Weekend in Minnesota

Last weekend, I flew out to Minnesota. For the weekend. It was the quickest trip EVER but probably one of the funnest times I've had to date! Most of my family lives up there, including my mom and three sisters.

Here are the few of the adventures we had:

1) My cousin Andy played Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music at his highschool. He was AMAZING! He blew our socks off right away. From the whistle-blowing to the Edelweiss-serenading, he was right up there with Christopher Plummer. We brought air horns and plastic maracas to cheer Andy on as he made his final bow. I know he was proud to call us family at that very moment. :)
2) My aunt, mom, grandma, and I enjoyed a few short hours at the Mall of America. I think we hit two stores and one restaurant total, but we did a lot of damage and I came home with an extra suitcase!
3) Our entire family had some fun meals together. It was hard not getting to spend quality time with everyone one-on-one, but we had MANY laughs and emotional moments that I will always remember.
4) On Sunday afternoon, hours before my mom had to take me back to the airport to fly home, she had a fellow photographer come over and take some fun pictures of us. I can't wait to see how they turned out.

I had too much fun to take pictures. It took some willpower to NOT pick up my camera, but I didn't want to interrupt all the special moments. Thankfully, my mom had her camera with most of the weekend, and she got a few of the cousins after Andy's play. Here's one of my favorites:



Sometimes short and sweet makes for the best memories.

Thanksgiving

What a fun Thanksgiving!

Josh and I spent the day with good friends Jonathan and Joy. Josh's parents and Joy's dad were with us as well, and we enjoyed quite the dinner together. Joy and I spent most of the late morning and early afternoon in the kitchen, and we cooked up all sorts of goodies for our families.




Josh and I have spent a few holidays with Jonathan and Joy this year, and each one has been fun, laid back, and always accompanied with an adventure or two. We can't wait for holidays to come.

The Christmas season has begun!

Grandma Margie and Aunt Stefni

Josh's Grandma Margie and Aunt Stefni came to visit for a few days last week, and we had a fun couple of days with them. We enjoyed a few outings together and time at our house or Josh's parents house.

Grandma Margie and I have a few interesting similarities: We have the same Myers-Briggs personality type (which is supposedly one of the rarest of the types) and don't like weird textures (like chalk) on our hands. It's amazing what we can learn about each other in such a short time!