Rens Christmas

We got together with Grandma Rens last night and the relation and we always take pictures for grandma - thought I would share them with you! This first one is Grandma with her Son Dave and wife Bev, Grandma, then it's Shirley (Gerald's wife - Gerald past away 2 yrs ago) and then daughter Mary and husband Dale

Here are all the grandchildren with their spouses!

And here are all the great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

We had a nice time it was in Rock Valley in the basement of Peoples Bank and we had supper and played a few games together - Grandma just enjoyed seeing everyone together - we had a good time some of them we only see once a year so nice that grandma gets us together.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

We woke up to a very White Christmas this morning - church was cancelled last night already - so we slept in and then Mike and Marcus started to scoop us out.

The snow blower is working good this year and getting lots of use :)

We opened presents last night - funny story - Mike's shaver has not been working well for quite some time - I bought him one for Christmas a month ago and had it under the tree - well two weeks ago he started to grow some facial hair and when he opened his gift he thought I was hinting to him that he needed to shave :) It has pretty funny and I do like his face with or without hair - was not a hint just a needed gift!!!

These are the gifts that the kids recieved from Grandpa and Grandma Altena and they were thrilled - Marcus showing off his new hat and shirt

Vanessa showing off her two IA Shirts - the green one and the hot pink!!

Jamie showing off her IA shorts and her shirt is behind her!

Posing for the camera

Three great kids in their Iowa apparel - we had a very nice evening and are enjoying hanging out this morning - waiting to hear if my brothers are going to make it to town today - it's still snowing now and the wind is suppose to come up later too!

Winter Wonderland!

These pictures are from a couple of years ago - we will see what we get this week and see if we can match or top them!!

It's suppose to start snowing Wed. evening and last through Friday - predicting around 20 inches for NW Iowa - Kids are excited hopefully we can do some sledding and fort building!! Marcus is leaving on Monday for Terry Peak in South Dakota to do some snowboarding with friends - should be a great break from school for them and lots of fun outdoors time!!

May you all have a very blessed Christmas!!

Christmas Shopping

Mom and I went to Sioux Falls today and did some Christmas shopping - we had a great time and are ALMOST finished - we left at 8:15 and got home around 5pm. We made a BIG day of it and my feet are sore tonight - I am going to go soak in a hot bath for awhile - hope you are all cozy inside and we wish you a very Blessed Christmas - we are starting get togethers on Saturday night this weekend with friends and our church program is Sunday night and then its Christmas week :)

Happenings in Iowa

A week or two ago Sawyer stayed overnight on a school night - they were busy with harvest and Kerri was out of town - so we took Sawyer and had a great night - He was SOOOOO busy and at one time Mike said to him - "Sawyer, please use your inside voice" Right after that Mike looked at me with this look I haven't seen in a long time and his response was "Boy, I haven't said that for a long time" Crazy how fast they grow up - Here Sawyer is reading one of his books to Mike and it was adorable to listen to - he is reading very well and just neat to see him try so hard and be so proud of himself.

A week ago Friday, Mike and Marcus brought away all the rest of their furs that they trapped for the year - they had a great year and lots of animals again.

On this past Friday, Marcus and Jamie came upstairs with the same shirts on for the day - I thought out loud and said how cute we should take a picture - as you can see Marcus was not impressed.

But- he did take a picture with his sister but wasn't happy bout it :)

On Sunday - we made Christmas candy and goodies all afternoon - we had everyone helping and it went really well.

We made holiday treats, popcorn candy, almond bark cookies, peanut clusters, almond tarts and peanut butter cup cookies. The freezer is full of goodies and it was a fun day with everyone helping.