Photo Memories From December

Celebrating Grandma's birthday at the Hollidazzle Parade downtown Minneapolis.

Celebrating Christmas with all the Carlson Great-Grandchildren.

Great-Grandpa Bill enjoying Brianna.

Micah and Tianna holding Brianna.

Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Cousin Justin is helping open presents.

Eme says, "Brianna! What does a duck say?" Brianna says, "Kack, kack." Grandma heard Brianna say "kack" one day at our house when the ducks outside started to fly away so she had to get her this cute ducky.

The grand-kids lighting the Christ candle at Grandpa and Grandma's Christmas Eve service.

Hanging out with Gammie on Christmas morning.

A car seat from Mommy and Daddy for Christmas? How magical!! (sarcasm) Practical "toys" for a baby's first Christmas isn't bad...is it?

Forget Christmas presents! I'll just take that nuk please!

Brianna sledding for the first time! She loved it!

Sledding with the whole gang. It didn't last long this year as 30% of the participants were less than one year old...but it was fun none-the-less.

"It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!" Actually, it was a bit chilly and started to sleet when we were on it. But the sleigh ride with my family was fun.

But I think Brianna had more fun inside the barn after the sleigh ride. She said hi to horses, donkeys, cattle, chickens and kittens.

Look Out World!

I know I have a deep rooted bias...but isn't she SUPER cute?? This picture is a great reminder to never stop chasing your dreams and to find your childish enthusiasm.

Bonkoski Christmas / Pinnacle Gathering 2010

My cousin Jodi and I got to brainstorming this summer as we climbed (via automobile) Pike's Peak in Colorado. We thought it would be fun to gather the Bonkoski extended family so the cousins could finally learn how to play Pinnacle. It was fun to have everyone over to our house for some food, laughter, football (watching), catching up, Bonkoski trivia, and Pinnacle learning. We look forward to hosting again next year!

Time Goes By

As I'm sure everyone is keenly aware, life seems to get busier and busier. This Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's season is no different for our family. It was tough for Eme and I to get into the Christmas spirit this year as I (Jon) was busy at work and coughs/colds struck our family multiple times over the past month. Speaking of which, Eme is laying in bed not feeling well and Brianna is napping so I thought I would take a moment to update our multitude (ha ha) of blog readers on the happenings of our Christmas season.

Here's a quick rundown of our December...

• We celebrated my mom's birthday by going to the hollidazzle parade.
• We celebrated Christmas with my grandpa Carlson and Aunt and cousins from LaCrosse in Mankato, MN.
• Christmas Eve with my family (Bonkoski's).
• Christmas Day with Eme's family (Gustafson's).
• Extended Bonkoski Christmas/Pinnacle gathering at our house.
• Celebrated my parent's 40th wedding anniversary on December 27th.
• Celebrated Brianna's first birthday on December 29th.
• Spent time at our family cabin over New Year's.

I'm sure everyone has been busy. But we hope you all took a moment to pause and reflect and the true meaning of Christmas. It's super easy to get caught up in all the shopping, cookie baking, family gathering. But Christ remains the central theme to Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May Christ be a real part of your life this year.

What Has Happened Since...

Our last post was quite a while ago, so here is what has happened in the last few weeks.

November 20 - We met up with Mick, Hung and Casen for a little bowling. Although it was a little loud, and we performed quite the baby juggling act, we had a good time. And it was fun to
go bowling... I can't remember when I last went!

November 24 - I caught Eko with both paws up. He continues to amaze me. How can that really be comfortable.

November 25 - We feasted with Jon's parents on ham and other yummy thanksgiving sides. Jeff, Shelley, Micah and Elissa joined up with us later that evening to relax together and even get a back massage chain going!

November 26 - Thanksgiving part two happened back at our house with my family. The babies ate, we ate, we played a fun debating game, a little Wii action took place, and some fun hangout time. It was a day. Margaret, Oliver and Lucius had so much fun they wanted to spend the night... how could we say no! We had swedish pancakes the next morning then ran off to get a few cuts of fabric before dropping them back at home.

November 30 - I needed to get out of the house after being inside all weekend, so I ran some errands and ended up at my parent's house for the afternoon. I shoveled what little snow they had while Brianna napped then hung out for a while with my dad. I caught this fun photo while Brianna and Grandpa played!


That gets us through November anyway!