2013 Christmas Travels

This post may be rather long because I just decided to document our Minnesota Christmas trip (after the Mall of America post) all at once.  It was a great trip and we were able to see most of the family and friends that we had hoped to see.  Unfortunately, not all are shown in the pictures below because I kept forgetting to take them!  But it was such a blessing to connect with everyone!

A stop at Culvers on our way from Wisconsin to Minnesota

Santa and his elf making an unexpected appearance at our friends' house

Excited about the present he had requested in a letter to Santa

The pressure to be a Viking fan starts young! ;-)

I'm cute #1

I'm cute #2

One of the best salads ever!  Certainly not low calorie though. :-)

Dad clearing away snow with the ASV

Just like this tree - the snow was coating all of the pine trees so beautifully!

Grilling steak and shrimp for Christmas Eve Eve supper

Wonderful Christmas Eve with cousins!

Merry Christmas from the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport!

Modern Family

Mark came upstairs to find me with my mom and dad all looking at our individual laptops/iPads. I suggested he take a picture. :)

We Found Santa in Minnesota

Mall of America

Mark and I had a great time yesterday (Friday) at the Mall of America with his sister and nephew.  They made the trip up from Iowa to spend most of the day with us and stay overnight at the Radisson Blu Hotel that is connected directly to the mall (got great rates using hotwire.com).

Wow - we had a great time!  We haven't seen each other for three years which is hard to believe.  We did a little shopping, had both a color, and a black and white, caricature portrait done, watched Mark's nephew go on numerous rides, ate some good food and even put together a puzzle.  Of course there was good conversation all mixed up in there.  We were so grateful to have the chance to spend some time with them and are already planning for Christmas next year. :-)

Radisson Blu Hotel

View through a cool window as we walked from the hotel into the  mall

Cool lights!

Interesting chairs - very comfy!!!  The fire burning was neat but gave off no heat.

Happy to see each other!

On the way down!

 

One of the many gorgeous Christmas trees in the mall

Putting together this 500 piece puzzles was sure a great idea!

Mark's nephew putting the last piece in place

The finished piece of art!

Breakfast smiles

What exactly does "being thrilled" mean?