Whirlwind Christmas celebrations
We didn't know if we'd be able to get to any Christmas celebrations with all the snow, but we actually did fit them all in - just slightly delayed and all crammed into a shorter period of time.
Jeff's brother's family didn't make it to Omaha because of the horrible weather and closed roads. His sister's family left early enough to get snowed in here for the weekend, but we still didn't know if we'd be able to get to his parent's house so we could all be together. We all decided to play it by ear. Due to a phone problem......which I still haven't heard the story explaining what happened.....no one could get a hold of them on their land line and cell phone reception is quite tricky there too. So we didn't have any idea what was going on...........then Saturday night the doorbell rings and there stands the rest of the family caroling to us. Shaphen's trusty pick-up got them into town for a while and they stopped by with our Christmas presents. So we had an impromptu Christmas! We ordered pizza and I rode with Shaphen & Teresa to pick it up and stop at the store for eggs, milk, & bread. Then we watched part of "Ratatouille" until the kid's bedtime. It was nice to have some new faces to look at and after 5 days cooped up in the house it was wonderful to get out of the house even if it was less than a mile down the road!
A magnetic refrigerator to put on the real fridge with alphabet food magnets!
Lovin' the food, if only cause it makes noise on the table!
Kaylin & Avy open their present from us - an indoor/outdoor bean bag toss game.
Whoo-Hoo! It's the cool new wrench with 16 sockets in one!
"Grandpa, I'm not amused."
Well, we originally planned to leave for SD Saturday morning, but the interstates were all still closed until that evening and we weren't the only ones who had trouble traveling, but we were able to leave Sunday morning. We went straight to Grandpa Melvin's house & ate the most humongous crab legs you've ever seen in your life - they were honestly about an inch and a half in diameter. Crab legs with the Schmeichels have been a longtime tradition, but last year was the first time we got these extra jumbo size ones, I don't even know what they're called and I'm sorry to say I don't have a picture to prove how big they are - I know Jeff has a picture on his cell phone from last year, maybe I can get that on here sometime.
Which Mindy then stole.....
And then Tom....
I got yummy cheese logs in Ranch, cheddar, and Gouda!
My brother in law, Evan, got a Snuggie DELUXE!
Jeff grabbed a suspicous looking brown box labled "spouts" from previous usage. Don't jugde a present by it's wrapping (or lack thereof) - he kept pulling out goody after goody from his favorite oatmeal cream pies to Gatorade and double-dipped chocolate covered peanuts!
Jacob: "Ok, so I look like a girl, but Susan gave me her phone, so I'm just going to go with it." Wait, I think that's Mindy's phone...........uh, oh.
Another Schmeichel family tradition - poppyseed goodie! I look forward to this every Christmas!
And now, so will Jacob - he loved it!
Cousins
Susan, Ethan, Paula & her husband Tom
Me & Jeff, Mindy (Evan was already out the door with Denver to take him to the farm for a nap before the next celebration)
We should have gotten my mom in here for a 4 generation picture. Gramps always makes Jacob laugh - he's always been such a tease.
Then we had Christmas at my Mom & Dad's. We were all stuffed from lunch, so we just had a few appetizer things for supper. It was a little more chaotic this Christmas with 3 little children, but so fun too.
Auntie Mindy helps Jacob unwrap his Elmo slippers from Grandma & Papa that all 3 of the kids received.
We went in with Mindy & Evan to get Mom & Dad a GPS this year.
Evan excited about his tools.
Jeff gave Mindy a very short wishlist of things he'd seen in the Black Friday ads and somehow forgot all about them by the time Christmas rolled around. He was very surprised & excited to receive the new jacket and "The Black Knight" Batman movie.
Jacob helps Denver open his present from my parents.....something to hopefully help dispose of all that energy.....
A giraffe stationary bike that has games or something on it!
The Bearinsteen Bears go to Sunday School! Oh how I loved those books when I was little!
Monday Jeff had already taken off of work, so it worked great to stay for one more day and one more celebration. Originally scheduled for Saturday night supper, we nixed the meal in favor of just afternoon Christmas goodies and snacks. We gathered at the Salem Home where my Grandma Waltner lives. It's a great place for us, especially now that all us kids are grown up, getting married & having children. We have plenty of room to spread out. We also do a White Elephant gift exchange with the Waltner side of the family.
Denver helps Papa open his gift.
And Jeff goes in for the first steal - a Pampered Chef Grill Basket! Too bad he didn't get to keep it.
Jacob started opening this present, so I thought I should choose it when it was my turn. It was an electric skillet, but it got stolen. I ended up with a good gift though - a waffle maker and coffee grinder! These gifts are supposed to be $10 - my Aunt Carolyn is an amazing bargain shopper!
"I'll help you, Nathan!"
Grandma, can I have your cookie?
Everyone wants to check out the Duct Tape wallet, but no one wants to take it home. :)
An adorable picture of my cousin Angie with Jacob!
Great-Grandma Waltner & Jacob
Mindy & Makenna
The girl cousins - Kim, Angie, Mindy, Shannon
Cousin Drew has become good buddies with Jacob!
We had a wonderful, if not quick Christmas. We hope you were blessed by family and friends and were able to take the time to focus on our Wonderful Savior's humble entrance to our world. Merry Christmas!
Jeff's brother's family didn't make it to Omaha because of the horrible weather and closed roads. His sister's family left early enough to get snowed in here for the weekend, but we still didn't know if we'd be able to get to his parent's house so we could all be together. We all decided to play it by ear. Due to a phone problem......which I still haven't heard the story explaining what happened.....no one could get a hold of them on their land line and cell phone reception is quite tricky there too. So we didn't have any idea what was going on...........then Saturday night the doorbell rings and there stands the rest of the family caroling to us. Shaphen's trusty pick-up got them into town for a while and they stopped by with our Christmas presents. So we had an impromptu Christmas! We ordered pizza and I rode with Shaphen & Teresa to pick it up and stop at the store for eggs, milk, & bread. Then we watched part of "Ratatouille" until the kid's bedtime. It was nice to have some new faces to look at and after 5 days cooped up in the house it was wonderful to get out of the house even if it was less than a mile down the road!
Jacob opens his present from the Smiths.
A magnetic refrigerator to put on the real fridge with alphabet food magnets!
Lovin' the food, if only cause it makes noise on the table!
Kaylin & Avy open their present from us - an indoor/outdoor bean bag toss game.
Whoo-Hoo! It's the cool new wrench with 16 sockets in one!
"Grandpa, I'm not amused."
Well, we originally planned to leave for SD Saturday morning, but the interstates were all still closed until that evening and we weren't the only ones who had trouble traveling, but we were able to leave Sunday morning. We went straight to Grandpa Melvin's house & ate the most humongous crab legs you've ever seen in your life - they were honestly about an inch and a half in diameter. Crab legs with the Schmeichels have been a longtime tradition, but last year was the first time we got these extra jumbo size ones, I don't even know what they're called and I'm sorry to say I don't have a picture to prove how big they are - I know Jeff has a picture on his cell phone from last year, maybe I can get that on here sometime.
After lunch we started our 2nd annual white elephant gift exchange. Susan was the first to open the coveted worklamp.
Which Mindy then stole.....
And then Tom....
I got yummy cheese logs in Ranch, cheddar, and Gouda!
My brother in law, Evan, got a Snuggie DELUXE!
Jeff grabbed a suspicous looking brown box labled "spouts" from previous usage. Don't jugde a present by it's wrapping (or lack thereof) - he kept pulling out goody after goody from his favorite oatmeal cream pies to Gatorade and double-dipped chocolate covered peanuts!
Jacob: "Ok, so I look like a girl, but Susan gave me her phone, so I'm just going to go with it." Wait, I think that's Mindy's phone...........uh, oh.
Another Schmeichel family tradition - poppyseed goodie! I look forward to this every Christmas!
And now, so will Jacob - he loved it!
Cousins
Susan, Ethan, Paula & her husband Tom
Me & Jeff, Mindy (Evan was already out the door with Denver to take him to the farm for a nap before the next celebration)
We should have gotten my mom in here for a 4 generation picture. Gramps always makes Jacob laugh - he's always been such a tease.
Then we had Christmas at my Mom & Dad's. We were all stuffed from lunch, so we just had a few appetizer things for supper. It was a little more chaotic this Christmas with 3 little children, but so fun too.
Denver was VERY excited about the Bristle Blocks we got him.....but I don't think he even knew what it was until we took them out of the package and showed him how they fit together. Funny boy, he's such a happy and energetic kid, I just love him!
Auntie Mindy helps Jacob unwrap his Elmo slippers from Grandma & Papa that all 3 of the kids received.
We went in with Mindy & Evan to get Mom & Dad a GPS this year.
Evan excited about his tools.
Jeff gave Mindy a very short wishlist of things he'd seen in the Black Friday ads and somehow forgot all about them by the time Christmas rolled around. He was very surprised & excited to receive the new jacket and "The Black Knight" Batman movie.
Jacob helps Denver open his present from my parents.....something to hopefully help dispose of all that energy.....
A giraffe stationary bike that has games or something on it!
The Bearinsteen Bears go to Sunday School! Oh how I loved those books when I was little!
Monday Jeff had already taken off of work, so it worked great to stay for one more day and one more celebration. Originally scheduled for Saturday night supper, we nixed the meal in favor of just afternoon Christmas goodies and snacks. We gathered at the Salem Home where my Grandma Waltner lives. It's a great place for us, especially now that all us kids are grown up, getting married & having children. We have plenty of room to spread out. We also do a White Elephant gift exchange with the Waltner side of the family.
Shannon's boyfriend, Josh drew number 1 and started us out with a Duct Tape wallet, personally picked out by Angie's boyfriend Nathan. :)
Denver helps Papa open his gift.
And Jeff goes in for the first steal - a Pampered Chef Grill Basket! Too bad he didn't get to keep it.
Jacob started opening this present, so I thought I should choose it when it was my turn. It was an electric skillet, but it got stolen. I ended up with a good gift though - a waffle maker and coffee grinder! These gifts are supposed to be $10 - my Aunt Carolyn is an amazing bargain shopper!
"I'll help you, Nathan!"
Grandma, can I have your cookie?
Everyone wants to check out the Duct Tape wallet, but no one wants to take it home. :)
An adorable picture of my cousin Angie with Jacob!
Great-Grandma Waltner & Jacob
Mindy & Makenna
The girl cousins - Kim, Angie, Mindy, Shannon
Cousin Drew has become good buddies with Jacob!
We had a wonderful, if not quick Christmas. We hope you were blessed by family and friends and were able to take the time to focus on our Wonderful Savior's humble entrance to our world. Merry Christmas!
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