Life is a Highway

The week between Christmas and New Year's found us traveling west to Rapid City, SD and the Black Hills. We left Monday morning after a rough night as I had been running a fever. The trip to Rapid City is approximately 5 hours across Interstate 90. Most of this I missed as I slept pretty much the entire way. This was much needed as I had not gotten much sleep the last few days. We arrived at Aunt Janice and Uncle Roger's house and enjoyed a dinner of buffalo prime rib sandwiches and playing with Great Grandma and Grandpa Johnsrud. It was a great time minus the fact that the Vikings lost to the Bears! After dinner we took off and headed to Deadwood to meet up with Jessilyn and Nolan. They had flown into Denver and made the 6 hour drive that day. By the time we saw them it was late, so I didn't spend to much time with them on Monday night.

Tuesday we awoke and made the trek up to the cabin atop Terry Peak. Prior to us arriving, they had received 41" of snow. We checked in, unloaded and packed some lunch for the trip to Mount Rushmore. I also unpacked some toys from Jessilyn and Nolan!

It wasn't long after arriving at the monument that I decided to splash in some puddles, place my knee in standing water and soak my jeans all the way through. But I did get some pictures in before rushing back to the truck with dad to stay warm.

Wednesday we decided to explore Deadwood's gigantic downtown. It took about 30 minutes to walk both sides of the street and explored some casinos. It was here that I had my first gambling experience. I have no pictures as cameras are not allowed in casinos. Regardless, my mom plugged the machine with some money and let me grab the handle and pull. We won some, but ultimately lost everything; guess I can't go to college now! Just kidding, we only lost $5.00. My mom is not the risky type when it comes to gambling. As we were receiving some odd looks from the staff, we packed up and headed back to the cabin. On the way back we stopped off for some burgers and milk at the burger joint at the bottom of Terry Peak. Later that day Barb, Todd, Anna and her friend Tyanna arrived. We spent the day playing in the snow, playing pool, and exploring every draw available to me. I found the draw with all the towels and proceeded to walk around with them on my head. I even managed to break a little trinket that the owners left in the draw plus a christmas tree bulb. That evening, we treated ourselves to a steak dinner and stopped off at the local Kmart to find a sled. That night I was schooled in how to chalk a pool cue, rack the balls, and where the balls go.

On Thursday, New Year's Eve, we woke up really early and headed to Terry Peak to get our ski rentals. This was Jessilyn's first time skiing and my first time watching. After eating breakfast, mom and me hung out at home and took a nap while dad got some ski time in with everyone else. We even tested out the sled that morning and I absolutely loved it. Everyone came back to the cabin for lunch and then we all headed back to the peak for an afternoon of skiing. Mom skied a few hours in the afternoon and I hung out with dad in the lounge watching the beginners biff it on the hill. Barb, Anna, Tyanna, Jessilyn and Nolan stuck to the greens, while Todd drug my mom down some blues. Mind you, Todd, Nolan and my dad had skied the greens and blues all morning. My mom was pretty sore after a few runs and was in relief when Todd turned his knee and decided to call it a day. That night my mom made some awesome chili with the assistance of Jessilyn that everyone enjoyed with biscuits. I didn't make it to midnight but from what I heard it was a tame evening ringing in 2010!

Friday found us relaxing and enjoying the day at the cabin catching up on some zzz's. Everyone took their turn pulling my sled up the hill and watching me zoom down.

Saturday we bid farewell to the cabin and headed back to Sioux Falls and Jessilyn and Nolan headed back to Denver. When we were packing the car on top of Terry Peak it was 30 degrees and comfortable. By the time we got to the bottom it was 10 degrees...burr! It only got colder as we drove further east and the drive was much longer this time as I did not sleep most of the way. We stopped at Al's Oasis to meet Great Grandma and Grandpa Johnsrud for lunch. By the time we arrived in Sioux Falls at Danny, Bryce, and Brooklyn's, it was -5 degrees. I spent the remainder of the evening playing with my cousins. On Sunday we got up and made the rounds to different family members to say goodbye. We brought Great G&G Johnsrud lunch and I had the best time playing with his electric chair. Great Grandma has this great stash of toys in the closet that I discovered.

Although I had a great time sledding, next time I'm going to try skiing. Todd and Barb gave me Anna's old ski's so I'm now ready to take on that challenge. Watch out for me on the slopes!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Merry Christmas! Well my second Christmas was definitely a white one. We headed back to Sioux Falls, SD and was not quite sure we were going to make it. With the "supposed" storm of the quarter century upon us, my mom's family was calling all week and telling us the likelihood that we would arrive on Christmas Eve was slim to none. To make matters a little more dicey, Delta was allowing those passengers traveling to the midwest to fly out early. As much as my parents tried to get on an earlier flight it was a no go. So we stuck with our original plan which was flying out early Christmas Eve morning in hopes that we would make it before St. Nicholas!

So at 4:00 in the morning I awoke to find a big shiny strech limo on my doorstep. Daddy installed my carseat and we were off to the airport. This was my first limo ride ever.

Security was a breeze and the flight to Minneapolis went great. With no delays in sight we headed to the gate to board the plane to Sioux Falls. We were in flight for approximately 20 minutes and the pilot came on the loud speaker to inform us that we were directed to return to Minneapolis as our engine was having issues with de-icing. Now for those of you that do not realize this, the flight from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls is 38 minutes total. By the time we got back to Minneapolis, we should have been landing in Sioux Falls. However, Christmas came a little early as Delta delivered a plane two gates down, loaded our baggage and in record time delivered us to Sioux Falls by 2:30 p.m. We were greeted by Grandma and Grandpa Kappenman. Needless to say this storm of the quarter century held off in our favor (more on that to come)!

Because we were supposed to get in at 12:30 p.m. we were a little starved, so we hit the drive through on the way to Uncle Todd and Aunt Barb's house. As it was taking forever, my mom simply asked if they were killing the cow, whereby I responded with a jublient "MOOOO!" This is one of my newest words.

We finally made it to Todd and Barb's just in time to get ready for Christmas Eve. Soon enough Aunt Lori, Uncle Mike, Danny, Bryce and the newest addition Brooklyn arrived. Not sure what to think of her, I just stood by at a distance watching her. Uncle Jeremy came and we opened up our gifts from him. Then Aunt Carol and Uncle John, Micah and Macy came over and we ate dinner. Next thing you know Santa's sleigh arrived up on the roof and down he came with his Elf to deliver me a stick horse that makes a "neigh" sound. He said he had to come early as he was trying to beat the storm. After he left, we spent the rest of the night opening gifts and playing with our new toys.

Christmas morning came and with it we found A LOT of snow on the ground. We weren't sure that Grandma and Grandpa were going to make it as there was 12" of snow. But they plowed through and arrived in time for breakfast and gifts around the tree. Uncle Jeremy showed up a little later that afternoon. Most of the day was spent sholving, playing in the snow with daddy, and figuring out my new toys. It continued to snow all day into the next; by the time the storm was over we had approximately 19" of snow. As for what I got for Christmas, here's the list of goodies: Elmo Live, big drawing pad + crayons, chuck the truck, clothes, savings bond, spinny alphabet/animal thing, tool and hammer, to name a few. I also spent the day feeding Oscar, that dog eats everything and anything you give him, hence his nickname "half fat." The dog is almost as big as I am!!

On Sunday morning we went to church to see baby Brooklyn get baptized. I made it all the way through the baptism and was doing fine until I got to go up front for the children's sermon. Once I figured out that I could walk around, which I did the entire time he was trying to tell me about homeless people, there was no way I was going to sit there and listen to the minister talk about grown up stuff. So my dad and I ended up hanging out in the fellowship area discovering all the areas of the church. After the service, we headed downstairs for breakfast and cake to celebrate Brooklyn!

The remainder of my Christmas weekend was spent getting sick. I still have that perpetual runny nose that just won't stop. On Sunday night, my breathing was very labored and my parents were very worried. So around 2:30 a.m. they woke up Aunt Barb who came in to check on me. It was discovered that I had a fever of 101.5. She called the ER and spoke with a pediatric nurse who stated that the labored breathing was due to my high fever and my body working overtime. Once the fever was gone, my breathing returned to normal.

Overall, my second Christmas was white, wonderful and full of wacky family!

The Chair

This weekend we celebrated Christmas a little early in two locations. We celebrated with Josh and with daddy's family because we're heading back to Sioux Falls for Christmas. It was definitely a white Christmas a little early as 2 feet of snow blanketed central and southern Jersey. We were supposed to go to Jenkinson's Aquarium to see the Sea of Lights, but it was not possible with the road conditions. So instead we just hung out at Josh's house and exchanged gifts. He got me a Handy Manny tool set that I absoultely love. It even has a working flicker!

Sunday brought even more snow. Initially we had planned on going to church with everyone but there was so much snow that we were not able to leave our house until 10:30 and Aunt Joy and Uncle Chad couldn't make it out of their driveway. Thankfully we have a 4Runner so we plowed right through their neighborhood. Who would have thought that New Jersey would get so much snow...not my parents, they shipped all my snow clothes to South Dakota. So I was without any snowpants to play in the snow. But we made due, I borrowed Ellen's pink snow pants and boots and Aunt Joy made sure to take LOTS of pictures to blackmail me when I get older! My parents thought I didn't care for the snow, it was really the fact that I was wearing pink pants. Sorry, but I will not be posting any evidence of my embarassing pink parade here!

After eating a late lunch/early dinner, Santa delivered lots of gifts under the tree. Ellen and I were definitely the stars with all eyes on us. We tore through gifts galore and became overwhelmed at times with what to do with everything. One thing is for sure, Ellen loves dolls. But we both love boxes!

The best part of the day was my chair from Santa. He left this big item sitting in my living room so my parents could transport it for him. I didn't really question what it was but when it was time to open it, I was very curious at what was behind the wrapping. Once I saw what it was, I went crazy with joy, jumping up and down, and sliding all around on it. I got so many awesome gifts but based upon my reaction I think the chair is going to be hard to top this year!

Shining Star

Today was my Christmas program at school. We have been rehearsing a lot for my big debut but the day before I ended up getting sick with an ear infection. So when the big day came I felt a little rusty.

My parents showed up and were stuffed in the back room of the school like sardines in a can. The infants were paraded in first being held by their teachers and everyone thought they were so cute!

Next up was my class; one thing they forgot to tell us when we were rehearsing is that there was going to be a 1000 beady eyes staring down on us. They expected us to stand there and perform like nothing was abnormal.

So the music starts and our teachers are singing "Dominick the Donkey." All I could do was stand there with a blank stare on my face and stare back at the crowd. Emily deserted me the minute she saw her mom.

Next thing you know "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause" starts blaring, Ms. Erica comes and smacks some big lips on the side of my head, and out of no where I see my mom standing there taking pictures. With all these people blocking my way to her, I just stood there and cried, eventually wandering over to some stranger's lap. Somehow, she broke through the crowd to rescue me, thank god!

We headed back to my classroom for some snacks and juice.

Overall, it was not my best moment and I think i'm pretty sure that this little shining star may not be cut out for broadway!