Christmas cousin fun

Paula, Chad, Kate, Claire, and Charlee where here for two weeks at Christmas and we spent the entire time with them at mom and dad's house.  It was an awesome, long vacation together.  Here are a bunch of photos that capture just some of the fun we had together over the holiday.  Here are Opa and Cora in one of my favorite pictures.

Owen got a new camera from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas and he took lots and lots of pictures.

Nana has been charming the cows and calves.  Here she is getting a big kiss.

Sweet Cora in Charlee's hat and a necklace. Every chance she got, Cora picked up her coat, hat, and mittens and tried to go outside to play by climbing down the stairs. We lost Cora a few times on this holiday. She is still very quiet most of the time and she is sneaky! We found her upstairs playing alone, downstairs by the shoes, and down the back stairs in the yard. She carried her jacket around the house as if it were her blankie. Cora is very into shoes and hats.  She knows how to accessorize!

For Christmas last year, Nana gave Opa a puzzle made from a picture she took of the Staples Dam.  It turned out to be a VERY DIFFICULT puzzle to assemble because all the pieces were the same size, they would fit in incorrect positions, the pieces with tree leaves looked like all of the other tree pieces and the water pieces looked like all of the other water pieces.  Over the last year, Opa had finished about 75% of the puzzle when it was tragically disassembled by some small children who shall remain nameless.  Opa and Tom spent hours each night sitting in front of the TV watching football and working on the puzzle (and their cocktails).  They were a really funny pair and by the end of the holiday, they finished the puzzle!

A typical meal for the kids, all lined up at the bar.  This was a special "food on a stick" meal.

Tom, Tracy, Paula, and Chad.  It was so great to have two weeks together.  I wish we were together like this more often.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!