmas crackers in our luggage from England and forgot to do them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I finally remembered them on the 26 so we kept the Christmas spirit alive one more day! Auntie Jennifer and Abby thought they looked pretty cute in their crowns and so did I so I snapped a picture of the buddies.

When we returned back to MN after our time in IA/IL we were able to spend more time with Maya and Henry because they were still off school. It was cold and nasty out so the best idea was to hit the pool. Papa played dolphin and gave rides in the deeper water and I played with the kids in the shallow water.

The Chois and my parents were flexible enough to reschedule Christmas. The day before we left to go back to London Kristin and Hyung left work a bit early to come to my parent's for dinner and presents. It was a great time!

Maya and her favorite, umm... only, Auntie! Me and my favorite present from my cute niece!

Sophie was busy showing Papa her new dress from the Chois - although the little bloomers that came with it were being used for pure silliness. Oh my goodness!

Because of the snow the week before, we also had to reschedule our annual Christmas celebration with the Selbitschka family. They were kind enough to come over and have yummy Chipotle with us for our Christmas meal. Yum yum yum!

The Farrell and Selbitschka girls. Weren't Tones and Karla brave with little 3 month old Aliza? I think so!

Sophie with possibly her favorite think she received. A little baby care center with all sorts of little baby things like wipes, bottles, fake shampoo, etc. As you can see, she uses it for her otter nursery instead of a baby. We think this makes sense.

Auntie Sarah and gorgeous little Aliza. I love her hair.

Tony and Greta! Thanks for taking one of your precious days off to spend part of it with us and say good-bye. Thanks to everyone elso - all our fantastic family and friends who rearranged their schedule to spend time with us. We feel so loved. See you all soon!