Merry Christmas!

     Dan and I had a great Christmas together - Mass on Christmas Eve, followed by games and visiting with Dan's brother Mike, his sister Dawn and her family.  The next day we opened presents with the kids, watched "The Grinch" and had a delicious dinner - I can't stop thinking about those cheesy potatoes!

     On the way home, we visited Dan's mom's grave - Christmas was her favorite holiday, and she did it better than anyone I've ever known!  It wasn't the same without her, and it never will be, but it was comforting to remember her with some of Dan's family.  Dawn brought out the Christmas photo albums so Dan could tell me about his mom's favorite traditions.  We miss you Donna!

We have a reception site!

Our reception will be held at Frogtown Park in Cold Spring - about 20 minutes outside of St. Cloud.  It's a beautiful park with lots of trees, a pretty view of the river, and a small playground for the kids.  It also has a brand new shelter with a full kitchen so we can save money by doing the food ourselves!  Of course we'll have the traditional wedding dance - our ring bearer made it a requirement :) - but we'd also like to have lawn games like croquet and horse shoes - fun, huh?  It's exciting to have the site chosen and booked - another big item checked off the to do list!  We're looking forward to celebrating with you!

National Guard Family Christmas Party

Every year, at the December drill, Dan's National Guard unit hosts a Christmas party for the soldiers' families.  This picture is at final formation - Dan is second from the left, next to the guy in the burgundy shirt.  It was fun to get to know some of the other families and meet the head of our Family Readiness Group.  But the best part was playing Munchkin with Braaten and Jumi!