Homes for the Holidays: Guthrie's

We kind of come full-circle in our Homes for the Holidays tour here, since the Guthries live very near St. Paul. On Christmas Day, the Bengtson clan gets together at Doug and Rosie's, and this year we even were blessed with a visit from Aunt Esther and Judy, and Doug's mom, Millie. Grandma couldn't make it this year, but Jean, Todd, Doug, and Rosie were able to go visit her the next day, so she was pretty thrilled with that. Anne and Billy came in from Brooklyn, NY and it is always great to see them and hear about their travels and life on the East coast. Esther and Judy came over from Covenant Village for dessert and Esther was her sprite 96-year-old self, telling jokes, singing in Swedish, and telling all of us we are good girls and boys. It is a day that always goes by too fast! I was clearly spending time catching up with everyone, and not taking pictures, so I apologize for the lack of pictures- but this gives you a little idea of the happenings of the day.

I probably will never need to eat again after all of these feasts

Is that Conan?
Todd and Will

We loved seeing everyone this Christmas and it will be one we will always remember. We are so lucky to have our families.

Until next time,

Kirsten

Homes for the Holidays: Caledonia

Too bad there isn't a direct flight from Seattle to Caledonia, because that's where we headed to for our next Christmas celebration #2. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, and of course the two dogs and the cat:) We were able to attend one of my dad's 3 Christmas Eve services of the day (way to go Dad!) at which my mom played the violin, sang, and played bells (way to go Mom!), eat by candlelight, and open presents together by the tree. It was also Kirstin and Steve's first Christmas as a married couple, so it was fun that we could all be together. Here are some pics of our great time together:

We love those dogs. Tubby the cat was smart to stay in her room, though. Just to be safe, she climbed into the box-spring!

The tower of cookies that seems to get larger every year
Appetizers before dinner
Mom always finds the perfect trees.
Merry Christmas!

Homes for the Holidays: Seattle

Will and I headed to Seattle to be with Will's family for an early Christmas this year. We had great weather, and were even able to go out to Deception Pass for a day trip. Here are a few highlights from our wonderful time:

Will, Mary, and Dennis taking in the beautiful view
Beachcombers
Niece Lily reading the Christmas story after a yummy feast and before presents. We ate until we could eat no more, especially peanut butter balls and cookies!
Lily and nephew Finn meeting Santa at the Lights of Christmas at Warm Beach. The light displays were really impressive. Lily loved riding the Polar Express, and I liked the Scandinavian production of "Uff Da" Lily also got to see Santa in downtown Seattle, but Finn slept through it, so he was really interested in him this time!
Family picture at Church before heading home for another delicious meal!

We were also able to see a few of our West Coast friends, two of whom recently got engaged (not to each other)! Looks like we have some more Seattle trips coming up!