Addie had been talking about and looking forward to Christmas in South Dakota for months. When the big trip finally arrived all she could talk about was seeing Grandma Kristi and Skeeter. She also was really excited to see and play in the snow. She was pretty disappointed that there was absolutely no snow for the entire eight days we were there!
We still had a wonderful trip, and it actually was really nice to not have to worry about bad winter weather. We spent a lot of time with all the Schoenfelder, Munger, and Baumberger relatives. Addie really enjoyed seeing everyone, playing with her cousins (well, second and third cousins), and petting Grandma Kristi's horses.
We arrived a couple days before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we met Grandpa Pat, Jennie, Marc, Adam, and Jordan at Minerva's for brunch. The Minerva's salad bar is still my favorite whenever we go back to Sioux Falls! We exchanged gifts and were given a riddle gift from Mom and Dad. It involved Morse code, charitable donations, and a letter scramble. Long story short - we are going on a cruise in April for our Christmas gift! After figuring out our riddle (while Addie was eating ice cream), we shopped at Zambroz and then headed back to Kristi's to get ready for Christmas Eve dinner. She invited Grandma and Grandpa Munger, Kevin, and Marissa for dinner. Addie had a great time playing with Marissa.
Christmas morning was so much fun. Watching Addie's face as she discovered her stocking and opened each gift was just priceless. She loved all of her gifts so much it took her five days to open them all (and there were a lot!). After opening one, she just wanted to play with it, so the unwrapping took awhile. It was really nice as she had a couple of new things to play with each day. I probably will not be able to remember all of the gifts she received, but I will list a few so that someday when she looks back to read this she knows what type of gifts she received: a marble game, a set of eight Disney princess dolls (Barbie size), books, Disney princess art set, pots, pans, and kitchen utensils, magnetic ballerina dolls, Critter Clinic, finger puppets, basketball, harmonica, big Elmo coloring book, clay, play-doh set, baby doll, Legos, "bouncy puppets," and a Snow White dress.
We went to Grandma Baumberger's house for Christmas dinner. All of the Baumberger siblings and grandchildren were there, and Addie had a great time playing with them. The house can be a little chaotic with 50+ people, but Addie had a blast and wasn't shy at all - except when Santa showed up. She didn't want to sit on his lap, but she let me take her up to get her gift from Santa. It is a very fun tradition to have Santa show up at Grandma's house!
Later in the week we visited Grandpa Bob at the VA hospital, had dinner at Clay and Darci's house, visited some of my college girlfriends, and went to Iowa to visit with the Munger grandparents a bit more. Addie loves their lion cookie jar. She also had a really fun time playing with Ivy and Paisley at their house.
It was a wonderful trip, but it is always good to return home. Addie really missed Dakota and her Grandma Julie while we were gone. Hopefully the next time we go to South Dakota Addie will get to see some snow!
