Christmas at the Koele's

 

 

Last Saturday Chase had a basketball tournament in Pipestone and since he is going to the Twin Cities this weekend, we had Christmas at the Koele's last Saturday night.  It was an unusual weather day.  It rained all the way to Pipestone in the morning; turned to snow during the tournament and then was snowing off and on all afternoon and evening.  Luckily there was no wind and the temps didn't drop so as long as we went slow, we were fine.

 

This was what we saw when we walked in - Amy's beautifully set table.  We had chili, wonderful warm cornbread with honey, french bread and goodies for dessert.  It was a great meal on a cold, blustery day.

 The shelf of goodies:

After dinner came the best part for Chase.  Kurt had Country Christmas music on the stereo/tv and we began to open presents.  Chase was first, of course and immediately put on his new warm lounge pants from Auntie Dee's family.

 This gift was actually supposed to wait until the Koele family had their own little Christmas time but Chase couldn't wait for Kurt and his mom to open their gift.  Besides he said - Gramma, you helped me make it - don't you want to see them open it?  Isn't he a sweet kid?!!!

It's a Scrabble board with the words "MOM" and "KURT" in red and green and then various tile words describing the two of them.  Chase came up with the most creative words and I just helped fill in.  Some of Chase's words included:  kisser, turd, smiley, cool, awesome.

 Kurt received a cigar magazine from the Hiemstras and he looks like he was really enjoying it.  I'd never heard of a cigar magazine - it was interesting.  Can you imagaine reading whether a cigar is mild, medium or heavy?  Give me a good old chick-book instead.

 Chase and Kitty.

 I made Chase his travel blanket that he had been asking for - now we need to get a few more patches of places he's been.

 wrong side of his blanket - Grampa really liked this fabric.

 Unfortunately, I had the camera and so didn't get any pictures of either Dad or I opening our gifts.  I received a BEAUTIFUL scraf from my #1 (meaning oldest) granddaughter which I have worn every day since I received it.  Thank you, Sweetheart. 
DeAnn, I love the napkins and can't wait to use them.  Amy tried to take them from me but I didn't let her. 
We received some new wiener/marshmellow forks from Amy & Kurt.  They're a bit too risque for my blog but if you want a picture sent to you personally, let me know.
Our last gift we opened was a huge surprise - we got a Garman from the kids --- a very nice one with all the accessories.  We have not programmed it yet - that is on Peter's "to do" list before we leave for Tucson next week.  THANK YOU !!!!!  It will be put to very good use shortly.

Dad and I stayed overnight at the Calumet Inn in Pipestone.  The Calumet is an old hotel - it's showing it's age a bit but is still a very nice, fun place to stay.  Sunday morning the roads were plowed but still a bit slippery.  We went to Chase's Christmas program at their church - "It wasn't supposed to be like this."  It was a nice program - Chase was the best looking Pharisee there.  They turned the lights down low so it was difficult for me to get a good picture until he walked out.

 I didn't realize that Pharisees wore chef's hats.

They gave apples or animals crackers away as the Christmas treat.  It was a fun morning but our day's excitement wasn't over.  Off to Grandma's 91st birthday party.

That's it for today.  Right now it's a bit cloudy out; sure hope the sun appears soon.

Love to all,
Gramma and MOM