Chrishmosh

I headed back to MN this holiday season for 10 action-packed days of fun.

So. Many. Presents.
We had to take home an extra suitcase! But it was well worth it. Thanks, everyone!

Cal got lots of awesome Star Wars stuff and these cool spy gear goggles (from yours truly).

And Sada got some crafting items that even made me jealous!

On Christmas day, Mom and I braved the Midwestern tundra for a visit to the Kennedys' in Mason City, IA.

We celebrated in good company.

The next morning, Mom and I picked Tak up at the airport and headed down to Mickey's Diner for lunch with Herta!

It was a very Minnesota experience.

We rounded out the day with dinner at Olive's with Jerry, who introduced us to the blue martini.

We toured Mankato with Mom and enjoyed some jumbo margaritas (and El Burro Chocho, of course) at Mazatlan.

dinner photo shoot!

We stopped off in Blue Earth to visit the Jolly Green Giant, on our way to ...

Iowa! It was Tak's first-ever time in the Hawkeye State.

He was pumped.

We were welcomed in Algona's new welcome center, and met up with Aunt Sandy for a tour of the town.

And we fit in our annual pilgrimage to West Bend's Grotto of the Redemption.

Brother loves the Grotto the most.

But Tak liked it a lot, too.

Allie posed for this artsy shot in the Grotto museum.

Randy & Sandy

Back in Mankato, we met up with MacKenzie, Alena and Nancy for lunch.

Finally, we squeezed in some post-Christmas cheese straw making.

Yum, yum, yum.
Fine holiday fun.

Olives!

I got this lovely olive tree for my birthday (thanks, Maria & Laura!), and we noticed the olives have started dropping.

So we picked them.

Brine time!

We sliced the olives so they could really soak it up.

Check back in 6 weeks for the final product.

Holidazzle

On Friday, Tak and I kicked off our holiday weekend with the SF Ballet's Nutcracker. It was fantastic! Plus, BOGO champagne!

It was at the opera house. Fance.

Even more deluxe, we got this little table (plus food & champagne) during intermission.

Christmas-y City Hall

On Saturday, we went ice skating with some Mac folks at Union Square.

He's a natural.

It looks like tons of fun, I know, but it was actually rainy, crowded, and not maximum-fun.

We also decorated our tree (a while ago).

Merry Christmas!

AZ

Tak and I "ventured out" to visit Grandma B in Mesa this weekend. She took us on a tour of the park and we spotted one of her pool championship plaques.

the Venture Out pool hall

The RV park was decked out for the holidays.

We had time for a little afternoon game of shuffleboard. The folks at VO were very serious about the maintenance rules. First you have to wax the board (above), then you play (below), then you sweep the lane with one kind of broom and the gutter with another and put the two piles of used wax into two separate bins. We were also accosted several times for not having name badges or being accompanied by a park resident. Sheesh, we just wanted to play some shuffleboard.

Tak eked out a victory in the final frame, but it was a heated match.

I'm pretty sure I won for style and technique.

Then we met up with Uncle Dan & Danny for dinner at Friday's Front Row (TGI Friday's at Chase Field, where the Diamondbacks play). If we'd stayed longer, we might have seen ZZ Top and Pink performing at the Go Daddy holiday party on the field. It looked pretty swanky.

After dinner, Tak and I met up with Lizzie at Hula's (a "modern tiki bar"). And guess who we saw? Dan Brady!

Not! I guess this was his twin.

Tiki-ing it up

We shared this huge, flaming bowl of tropical drank.

Day 2: Desert adventure

We drove to the outskirts of town to visit Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home/office/school.

It was pretty neato.

Then we had a farewell Italian dinner with Mom and Grandma. Adios Arizona!