Christmas in South Dakota

We were lucky enough to be able to spend an entire week in South Dakota over Christmas.  Every day was spent with family and friends and being reminded of the joys of Christmas.  After a rough flight to Sioux Falls, the week kicked off with a lovely lunch with a handful of my girlfriends catching up, reminiscing, and making plans for our next gathering.  Christmas Eve was spent at my Uncle’s house on our family farm.  Brynn was so bummed when we pulled up and it was too dark and too cold for her to go in the barn to see all the animals.  But to her surprise right in the garage was a whole litter of little puppies for her to pet.  Christmas Day was spent with my Mom’s family with nearly all of us there to talk, laugh, and take a few snapshots with my Grandmother who is 85.

Xmas 2012

Eating Dinner

A couple of days later we celebrated Christmas with Cameron’s family where we got snowed in and the kids danced and played for hours.  Brynn is now at a fun age where she is remembering her cousins and can’t wait for the next time she gets to see them.  But unfortunately for her cousins, Brynn follows them around everywhere they go and always wants to be included – even if she is not big enough to join in on the fun.  Christmas at Cameron’s Grandma’s house is always one of my favorite traditions, as all of the families come together to catch up, play games and this year we even sang Christmas carols – what a great treat.  Then it was off to Grandpa’s house where the kids were able to run wild and chase the cats. 

Mac N "CHEESE"

Hours of fun!

Dance Party USA

Fun with family

I did it!

Our trip ended with a lazy day where we had realized that because Brynn had been too sick to go outside she never got to experience the snow.  So we brought the snow to her.  My mom brought bowls and bowls of snow inside and we helped Brynn build her very own snowman.  At first she hated the cold tingling feeling it brought to her hands, but she finally got the hang of it and still prefers to use a spoon.  I can’t wait till next year when we can put her in snowsuit and let her run wild or likely cry because she is too cold.

PJ party

Building Frosty

Our indoor version of frosty!

Overall, we had a great holiday in South Dakota where we were able to spend quality time with our loved ones.  And as always, I wish we could have had a few more days to see more friends and family.  I hope you all were as blessed as we were this holiday season and got to be surrounded by your loved ones as we were able to do.