Celebrating Christmas 2025, Part 2

In mid-January, my parents and my brother, Matt, drove down from Minnesota to celebrate a belated Christmas with us. They arrived on a Saturday, in the late afternoon. I had "Marry Me chicken" in the crockpot, and a batch of sourdough focaccia still warm on the stovetop.

My family unloaded the car, and then Matt read to the boys and I finished getting dinner ready, which was delicious! It was my first time trying that recipe, and we will definitely have it again.

After the boys were in bed, we stayed up chatting for awhile. I knit on a hat for Cooper, made with yarn he picked out for me for Christmas. We talked about my grandparents' garden, and how I always remember my Grandpa Bob's homemade raspberry jam. My dad talked about how my Grandpa Bob went with his dad and Uncle (I think?) to cut chunks of ice out of Mille Lacs Lake in the winter. And my parents (and brother) told us about government cheese and the cheese caves. My parents remember seeing some at the time. What a fascinating tidbit of history!

On Sunday morning, we went to church, and then came home to exchange Christmas gifts with each other. There were so many thoughtful, beautiful, and useful gifts. My dad loved his handknit socks, and my mom loved the tote bag that I sewed for her (Wax and Wool Tote by Noodlehead). She taught me to sew, and she involved me in her sewing for many years, so it feels extra special to be able to make sewn items for her as gifts! She said she especially liked the little floral pocket on the inside.

My mom gave me a few items that were my Grandma Donna's – some sweet Sterling silver moose and tree earrings, and ceramic figures from a Northern MN ceramicist, Eileen Hepp. I also received a beautiful Loré Pemberton puzzle and an organic cotton sweater.

Arlo loved playing with the gift bags, and Cooper and Finn could not wait to dive into some new Lego sets. My mom sewed darling airplane pillowcases for the big boys, and they received several new books for our home library. Finn was also very excited about a new dinosaur shirt. Arlo got his own bear, and the boys got dinosaur puppets.

We have two January birthdays in the family – my mom and Nicholas – so we exchanged gifts for them as well. I knit my mom a pair of socks, knit in the Fibre Company Amble (details on my Ravelry project page) and gave her a copy of one of my favorite sourdough cookbooks for the basics. I love the recipes for sourdough versions of blueberry muffins, banana bread, everyday chocolate cake, and naan.

After we worked up an appetite opening gifts, we had focaccia sandwiches for lunch and I baked our favorite sourdough Finnish Pulla (cardamom bread). Between rounds of baking bread, we played some rounds of family bingo (some board have letters, some have pictures, etc., so everyone could play)! And the big boys worked on some new lego sets.

On Sunday, we had chicken wild rice soup, paired with sourdough bread. Nicholas had the idea to cut the bread into "dip-able" chunks and that was fun!

Monday morning was another cold day. Nicholas read to Cooper and Finn from Picturepedia (a gift from their Grandma and Grandpa). Cooper's co-op was cancelled due to weather, so we worked on a beautiful jigsaw puzzle that my mom brought. Cooper and Finn busied themselves playing with some new Tegú blocks (technically Arlo's, but you know we share toys), and some tiny Magnatiles.

Monday night, we had risotto and roasted asparagus. We made a double batch of the risotto, and so my brother stirred a pot, while Nicholas stirred the other pot. The big boys busied themselves with something or other, and Arlo cruised around. He is such a smiley baby and a sweetheart.

And the next morning, my family needed to leave a bit earlier so we could head to an appointment and they could get home for another event at home.

It was an especially sweet visit this time. Good food, good conversations, lots of quality time. Many, many books read to young boys. Snuggles with Arlo. My mom folded laundry and emptied the dishwasher without me asking, my dad and Matt entertained the boys and read with them, and everyone was just extra helpful and loving. And it was such a wonderful time together. Thank you for driving to see us and celebrate Christmas together! We love you guys so much.