We had the idea of setting up a blog for our family back in November. It is now March and we are just getting to making this blog official. I guess you could say we have been a bit more busy than usual over the past few months.
I am going to rewind to November 13, 2010. That was a big day in our lives. Our family of three arrived in Minneapolis around 9:00pm after a long day of traveling.
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| We are home! |
It was a day we were waiting for for a very long time. We made it through the long journey and we were all finally home. What a homecoming it was. A lot of our family and friends were waiting for us at the airport. What made this act of gratitude impressive was that it was a snowy evening and day in the Twin Cities. In fact a large portion of the Cities did not have power because of the snow storm. Low and behold our house was part of that large portion of the Cities that did not have power! Nothing like coming home to a dark (well there were flashlights set up around our house courtesy of Joe and Joann) and cold house. Welcome to America Fred! We all bundled up and tried to get some sleep hoping that at some point in the night the power would come back on. It did not. But it did come on around 1:00 in the afternoon! What joy. Since this small little bump in the road of life everything has been great at the McCullough household.
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| And why did you bring me to this ice cold place? |
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| Where is the heat? |
As mentioned we arrived home right before thanksgiving. It was great getting home and being able to introduce Freddy to most of his family. He was lucky enough to get to spend some time with Nona, Pops, Grandpa and Jonelle down in Bogota. He also briefly met his Uncle John, Aunt Lerah, Aunt Karen and cousins Joleh and Brennan at the airport. Thanks giving gave everyone the opportunity to spend some quality time with him and us, right we are important as well? We had a lot of family time over Thanksgiving weekend. On Turkey Day we went down to Rochester and spent time with Lisa's family. Yes, Freddy was the star of the show. Then the Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to Joe's parents house in St Paul. Freddy and Uncle Bob had a eating contest and I think Freddy won. Uncle Bob put in a good effort, but he just could not keep up with the little Freddy Monster. It was the first time that Freddy was able to hang with all of his Minnesota cousins. It was fun watching them all play together and watch Freddy check everyone out.
The day of Thanksgiving we and the Eiden's got up early in the morning and ran the Turkey Trot in downtown Minneapolis. It was a good day for run - a balmy 8 degrees!
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| Lets go runners! |
So we ate a lot, watched football and spent time with family over Thanksgiving weekend and now we could just sit back and relax until Christmas. For some reason our schedule filled up pretty quick, which was great because we had fun. There were a lot of play dates....for Fred. We took him to the Macy's Christmas display.
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| Dad and Fred getting a Gingerbread Man Cookie at Macy's |
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| Really guys? |
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Freddy and his Momma at the Macy's Christmas Display
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We celebrated Brennan's 2nd Birthday over Aunt Lerah's and Uncle John's house.
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Nonna, Freddy and Brennan enjoying story time
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We took Fred to the zoo.
Picked out a Christmas Tree
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| Yes, it fits in a small wagon. |
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| How about some presents? |
Played in the snow.
Otherwise we just kicked it as a family! Fred did have his first doctor's appointment in the States, obviously not fun. They had to take blood and it was not a pleasent experience for the little guy. Surprisingly after it was all done he was as good as new. He is a champ!
December was one snowy month. We had 17 inches one day.
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| Stop Snowing! |
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| I have my money on Roman. |
Before we move on to Christmas we did one more real fun and exciting thing. We went to the 5-8 Club (
http://www.5-8club.com/minneapolis.html). Fred did not eat a burger, but he did enjoy the fries. They sure do make a good burger.
Christmas and Christmas Eve was filled with spending time with Family and Friends and of course enjoying lots of good food. It was a real special Christmas for us this year. Having a little one around really makes Christmas so much more exciting. Fred really did not get what was going on with all the presents, decorations and cookies, but he sure did enjoy playing with the wrapping paper and ribbons.
On Christmas Eve the Eiden's came over for brunch and a present exchange. We had a real good time eating and watching the kids play.
After brunch Fred hit the sack for an afternoon nap and we spend the afternoon getting things ready for the evening. We went to Christmas Eve mass at OLP with the family and the Eidens. Fred did a great job. He had a good time getting passed around to everyone and he enjoyed watching the choir.
After Mass Lisa's Dad, Karen and Jonelle came over for dinner. A few years back we started making homemade periogies and kielbasa (not homemade). The periogies are sure labor intensive, but in the end they are worth it! Fred got a big bean-bag chair for Karen. We are not sure who likes it more, Fred or Roman?
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| This is real nice.... |
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| Merry Christmas from the Krygier side of the family |
Christmas morning we got up and opened gifts. It was fun watching Freddy play with the paper and ribbons. He would say "Ohhhh" when looking at his gifts! It was real cute. We can't forgot to mention that he was wearing his Christmas PJ's.
We had a fun relaxing morning just hanging out with eachother. It was real nice just hanging with the fam. Later that afternoon we went over to Joe's parents place for dinner and gifts. Christmas afternoon we piled up the car and headed over to Joe's parents house for the afternoon. It was a good time having all the cousins there to play with eachother. The food was great like always and we had a good time hanging out for the evening. Just as we have a food tradition on Christmas Eve (pierogies and kielbasa) we also have one on Christmas Day. We are proud to say that Papa and Grandma passed the tradition of serving Italian Sausage on Christmas Day. It really does add something special to any meal!
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| What do you have for me? |
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| Family Christmas Photo |
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Cheese!
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Time sure did fly by after we came home from Bogota. We really did enjoy spending so much time with Freddy, family and friends. It made it such a special Christmas Season.
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| The Holidays sure take a lot out of a guy! |
After brunch Fred hit the sack for an afternoon nap and we spend the afternoon getting things ready for the evening. We went to Christmas Eve mass at OLP with the family and the Eidens. Fred did a great job. He had a good time getting passed around to everyone and he enjoyed watching the choir.
