Merry Christmas from the Barlow Family!
We had a very Merry Christmas with our families in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We spent 10 glorious days relaxing and making memories. We started our break in Minnesota for a couple of days, then headed up to Wisconsin for the middle portion, and then spent the last three days back in Minnesota. Thank you to everyone who helped make our holiday great once again! Here are A LOT of pictures to tell the tale:
We made lots of candy, cookies, and peanut brittle.
As you can see, it takes a lot of team work.
There were a couple of illnesses that passed through.
There was a stomach bug and a cold virus/pink eye.
Bergen mostly had the cold/pink eye thing, so she was quite cuddly.
I took advantage!
We had a nice adult-only dinner at Lake Elmo Inn.
Greg was missing Kaaren, who didn't fly in until Wednesday, so this guy took her place as his date!
Ingrid bought these cute, little sewing kits for the older kids.
They really enjoyed them, and it kept them busy for a few hours!
We made butternut squash ravioli (from scratch) and smoked salmon for dinner one night.
It was delicious...and again took some teamwork!
Jon stretched his creative muscles and came up with these!
It finally snowed and stuck on the day before Christmas Eve.
We all got our wish of a white Christmas!
It was the wet, sticky kind of snow.
The kids had a snowball fight, and made a snowman and snow angels.
Frosty.
Brooksie gave Frosty a "bottom."
Bergen and Kylie were twinning in their matching dresses.
My bestie from college, Erika, stopped by on her way to her parents' house!
It was so fun to see her and catch up.
We had the 2nd Annual Barlow Pizza Throwdown.
It's a pizza making challenge between the 3 Barlow brothers and their wives.
Jon and I came in 3rd with our replica of Ian's Mac N Cheese Pizza from Madison.
We accomplished our flavor goals, and I'm still questioning the judging because is was delicious! :)
There were live nativity animals at the church for our Christmas Eve service!
And now for an assortment of pictures in our Christmas best.
The Barlow cousins.
L to R: Bergen, Espen, Kylie, Elias, Brooks
The Barlow brothers.
L to R: Greg, Tony, Jon
Jon and I
Great Grandpa and Grandma Barlow with Brooks.
He got an individual picture because he refused to be in the group picture with the other cousins.
Typical.
Uncle Greg and (soon-to-be) Aunt Kaaren with the Barlow cousins.
They are all wearing their hats knitted by Kaaren.
L to R: Kylie, Greg, Bergen, Kaaren, Espen, Brooks, Elias.
Kylie proudly wearing her new pink and brown cowgirl boots.
She is in love with these boots and wears them everywhere!
Jon opening his gift from me.
A Mancation with 7 of his closest friends!
The Barlow men.
Jon and his brothers thought it would be fun to put on everything they opened if at all possible.
They are all wearing several layers of pants, shirts, socks, underwear, and a robe and hat.
I think they were hot.
Christmas morning.
Santa Claus knew where to find us!
Lots of stocking stuffers and ice skates!
At the King Farm, there were 7 extremely cute baby goats.
Brooks chased them around and eagerly picked them up.
Kylie wouldn't even go in the pen.
We had two more Christmases in Stewie.
Brooks loves opening gifts and has a difficult time waiting for his turn.
I love this picture of Kylie and Mia.
So happy!
The King brothers-in-law all received the ultimate gift!
L to R: Johnny, Jon, and Brady
Kylie's favorite: Barbie Pop-Up Camper.
Brooks in his new Bengals jersey!
The King cousins.
L to R: Emmit, Lydia, Brooks, and Kylie.
Emmit and Brooks in Angry Bird hats!
So cute!
We got to visit with some of our friends who are back in Rochester!
The Yuans! We've miss them.
We also saw some of Jon's high school and our college friends while we were in Hudson.
Of course, I forgot to take a picture with them!
It was a very Merry Christmas indeed!
