Christmas Fun

Our camera finally went kaput, so most of our pictures are on my phone, which I have yet to figure out how to download... so pictures will come later.

We did, however, have a fantastic Christmas with my parents. The 10 days they were with us flew by. Starting with a quick day in Chicago, where we picked my parents up from their train trip. My Mom then took Elie, Kaya and I to lunch at the American Girl Place - an experience that is SO worth having!!! To see Elie's little face fill with delight when her doll, Kaya, was presented with a plate and cup was priceless. She also got to take Kaya to the salon and got her little hair styled exquisitely. The people were so incredible with Elie, from the doll hair stylist to our waiter and the shop helpers, all talking to her as if she were in charge and making her feel important.
My Dad took the guys to the Lego store and out for some Chicago style pizza, before meeting us back at the American Girl Place. Because of impending blizzard-like snow storms we chose to leave Chicago early and headed back home.
We made a quick trip to Shipshewana to eat at the Blue Gate restaurant and see the lights when the weather broke. After that we pretty much just holed up at home, creating and baking all sorts of treats. Elie got sick and my mom had to make a quick trip to the urgent care on Christmas Eve, but Christmas day everyone was pretty much back to normal and we basically spent the day playing with presents and eating in between making dinner and napping. For dinner we had ham, creamy poletna, potatoes fontina, corn pudding, Christmas salad, and stuffing - it was a feast!
While my parents were here we also took them to Frankenmuth on the Eastern side of Michigan. There we took them to see Bronners CHRISTmas Wonderland, which is a monstrous sized store full of everything Christmas. And then we ate at the Bavarian Inn - an incredibly yummy place to get Bavarian food (and shop)!

The 30th came way to quickly. We packed up my parents and headed back to Chicago to get them on the train for their 3 day journey back to Portland, Oregon. There were lots of tears on the car ride home to Grand Rapids.

Thanks for coming Mom and Dad! We miss you!!