An early Christmas up north

We're home from a trip north to see my family for a little bit of early Christmasing.  We had a lovely time, and like any every visit to see family, the time flew! This is what our trip looked like:

• A (barely) snowy walk
• Borrowing nearly all of Nicholas' new outerwear, gifted to him by my brother (I can't help it if his clothes seem more "fun," can I?)
• Curling up under quilts handmade by my mom
• Catching up with two of my dearest friends from high school
• Crafting with my mom—we made ornaments!
• Working on a puzzle with the family
• Enjoying what is arguably the best gluten-free pizza we've ever had
• Snuggles with the family dogs, Hazel and Gingersnaps
• Christmas gift exchange
• A coffee date with Nicholas in South Minneapolis
• Enjoying my brother's cooking—homemade pad thai and beef bourguignon (yum!)
• A trip to Northern Minnesota to see both grandmas
• Seeing our favorite Christmas light display, right on Lake Superior in Duluth
• Seeing pictures from (and hearing about) my family's recent trip to Canada
• Breakfasts at home
• Acting as Nicholas' sous-chef* as we made these cookies for my family

We're sorry that we can't see family more, but we cherish the visits we do get. Thank you for hosting us Dad, Mom, and Matt!

When we get back from a trip, we unpack as efficiently as possible, because who actually enjoys unpacking? Now, we're enjoying some afternoon coffee—mine with a dash of cinnamon, just because, and his in a new wonderfully goofy moose mug from my Grandma Donna. There's a mountain of clean laundry to fold and supper to prepare, Christmas knitting to work on, library books to be read, frozen andes mints to sneak from the freezer, and I'm thankful for it all.

*We recently finished watching The Great British Baking Show, which we really, really enjoyed, aside from the hosts, who we found to be a tad obnoxious. It's fun to see home bakers complete complicated recipes with such skill and precision. The show seems to have piqued a bit of an interest in baking for Nicholas. When I started making cookies, he wanted to bake with me, and he did most of the recipe by himself. That makes for a happy girl and a happy heart(!)

**all photos taken with my iPhone and edited with VSCO. I loved all of them, even the grainy one of us girls :)