Merry Christmas (belatedly) to you and yours! As usual I am behind on my reporting but I am making a real try to catch up… just you watch, November will spontaneously pop up one of these days! And then you will be in the know again!

Anyway… Christmas Day for the Reinsch-Johnson clan. It was a different one from our previous ones here in Minnesota. First off because we really did not have extended family beyond Nana and Baba here for the day or eve. In the previous years Christmas Eve was our time with Ken’s Uncle Moose, Aunt Colleen and their two kids. But this has been a rough year for Moose (Paul) and while he is on the mend they were really not able to come over for the traditional Ukrainian meal of potato soup and perogies. It was probably for the best as this December has been one of illness for the family. So many yucky colds! But thank goodness we were assured that he is better and home again.

Of course we DID enjoy our meal… and the company was wonderful as was.

That evening we did put out our cookies and milk for Santa. In our new pj’s.

Echo and Ken spread Reindeer Food out on the lawn since we went to bed without a speck of snow to be seen really.

Christmas Day was just the household and it was wonderful. We did not manage to Skype with Gammie as she was having issues on her end but we did text back and forth and take some pictures of the openings.

Amazingly enough with two countries and multiple states we did not have any duplicate gifts this year! Each and every one was well received and I can honestly say I have not seen the kids happier.

We had calls with both sets of grandparents… Alberta and South Carolina. As well as a lovely chat with My brother James and his wife Holly… well mostly Holly. Even a peek in on Cousin Jimmie.

Dinner was a delicious turkey and trimmings thanks to the hard work of Nana and Baba. But for the most part after the excitement of the great toy opening it was a nice, quiet and relaxed day.

Enjoy the overflow!!

December 22

Yes yes,  November will be rehashed but first… lets share some Christmas 2015 cheer! Our parties with friends and family have always meant the world to us and with the bulk of our friends (who are family) up north we were ALL excited about the opportunity to have a Christmas celebration with friends closer to home.

This was our first celebration of the year and our first PRESENTS of the year! But first, the making of the gingerbread houses. We went with a process Renee learned about through Nathan’s kindergarten class where you use a school milk carton (thank you Mrs. Speltz for saving those for us!) and graham crackers instead of the basic gingerbread pieces. Much better structure! Each of the kids had their own to decorate with a combination of bought sweets and Halloween candy. Talk about creativity!

And then, once the kids declared themselves done the adults took over and made one a piece.

Supper was delicious pulled pork and assorted nibbles. I think we ALL ate more than our fill.

Look at that masterful pour by Chris

And then… presents! I got to give out the first of my handcrafted pieces personally. All were well received. I am especially pleased with how the Pikachu turned out for Renee… Ken tried a new process to us called Felting. Lots of jabbing and loose wool and the possibilities… well things are going to be even more interesting craft wise around here! You can find the Pikachu pattern I used HERE. This deviantArt artist is AMAZING! 

NOMS

Pikachu!

All of the kids were really happy with their presents, although I think Trinity with her toy bow and arrows was the most pumped.

Of course we had to take a group picture! What a crowd!

I do have to show off my special gift. Renee knows me so well! LABELS for my crochet projects! I am dying to make an afghan or blanket and sew one on! Sadly I ran out of found yarn on a blanket I was making so have to remake it before I will have one done but they are so cute! And my favourite colour – BLUE!

There is something spectacular about a friends who are family Christmas isn’t there!

Of course Mystro pictures as well!

August 5-7

With the ending of our epic Wisconsin (almost cow free) road trip our visit with Karyn was also drawing to a close. It is always hard to say good bye to visitors doubly hard when it is a dear aunty. So on the 5th we snuck out, just Karyn, myself and MISS TRINITY for some girly shopping time. Just the normal stuff… Joann’s, the mall, Caribou…

I have to say Trinity is a fun shopper. She and Karyn picked out a special book for her to bring home and read. It was our last chance of true visiting time before we had to see her off and it was so much fun!

The next day it was time to see off Aunty Karyn as Ken drove her to the airport.We were all a little downhearted at this point.

Though the kids snuck off with Ken to the Home Depot monthly craft first. We have missed ONE in the past couple years!

We did have some fun mail to balance off our sad good bye. I had won a draw on Facebook for some nails. I need to find a moment to sit down and work out how to apply them! Thanks Heather!

We also had a lovely package of Canadian snacks for the shark slippers I had made and mailed off. I made sure to request a bag of ketchup chips for the kids. A once in a while special treat.

OH and another exchange… baby booties and socks for Canadian school supplies… favourite scribblers with the familiar map of Canada on the front and duotangs… folders with prongs. A family favourite. Thank you so much Tammie! I hope you enjoy the crochet bits.

On Sunday we had our first day of Sunday school for ALL of the kids! I was so proud of Echo. She went off willingly with her siblings to the music and then onto class. She is growing up so quickly! The twins have a good friend in their class and were very excited to see him for the first time since VBS.

In the afternoon we were off to Shandai and Ravyn’s for a special belated(VERY)Christmas celebration. They have such a nice home to visit at. Though we do have to keep a but of an eye on the kids. We had so much fun… playing in the backyard (which is gorgeous), watching a Disney flick in the basement and playing with the cats.

We had a delicious dinner and then opened presents. It was so gratifying to see how much Shandai liked her crocheted items. She is such an amazing artist that I love that I can make her something she would enjoy!

So we made up for our sad with a rather busy series of happy times. We miss you Karyn!!! Thank you so much for visiting.