Into the Christmas Season

We are home from a great trip to Missouri for Thanksgiving.  Robert, Miranda and Zach are doing well.  As expected, Zach is getting really tall.  He can now wear his Dad’s shoes – size 12!  They have a new puppy who loves everyone.  Her name is Remington and she has endless energy.

We hit all our favorite stores to go shopping and one auction for Bruce.  The big steal was a Tupperware container of Legos for Grant and Mae.  The container was about 12 inches wide and 18 inches long and 24 inches tall.  It took the two kids about 2 minutes to get into the container.  About the only control Grandpa had was that they did not spill the tub all over the floor.  It was a good buy that will keep them both occupied for hours.

Returning home was like going into winter.  Most of the lakes are frozen over.  Gunflint is ½ frozen.  With the full moon, all we need is clear skies and no wind one night.  The next morning Gunflint will be frozen over.  Since the ice went off the lake late in May and is now going on the lake early in December, 2014 will have one of the shortest periods of open water in a long time.

Now that Thanksgiving is past, it is time to get serious about Christmas.  Most of the presents are bought or ordered or, at least, decided. 

Yesterday I started on Christmas baking.  I bake 10 kinds of cookies and make plates for each staff member.  Lee, Eva, Grant and Mae will be here on the 27^th so they need cookies too.  Bruce feels he should have snacks each night.  All in all it is a lot of cookies.

Today is the day to start on Christmas cards.  I love being able to print mailing labels and return labels.  Then I can devote all my writing time to sharing messages with friends and family.  We send out about 100 cards so it takes a bit to write to everyone.

The staff Christmas party is December 17^th.  It is always a nice potluck.  We will have steamed shrimp for appetizers and prime rib for the main meat.  For a gift exchange each person gets a $25 gift and we all pick in order.  Mandy is in charge so all is well organized.  It is a pleasant evening for everyone.

The final job is to plan Christmas dinner.  Today at lunch I think we decided the main entre.  Since it is just Bruce and I, we don’t want anything too familiar.  It has to be a little festive.  We will see as there is still plenty of time to decide or change our mind.

This weekend we start decorating the lodge.  The weather is supposed to be sunny on Saturday. Outside lights and trees will be put up.  John will have a crew making wreaths for cabins.  Bonnie will have trees to line the drive and the front patio each with white lights on it.  Inside there is a big tree for the lounge and one for the dining room.  Bruce loves buying stuff to decorate the lodge so there will be new things all over.

Even if you are just in the area, stop in to see us.