Big Rustand Family Christmas

We were planning to leave for Minnesota on Thursday around dinnertime, but due to some weather, we left Friday morning at 4AM instead. We drove a bit of a different route going straight east from Colorado Springs into Kansas a bit before going northeast up toward Nebraska. One of the funny things that happened on the drive is that we were traveling at the same time as Nathan and Amanda so we were texting and bemoaning the driving while on the road together. Amanda had texted me the day before and said in a semi-joking matter, 'Let's meet for lunch in Omaha'! It was so funny, but then once we actually thought about it, we WERE going to be on the same trajectory and could actually (at least, possibly) make that work! So we texted back and forth; when they were in Omaha, we were just leaving Lincoln. When the Davises were in Sioux City, we were an hour south. Finally, when Nate called and said they were in Brookings, we were just 30 minutes away, so they ate dinner and got gas (stalling but not stalling at the same time) and we met them at McDonald's! It was so much fun!! The kids chatted while we adults chatted and it was a lovely 30 minutes spent with our friends who happen to be related to us!! We love the Davis family!

As for the rest of the traveling, both Matt and I were pleasantly surprised at how well the kids did traveling during the day like that. They watched a lot of movies, that's for sure! When we left at 4AM, we woke the kids up and they checked to see if Santa came during the night (he did!) and then brought their presents with them in the car. The big three eventually fell back asleep but Hattie never did! In fact, she didn't fall asleep until around 1:30ish when I instituted mandatory quite time in the van for 2 hours. No screens, no tablet, just books, dolls, and a time to nap if you choose. It was wonderful. Hattie took a 90-minute nap during that time which was much needed. We made it to Fergus that night around 10:15 and everyone was still awake when we arrived. I was hoping they would all be awake so that worked out well! Country Grandma was still up and greeted us at the door. Another Minnesota Christmas!

We spent the first night at Mark and Jean's house and then the next two nights at Angie and JP's. We had never stayed there before so it was a fun new experience! On Saturday, we spent the morning at Mark and Jean's, and then I spent a few hours at my parents alone on Saturday afternoon. We all ate dinner together before greeting Goulds when they arrived just after dinner. Then we loaded up and drove over to Angie's to sleep. Matt, Angie, and JP had a really nice time visiting while Hannah, Grace, and I played a game of Life after Joe went to bed. The next morning, Christmas Eve, we took our time getting ready for the day and then went over to Country Grandma's around 10:30. And now the story continues...

12-24

We celebrated Rustand family Christmas on Christmas Eve. We did all the usual things; lots of together time, a ton of excellent food, dozens of Christmas cookies, the traditional Christmas program with lots of singing and performances, opening gifts, and more together time. One things we DIDN'T do was take a group picture! :( We took this family picture in the morning before the day got away from us and I'm wishing I would have thought of the group pictures a little bit later in the day. 

Grace orchestrated several games for the kids during the afternoon. She had a very detailed plan and spent probably two hours walking the participants through both group and individual games. They ended with a scavenger hunt throughout Grandma's house. I think it was fun for everyone!

And now commences the Christmas program! This is the closest thing to a group shot that was taken. :( All the kids singing a Christmas carol was pretty cute.

Hattie kept trying to have her own portion of the show. Adorable. 

Charlie played Jingle Bells on the Polejewski's keyboard. 

New this year, Jean arranged for a Santa to come for a visit. Each child (that wanted to) got a chance to sit on Santa's lap. Santa passed out gifts to each child as well as an ornament with their names on them. We adults bought, wrapped, and brought a gift for each of our kids and put them in a black bag that he picked up right before he came into the house. 

Now on to gift opening! 

Charlie's gift-opening face is HILARIOUS. He's pretty BTW about the whole thing!! 

Hattie was so obsessed with Lucy while we were in Fergus. She wanted Lucy to be inside nearly always so Hattie could pet her! She is a really nice and surprisingly calm lab, thanks to her owner who has trained her well.