twenty-point-six

We just got settled back in Burnsville after making our annual Christmas trip to Bismarck and New Town. And man, what a fun, busy trip it was.

12-30: We left for Bismarck on Wednesday morning since I was on Christmas break and Dawn took a few vacation days. Ella had a awesome ride there, with a nap in the morning, lunch in Fargo around noon, and another nap in the afternoon until we pulled into the Biz. Because we arrived before the end of the workday, we stop and saw auntie Darc at work. The cousin's played and we called it an early night. 12-31: Thursday we got up and spent time with Madeline and Darcy and watched cartoons. We took off for New Town about 1:00ish. When we got to New Town, we cruised right to the Barone's abode. Charm and Lonny met us there for dinner. The presents were opened and beverages were had before we called it a night at about 12:30am. 1-1: When we got up, we enjoyed our coffee, eggs, sausage on Friday morn. It was not pleasant outside (we figured about 40-below with the windchill). We visited with Joan and Bob Robert over the lunch. Darcy, Brian, and Madeline got to town about the same time and Josh, Kayle, and Kayden also joined us at Grandma and Grandpa's house. For dinner we spent time with John and Cindy (The Verd's and the Rone's were also in attendance). Grilled steak was served. Kara, her mom Sheri, and her precious little girl Jordyn stopped over after a while with a bottle of wine. All the kiddos played and the girls (i.e. Darcy, Dawn, Keli, and Kara) gabbed about high school stories. 1-2: We packed up our things from the Barone's and made our way about town. We had coffee and donuts with grandma Rita in the mornin. All the fam had lunch with Charm (Nefla soup and Pigs in a Blanket...just what the doctor ordered). We exchanged more presents and the kiddos played again. Before skippin town, we stopped and saw Auntie Deb so see could see beaner. The reason for the title of this post is the mpg's we got on our drive from New Town to Bismarck. Drifting and blowing snow made it a long drive home, but it was nice to finally land back in Bismarck. We had some drinks and watched Borat once the kids went to bed. 1-3: We hit the road at 9:30 this morning since it had snowed in Bismarck last night and we didn't know what the roads would be like. Ella had more of a touch and go trip on the way home, but we arrived this afternoon at about 4. Because of our short time to away, our visits to family in No Dak are always short and quick. But they are so fun and we look forward to the day when we can do them more often!

Even though they have come and gone, I have to mention how ridiculous the Christmas season tv commercials are. The fact that fragrance, candy, and liquor commercials are more present than ever is sickening. More on that note, the fact that they don't bother to update their commercials and just rely on spots from previous years is annoying. J Dor, Dior; Korbel Champaigne, and M&M's...just to name a few. Get with it marketing co's, you have to come up with something better than that. The picture here is Ella actually enjoying the long car ride to North Dakota. It has nothing to do with the content here, but I had to include it!

song: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis - Auld Lang Syne

memory: As kids we were fortunate enough to have a kick-ass conversion van that the fam used to travel in on Holidays such as Christmas. My parents were crazy enough leave on Christmas Eve in the early evening to drive to the Fargo/Moorhead area by Christmas Day. As luck would have it, the weather was never good and that Econoline didn't fair well in the gusty wind. So as us kids played games in the back, mom ate licorice in the front, and dad drove the van like the titanic since the steering wasn't exactly tight. Luckily, we didn't have any accidents on the trip. The trip from New Town to Bismarck reminded me of those times.

It is a new year, a fresh start, blah, blah, blah. I could list a number of resolutions that I have, but chances are they won't happen. Through this holiday season, I have realized the importance of family more and more. I have more to say on that later. But I do have to say that 2009 was a very eventful and busy year. We are truly blessed to have friends and family that are willing to love and support us in anyway possible. Thank you all for the fantastic year...bring on 2010.