Christmas at the Farm

This year we celebrated Christmas at the farm.  We had some of the worst weather in recent years for our drive out there; for a significant portion of the drive we were going 35 miles an hour.  But we made it. 

All of my siblings and their families were at the farm this year so there was a lot of catching up. We didn't take a ton of pictures as we were busy chatting.  My family always takes pictures in front of the tree... and for some reason they are always at the end of the night so everyone is a little wound up.  This wasn't the best picture (there is one that we are all looking at the camera) but this is a bit more true to the experience... someone is always hamming it up, a dog running through, a kid playing on the sidelines...

There was ham and turkey and mashed potatoes... And of course there were presents to be opened...

A couple days after Christmas, at the point where I start to get antsy about not being at my own home, we woke to find everything covered in frost.  After mom's waffles for breakfast it was time to get out of the house and go for a little drive through the country...

The drive gave Dan a chance to test out his new parka which kept him toasty warm... success! 

Ray had told Dan about some work they had done at his place since the last time we were here so Dan put in his request to make a stop at Ray's.

Where I spotted a decendend of Norman...

Norman was an orphan calf that we made something of a pet when kids, named after the City Slickers calf of course.

Dan was amazed at dad's snow blower...

We found our way to Charles City for a little walk. It was only seven degrees so it was definitely a petite walk.

And then we headed home. Taking with us a crummy cold that is basically the plague of colds. Which ended our years long streak of not getting sick.  Boo.