we had a really good december – worked hard at trying to keep things fairly balanced between obligations and opportunities for quiet + reflection + fun.  here are some of my favorite highlights from this past month:

• light spectacular: josh was in charge of organizing our annual christmas lights tour – and what an amazing job he did.  He programmed in addresses to our GPS and as we rounded the first corner in the suburbs, he said to me “now, this might be a little different than you were expecting”.  Turns out he had found homes that had the light + music shows – just like I had seen on youtube.  I wish someone had had a picture of my face – it can be difficult to surprise me, but I was pretty speechless and just said “NO WAY” with my mouth hanging open as we watched  thousands of lights twinkling with the beats of the music coming through our radio. It was seriously awesome and will probably the go-to activity for Decembers in our future!
• stay-cation: we took the week in between Christmas and New Year’s off – and stayed home! It was fun to sleep in, take naps, have dinner with friends on a Tuesday night, see a morning movie, have a beer with lunch, etc.  I could really get used to us having lots of time off – but alas jobs and upcoming babies will probably delay such activities (all the more reason to do it now!)
• A snow-less holiday season: as much as i love some snow around Christmas – last year’s massive snow attack made me wishing for a precipitation free year this year – and we had one!  It was nice as we were travelling and rushing around finishing errands to not worry about the extra time and care necessary in navigating the Cities with ice + snow
• getting things out on time (mostly): it was kind of amazing that I actually got many of our christmas cards out on time (still have a few more to get into the mail this week!) and ended up getting cookie boxes ready, too!  I start with such high hopes and usually run out of time – but for some reason this year I even ended up being able to add homemade treats to stockings too!
• on display: we ended up in the front row for Christmas Eve service this year – all of us “kids” sitting next to the acolytes (who spent time during the service texting) and trying not to get into too much trouble.   we were at the church i grew up at as a little kid, which more or less is the exact same service every year – and while I was underwhelmed at the sermon (come on, you have a full sanctuary – inspire us, challenge us!), it was full of the same things I love: the smell of that church, my family sitting in those same chairs, and lighting those candles and trying to drip wax safely without getting caught.  It is, of course, still magical as we act a little bit like kids again and hear the story of Jesus’ birth.
• babies + trucks:Henry was really engaged with gifts this year – at only 11 months he was very much into touching all the presents and playing with his new toys.  We got him a fun little recycling truck and that kid was so interested in pushing that truck around the room that the rest of the family opened gifts and he was content.  Alison and Brian were excited to get all sorts of new things to entertain + teach Henry with (and we will save that drum set for another holiday!)

happy birthday dad – I’ll bet the fishing in heaven is amazing!  i miss you more than words can say…

as part of my preparations for Christmas this year, I’m spending time remembering those moments and things that I keep in the little box marked “christmas” in my brain.  sharing them here helps me keep them a little less dusty!  

Christmas Remembered #2

The Opheim side of the family has always incorporated a lot of games into family events, especially Christmas – board games, bingo, sledding races, ping pong tournaments, the olympics,  that Pong game years ago…When I think about it, its kind of a commercial for family time!  Not that we have always gotten along – there are inevitable disputes (water balloon toss anyone?!) or someones feelings get hurt, but ultimately things are kept in a healthy realm.  We’ve done these kinds of things since probably before I was born and we are still doing them to this day.  There are almost too many stories over the years, but some of my family game favorites are:

• The year we had the guys compete to see who could put on pantyhose over their clothes the fastest – they were blindfolded and wearing bulky winter gloves.  My dad won that competition and was a little embarrassed that he was so quick about it – but that’s what happens when your young daughters are dancers + you spend a lot of time helping with quick costume changes.
• We had a “nut roll” one year – which meant a person from your team had to get on the floor and push a walnut with your nose down the hallway to your partner in a relay.  Alison was so focused and intent on doing a good job that she threw her head down to start and cracked the walnut with her face.
• Our family was super into Family Feud and Grandma and Grandpa had a fun board game version of it.  We reset the kitchen layout and had our “families” lined up on chairs on each side of the room and had to send one of our members as runners to compete head to head.  We took it so seriously with lots of cheers + support from the rest of the team!
• and there are too many funny other christmas game memories to count: tossing frozen homemade waffles like frisbees outside; the lutefisk shake during the final round – where the guys all got real lutefisk and grandma’s was secretly a chocolate shake; the banana pie eating contest; the cold spoon relay + uncle mike’s change of clothes to keep our team competitive (zubaz’s anyone?)

any other of your favorite’s Opheim Family that should be mentioned?