The Tommerdahls

Christmas 2011 Part V: Fergus Falls

After Summer's nap on the 30th we picked up Daddy at work and took off for Fergus Falls to spend time with Paul's side of the family. It was so much fun to have everyone together...Uncle Jordan was home from college, Uncle Ty and Auntie Sarah were there, and as always, Summer loved seeing Grandma, "Gumpa", "Bante" (Uncle Javonte), and all the dogs. Tucker too had fun romping around with dogs Annie and Bode. We welcomed in the new year together, and then on Sunday, Paul, Sarah, and Jordan sang together during communion---the three siblings sounded so good together! You can see a video of it below. Besides celebrating Christmas, and lots of good food, we played lots of team video games and board games! Another Tommerdahl highlight--Summer got her first mini soccer ball and enjoyed kicking it all over! We drove home on the afternoon of Monday January 2nd. Here are a few pictures.

Summer loves playing with the same train Daddy played with when he was little! You can see it in the background of this picture.

Summer and Grandma

Summer and Grandpa

Playing piano with Auntie Sarah

Summer and Uncle Ty

"Spinning" in the kitchen

Helping Grandma cook


Playing with Kopel

Grandpa's artistic shot amongst the roses he gave Grandma for their 28th anniversary

All the kiddos on the couch

Summer loved wearing the hat she got from GiGi Sandy

Summer got a pack'n play for her dolly

She loved pushing dolly and blankie around in the stroller

Playing cars with Grandpa

Summer thought it was so funny when Grandpa juggled spoons

A little cuddle with Grandma

Summer loved when Grandma gave her key lime yogurt!

A cute shot of Grandma and Grandpa

Paul, Sarah, and Jordan singing together

Christmas 2011 Part IV: Michigan

On the evening of the 27th, after the Obermayer Christmas, we drove the 3-4 hours to my aunts house getting in around 11pm. Summer made a nice transition from car seat to pack ' n play, and although she probably took about 2 hours to get back to sleep, she was quiet! Paul and I got to catch up with my Aunt Lynda, Uncle John, Cousin Heather and husband Nick, and Cousin Laura and boyfriend Nealle. This was such a blessing! We don't get to see the Michigan folks (dad's side of the family) much because it is 10 hours from our home, and to catch up with them in person was such a treat!

The following day we drove the 1/2 hour to my Grandparents' house to see the rest of the Kirkwood clan. It was so much fun to get caught up, swap stories and laughs, and hear the exciting news that my cousin Heather will have a boy just 7 weeks after we do!!! After dinner we headed out to make the 10 hour trip back home, traveling through the night, as Paul had to be at work the next day. Here are a few pictures.

Showing off our bumps!

The whole gang for dinner

Right before we left, Summer opened her stocking from GiGi-ma and GiGi-pa Kirkwood

The most special present was electronic books read by GiGi-ma and GiGi-pa.

On this one, as Summer turns the page, GiGi-ma's voice reads the story.

On this one, GiGi-pa's voice reads the story. How special to have the voices forever saved on these books for Summer!

Our drive home was smooth. Even though Summer woke up at our 1:50am gas stop and never went back to sleep (!) she was content to watch DVD's all the way until 4:30am when we arrived at home. Then we all went to bed, and Paul got up to go to work two hours later!!!

That evening Paul fixed our oven, which broke the week before. He somehow figured out what part to order, and it came while we were gone. Here is the picture of the "bad" piece, and one of the "black boxes" was the bad part. I am so impressed and thankful that he knows how to do this stuff!

Then, the next day we left for the final leg of our Christmas trip: Fergus Falls!

Christmas 2011 Part III: Chicago

Starting as soon as Summer woke up on the 26th we started our 6 hour drive to Chicago. I was a little nervous, as Summer does NOT like being in the car for longer than 10 minutes and she loudly lets us know about it!

On this trip, we tried two new things:
1) We turned her carseat to face forwards instead of backwards, and
2) We borrowed my neighbors DVD player and checked out a bunch of DVD's from our library.

That, combined with two meals in the car, me playing in the backseat with her (along with two big bags of toys, books, etc) was enough to keep her happy the ENTIRE 6 hours!!! I was so happy with how the trip went, that we decided to add a leg onto our trip and go see Michigan relatives since we were already over halfway there (blog post coming shortly!). Anyway, the drive was great, and we got to our hotel just in time for Summer to take a nice long nap before we headed to dinner with my Grandma.

The next day, the 27th, was our annual yearly Obermayer Christmas celebration (my mom's side of the family). We had a blast, and Summer loved playing with my cousins' two kids (Rowan 3 and Cruz 1 1/2). It was so great to see everyone! That evening at 7pm we left Chicago to start on the next leg of the trip, Part IV: Michigan. Here are a few pictures of our time in Chicago at the Obermayer family gathering.