YES Day

 A few years ago we stumbled upon the book "Yes Day!" at the library. The premise of the book is that for one day, the answer is "Yes". So for Christmas this year, both boys got a "Yes" day. Garrett couldn't wait to cash his in! Can I skip school today...Yes. Donuts for breakfast...Yes!... Then onto ...Get Air, the trampoline park!

We jumped for a good hour straight!

Had a ton of fun...and got staticky hair!

B got dropped off at Nana's and it was onto the arcade for some gaming!

They tried the virtual roller coaster!

Feels like the real thing!!!!!

and then snowboarding

and driving a race car!

Don't forget about shooting dinosaurs in Jurassic Park!

Last stop was the coffee shop for some treats!

We did have to be back at school in time to pick up his older brother! G had a great YES day and it turned out to be pretty fun for us too!

SNOW!!!

 SNOW...we love the snow, especially playing in the snow. Whether its snowball fights, building forts, ice fishing or sledding, we are up for outdoor adventures!

Even the first light dusting of snow brought out the sleds, snow pants, sleds and smiles!

After some more snow falls, we had enough to sled down the backyards! We invited our friends, the Kopps, to join us for some sledding fun!

Eli bundled up and ready to fly down the hill!

Garrett gives a big smile before his EPIC ride!

Our little snow bunny!

After some runs in the backyard, we decided we needed a bigger hill, so it was off to Hyperion (golf course close by) to do some fast sledding! Trigg hitting one of the bumps on his way down!

The big hill!

They have big hills, if you look closely, you can see 2 specs down among the trees. That's Heather and Garrett after their ride down the hill!

Our sledding crew! Legs tired from climbing the hill but big smiles!

We had a great time flying down the snowy hills, eating snow and enjoying some hot chocolate! Snow days are some of the best days!

Christmas

We headed back to Pinkley's Red Roof Farms this year to pick out our Christmas tree. They are great there, lots of trees, animals in the barn and the barn is over 120 years old!!! These three helpers are ready to pick a tree!

We found a winner, time to wrap it up, throw it on the roof and head home!

The kids have an artificial tree in the basement that they put all their orniments on, our real tree is mom's "pretty" tree and the boys have specific instructions...DO NOT TOUCH. This year, B got to help mom with decorating!

She did a great job and was very careful with the ornaments and her placement on the tree!

We let the kids open 1 gift at the start of December...their Christmas PJ's!

I found her at the tree one morning just starring at it...she said, "Dad, isn't it just beautiful"

Christmas Jammies!

Kids being kids!

We have the tradition of making Christmas cookies to put in goodie bags to give as "thank you's" through the Christmas season. It's always fun to work together in the kitchen!

Christmas service at church

This year, we hosted Heather's family and had an "Ugly Christmas Sweater" game. Each family had a sheet of paper with a sweater on it, using supplies they had to design their best Ugly Christmas Sweater! Our family went with a snowman and red garland!

The South Dakota VL's got creative with their sweater...

Theirs was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and he ate too much Christmas goodies!

The Pella VL's made good use of green and red doilies!

Our annual family Christmas picture! Dressed up for Christmas Eve service at church.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning excitement...

What could be in these...

So excited!

Action figures were a big hit for this 5 year old! (side note, Aldi's had these in the "Aldi's Deals" row...crazy good price for these big action figures!)

We went with gifts of "experiences" this year...the boys got tickets to TodyMac Hits Deep tour!

We also gave them a "Yes" day, that is one day where they get to decide what they want to do and our answer will be "Yes"! Can I have pickles for breakfast..."Yes", can we go to Climb Iowa..."Yes"...

It was a great Christmas season, it goes too fast but it is fun to decorate, celebrate and get together with friends and family. Jesus is the reason for the season and we try not to forget that in the midst of our daily lives as a family! Merry Christmas!

Lefsa Rolling Team

Every Christmas season, we head down to my parents house to make lefsa! Lefsa is a traditional Norwegian potato bread. it is made using riced potatoes and making dough balls, rolling those out and than cooking on a 500 degree griddle!

Morgan using the grooved rolling pin to roll out some lefsa!

My dad manning the flip stick, a long tapered stick that you slide under the lefsa to flip and cook the other side! His turner was his mom's, that lefsa stick is probably close to 80 years old!

Garrett and I rolling out some dough!

Blythe, Wade and Morgan hanging out and enjoying the lefsa process!

Our Lefsa Rolling Team!

This year, my parents got my sister and I our own turners (lefsa stick). Pictured in the bottom middle of the grid below!

My sister had these shirts made for us this year, they turned out great! 

I can remember making lefsa at my grandma's house and now my kiddo's are learning how to make it too! What a fun tradition and a great memory to pass on!