Grandparents Day and A Trip to the Tree Farm

The day before Thanksgiving was Grandparent's Day for the 3rd and 4th graders at the kids' school. (Technically it's more like 'relatives day', so it worked out great that not only did my parents come up the night before but also Lindsay and Rob were still in town.

The kids had been practicing for their program since the beginning of the school year and Wyatt was both excited and nervous. He was excited for us to finally see all that they had been working on but he was also nervous about being on stage in front of everyone.

All the kids getting all setup and ready with their special shirts they got just for the 

"Go, Go Jonah" program

Singing his heart out!

And listening intently to the kids that were doing the acting….as a side note, I remember doing programs like this at my school and I could still recite some of the songs. It makes me so thankful that the truth of God's Word is being imprinted on both my kids' hearts and minds at such a young age.

Aunt Lindsay and Nani with Wyatt in his classroom--he LOVED getting to show everyone his room and introduce them to his teacher, Mrs. Kroohn

After the Grandparent's Day program and reception at school, we pulled the kids out of school and headed up to my aunt and uncle's christmas tree farm. Usually this tradition is reserved for the day after Thanksgiving (especially since the tree farm doesn't open until then), but Lindsay and Rob were going to be flying home the day after Thanksgiving, so we asked my aunt and uncle if they'd make an exception and let us come up two days early. They were gracious enough to do so, even though the day before Thanksgiving is one of their busiest days of the year as they are trying to get trees loaded and shipped out to lots all around the midwest in preparation for the day after Thanksgiving.

A quick stop in the gift shop to show Rob around the place…..this was to be Rob's first winter holiday in the states and also his first Thanksgiving! (They usually celebrate over in NZ but since it's just an American holiday, they celebrate with a few American friends and everyone else over there is enjoying spring!)

Can we just take a minute to see the joy in my sister's face?! Do you think she enjoyed being back home for one of her fav traditions with her man?! The only thing that would have made it more perfect would have been to have gotten snow while they were in town!

Lots of trees being shipped out and it was quite busy while we were there, but also so fun to see the other side of the business that is all finished by the time we usually get up there.

Linds taking a selfie for an instagram post (I'm assuming)

Picking out a Christmas Tree is no small feat for my family--we take our trees VERY seriously and make every effort to find the perfect tree. That's my mom in the black jacket midway down this row of trees--she was on a serious mission!

Mom, Rob and Linds

Poor Rob was so cold and was wearing his warmest clothes with one of Matt's old ski coats over the top!! 

A few pics of everyone trying to find the perfect tree and Rob attempting to warm up….

And this is the official way to measure the height of the tree to see if it will fit

And it usually takes several people measuring to verify the true height (only to the nearest inch, of course!)

Our traditional family pic in front of the tree that will soon be our Christmas Tree

And then the process of cutting it down and hauling it out--which was a bit different this year since none of the wagon rides were operating yet, so rather than load our tree on a trailer pulled behind a wagon we would all be riding on, we drove our own car out into the field and loaded it on top to take back to the main building to be baled.

And when you need to get your tree situated just right, why not have your 8 year old climb on top of the car and ask him to move it?!

I don't think he minded much:)

While we let the 3-year old hold the saw!

Taking it into the barn to have all the needles shaken out of it 

(notice the kids and Rob covering their ears)

And then baling it...

..which all the guys assumed they could do but clearly none of them do this on a regular basis...

..my Aunt Adie had to come over and show the boys how it's done! 

Loading up all the trees---ours and LOTS of theirs!

We headed up to my Aunt and Uncle's house to show Rob around---not only is it a beautiful log home but it's also filled with every kind of animal you could possibly shoot. My uncle and his 4 sons are all big hunters and they have everything from a giant moose, bears rugs, several deer mounts and what seemed like endless stacks of pelts. Their gun collection is vast and let's just say that if anything every happened to our country, this is where you'd want to be. I didn't take many pictures, but I did get one of Rob checking out the sight on this gun. (Guns aren't very common in NZ so it was definitely an eye-opening experience for Rob).

After the kids all picked out an ornament from the gift shop, courtesy of their Great Aunt Adie, and the trees were loaded, we headed home. The boys had plans to go the WILD hockey game that night, while all of the ladies hung out at home. My sister Mary Jo and her husband Matt were coming up to the cities after work, so Matt met the guys downtown. They enjoyed some burgers at one of Matt and Wyatt's favorite pre-game places, Burger Moe's and then headed over to the Xcel for Rob's first NHL game. 

(pic courtesy of my Dad)

It was a great jam-packed day and we were all ready for some relaxing and feasting!