Biannual Miller Christmas Party

 

Every other year, the Miller relatives host a Christmas gathering for the Clarence & Eva Miller children and their families.  This year was my parents’ turn to host.  The group has grown so large, that we decided to hold the gathering at the church hall.  The gathering is usually held after Christmas Eve Mass, but this year Mass was at 9:30pm so the gathering was turned into a morning brunch. 

My mom is a party planner extraordinaire, so the food and beverage spread was amazing. Entertainment included a nativity play by the Golden Acre grandkids and a closing song with all the children present.  The morning concluded with a visit from St. Nicholas, who brought small gifts for all the children.

The sheep were all bribed with vanilla marshmallows to keep their hats and ‘socks’ on for the show.  I’m not sure how many marshmallows were consumed by the 2yo’s.

Dash the narrator.

Graham as St. Joseph and Miss M as Mary.

Zeke as the innkeeper informed the couple that ‘there is no room in the inn.”

“I love you baby Jesus”

Louis was a sheep and I’m pretty sure he had the loudest “Baaaa”, which ensured rounds of giggles and laughter from the audience.

Angelina was an angel.

 

The Miller Golden Acre grandkids – two shots to see everyone because sitting still wasn’t a priority!

Magical Entertainment

The Awesome Magician and his lovely assistant made another appearance, this time for the Lahlum extended family.  Here’s a picture summary…

Slight mishap at the beginning.  Alex comes out under cover of darkness, and this time he accidentally got too close to the stone fireplace.  The nasty scrape on his cheek will forever be in most of our 2011 Christmas pictures.  However, after applying some liquid band aid, he determined that the show could continue.

What the kids did…

while we were away.  Tree is decorataed!  Gingerbread house is completed … and has been sampled!  Fun with optical illusions and cameras.

This old cell phone is one of Louis’ favorite toys.  Doesn’t matter that it doesn’t work… it’s his.

A Birthday Get-away

… to the cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) with Eric … and no kids.  My mom arrived on Wednesday night to stay with the kids.  Actually, she met us in Valley City to attend a debate featuring the five GOP candidates for North Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Eric and I have a special interest in this race as a good friend, Shane Goettle, is running.  More on that topic later…

My mother is wonderful!  While I’ve scaled back coursework for the kids, she’s not afraid to tackle teaching. 

We left mid-morning on Thursday, the day of my birthday – December 15.  We stopped at The Wilkin in Breckenridge for lunch, then headed out again with plans to stop at the outlet malls before checking in at the hotel.  My brother, Pat, and his wife, Anna picked us up shortly after 6pm for supper at The Bachelor Farmer Restaurant.   Excellent food and we had such a great time visiting.  

Pat and Anna, above, and Eric and I, below.

We started out with and appetizer and a toast.  The appetizer was Seared Sea Scallops on a bed of potato pancakes with saffron mayonnaise.  The toast was Beef tartare with traditional accompaniments (toasted bread triangles).  I suggested we try the tartare and it was very good. 

Anna and I chose the same entrée:  Duck leg and breast, wild rice, walnuts, and cranberries.  Delicious!!  Eric chose the Meatballs, lingonberries, mashed potatoes, and pickled cucumber. 

My brother, Pat, ordered the House-cured pork loin and belly, braised cabbage, and Thursday Night Pea Soup.

The desserts came and we dug in, then I remembered pics!  So, the first is my dessert – Flourless chocolate cake, salted caramel semifreddo and lingonberry pate de fruit. 

Eric chose the Oatmeal shortcake with spiced fruit compote and sweet crème fraiche.  Pat and Anna shared the Pear Tarte Tatin with whipped crème fraiche and pear caramel.  I didn’t get a picture because it was so good it didn’t last long!  Below is a pic of the kitchen which wasn’t far from our table.

After supper, we stopped the Marvel Bar for an after dinner drink.  This bar takes ‘normal’ drinks and makes them unique.  My fall back drink is the Tom Collins and so I tried the Tomas Collins, which was a mixture of pickle brine, lime, AALBORG, and seltzer.  I liked it and would drink it again if Eric could figure out how to make it!!

Thanks for a great evening Pat & Anna!

Friday, we ate breakfast at the hotel, then headed out for a stop at Trader Joe’s.  I’ve always wanted to shop at this store, and am glad we had the opportunity.  Then it was on to the Mall of America.  We shopped at the American Girl and Lego stores before stopping at Bubba Gump’s – YUM!! - for lunch.   Afterwards there was time for Barnes & Noble and a few odd stores to fill in Christmas gifts.  My hubby was the best… he carried bags and even made a trip out to the vehicle to drop a few off so we wouldn’t have to carry them.

That evening, we ate at Sea Change and attended ‘The Christmas Carol’ at the Guthrie Theater.  It has been a special wish to see that particular show ever since my parents brought back a t-shirt for me after their visit to see the same musical (I pretty sure I was under 10yo).  If I could have found a similar t-shirt for my daughter I would have bought it!

Our weekend get-away will ended with a BISON game and HUGE WIN in Fargo on Saturday.  I hadn’t been to a playoff game, yet, and the atmosphere at this game was totally awesome.  Very loud and great school spirit.  My hubby may go to Frisco, TX, but it depends on if he can acquire a ticket!

Homeschooling notes

Dash has not been happy with his science this year.  He drags his feet on writing the science essays and would like more experiment based work.  So, I’ve been slowly compiling information on different ‘programs’. 

Update:  After a couple very serious, long, and sometimes loud discussions, he’s been putting a little more effort into writing.  I’ll still be looking at options.

Zeke wants to learn French!  I’d be up for that, but he needs to improve his handwriting and reading skill first.  Regardless, I’ve been looking into French language programs.

Graham is bored by doing every single task in ‘Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons,’  so we’ve adapted it to suite him.  Quite honestly, he’ll be switching to ‘Sound Beginnings’ sooner than later next semester.

As for Angelina, she seldom complains.  Latin isn’t her favorite subject, but she understands why her dad and I believe it an important subject for her to study.

JOY! We are done with classes for this semester/year/period.  Still need to correct today’s assignments, but the kids have moved on to fun activities and not looked back.  It’s a good day.