Post New Year Update

Helping Grandma Kris with the Krumkake...

Ahhh...so that's how you do it with only ONE hand!

Can I try, Grandma?

Oooooh, delicious!

Grandpa Byron is trying to distract Haakon from the aroma of the cookies...

At the Jacksonville Zoo on New Year's Eve.

Audriana is building a box for her brother and Haakon voluntarily gets himself into that box.

Two little monkeys before bedtime!

New Year's Eve....Audriana saw Mommy's stilettos again and thought it would be fun to give it a whirl. Then she got camera shy.

But not for long.

Happy New Year to everyone! What a great holiday celebration we had in our home this year. We hosted Bjorn's family and what a whirlwind of activity it was for all. Bjorn's parents, brother, sister and grandma flew in on Christmas Eve. They arrived at the house just in time to say goodnight to the kids that evening. Once the kids were down, we were able to sit down for a wonderful meal prepared by our own chef extraordinaire, Bjorn! He made a chicken crock pot stew especially for his sister and chicken moglai, fragrant jasmine rice and steamed beans for the rest of us . I think everyone that evening would agree that the meal was absolutely delicious and left us wanting more!

After dinner, it was down to business--preparing for Santa's arrival, wrapping remaining gifts, and filling stockings. Uncle Erik was wrangled to put together the kids new Radio Flyer wagon from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson (Grandpa Anderson was taking a little "nap". We never knew that naps could last all night long and into the morning :) Grandma Anderson, over much of December, had been furiously shipping boxes of gifts from Amazon (among other online merchants) to our house. So, she was up until the wee hours of the morning opening these boxes and wrapping gifts for everyone. We sure did appreciate all the beautiful wrapping she did the next morning!

On Christmas morning, the kids were ECSTATIC (okay, so perhaps Haakon's excitement was primarily fueled by seeing his sister's excitement initially) to see that a beautiful red wagon had mysteriously appeared at their front door! They jumped into the wagon immediately (and if you blinked, you would have missed them jumping in) and were promptly taken for a wagon ride around the house. They LOVED it! Grandma and Grandpa Anderson did a fantastic job of picking the kids presents. I have to say, though, the box arrived at the house at the beginning of December. Toward the middle of December, the kids began to linger around the box a little bit more (which was tucked away in our formal dining room). Audriana had been lovingly eyeing the pictures of the box (children in a red wagon) and could be found occasionally running her fingers along the picture of the wagon. Little did she know what was in store for her and Haakon.

They also got clothes, books from, lots of toys and a pedal-less bike from Santa. Unfortunately, Santa should have been more thoughtful and given Audriana's Christmas present to Haakon instead. He loves that bike and will try to ride it out in the back yard, despite his small size (relatively speaking, of course!). The kids also got a much beloved kitchen set from Grandma and Grandpa Te. It has become a highly coveted item in our house since Christmas. The kids spend afternoons whipping up specialties for me....the chef's specality, you ask? Water and hot soup.

This year, Audriana got the wonderful opportunity to make the Norwegian Christmas cookie, Krumkake, with her Grandma Kris. Both Grandma and grandbaby had a fabulous time whipping up these special treats (to be consumed just as quickly as they were made by the two shorty-pants in the house!). Grandma Kris surprised herself at being able to make these cookies ONE-HANDED with her granddaughter in the other arm!!! Yay...I knew you could do it!

And have to give another shout out to Bjorn (and his sous chef, Erik) for a stunningly beautiful and sinfully delicious Christmas meal. We had prime rib au jus, made from scratch horseradish sauce, yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and beans. A meal to remember for sure! And thank you also for everyone who took their turn cooking this holiday season. We all enjoyed seeing and reaping the benefits of your culinary skills.

It was a wonderful visit by the Anderson clan. I got to spend some time with Grandma Evelyn getting our nails done. Grandma Anderson, Erik and Kari, got sneak a visit to Orlando to Harry Potter world. And Bjorn and I got to spend New Year's Eve dinner at my favorite restaurant. We really enjoyed having everyone down for the holidays. And with Dash-3 on the way, it may be a while before we can make a trip to MN over the Christmas season!