Christmas in Iowa!

Russ, Seth, and I flew to Iowa on Christmas Day (Monday) to celebrate Christmas with the family and prepare for Nicolas and Josie's wedding on December 29 in Sioux City. The girls stayed in Sioux Center after their finals, and Caleb and Mikaela were already in Iowa visiting with her side of the family. Anna's boyfriend, Joshua, flew in the following evening. We had not all been in one place since Caden's wedding in August. We were so excited to spend time together!

Practicing his music for Nicolas and Josie's wedding!

Even Augie got to visit Grandpa and Grandma Bleeker.

The weather was dicey the day we flew into Omaha, but the ice/freezing rain made some beautiful trees!

Wednesday evening we celebrated our family Christmas at Nicolas and Josie's home. Josie was currently living there, and we were moving Nicolas from the apartment in my parent's basement so he would be ready to move in after the wedding. 

No Christmas is complete without the new Lego Christmas Village set.

A Christmas gift for Felix

This guy is still a master at Legos.

The following evening (Thursday) the bridal party went to Sioux Falls for dinner, escape room, and pottery painting. Joshua and Anna stayed later in Sioux Falls for a date where he popped the question and she accepted! We now have another wedding to look forward to!

This is a reenactment as Joshua originally asked Anna at Falls Park in Sioux Falls.

Our growing family!

Skip ahead a few days to New Year's Day and the Bleeker Christmas celebration. We had not been in Iowa for Christmas in six years and had so much fun. Nicolas and Josie were on their honeymoon (see next post for wedding pictures!), Caleb and Mikaela had already left to drive back to Colorado for Caleb to start class on Tuesday, and a couple nieces were working but the rest of the Bleeker clan was together! 

 

Meet Willow

 I wasn't too sure about adopting another cat after Smokey died, but Seth did a good job in his appeals for a new cat. After a visit to the humane society, Seth immediately bonded with little Willow and she is now a well-loved fixture in the Herman home. She has such a sweet nature and loves to snuggle. Every morning she greets Russ with her front paws outstretched and gives him a hug before she is fed. 

Winter Activities

Seth traveled with eleven other students in his class on a school-sponsored trip to London, England the end of October/early November. He was able to experience the National Portrait Gallery, Westminster Abby, Churchill War Rooms, Benjamin Franklin House, Great Fire Memorial, St. Dunstan-in-the-East, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Globe Theatre, Burrough's Market, The Mousetrap play, Hampton Court Palace, Maritime Museum, Piccadilly Circus, British Museum, Camden Market, Kings Cross Station, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the London Eye. They packed quite a bit in five days!

I took my own trip about the same time to Aurora, CO to visit Caleb and Mikaela. Caleb had a few days without class, so he could show me around the medical school campus and their favorite places in the area, including church on Sunday. I also met their puppy, Augie, for the first time!

A beautiful mountain hike

An al fresco lunch

Denver Botanical Gardens

 

A view from one of the medical school buildings.

My niece, Emily, was running in the NAIA cross-country nationals for Northwestern College in Vancouver, WA, in mid-November.  Russ and I decided rather spontaneously to take a quick trip to cheer her on. The drive was beautiful and we had so much fun surprising them!

Russ and Coach Wolf talking "shop."

Other than Seth, none of the kids were home for Thanksgiving. Caleb and Mikaela spent Christmas in San Diego with her family and the "Iowa" kids spent Thanksgiving with the Bleeker and Herman families in Iowa. We decided to spend Thanksgiving with our church family and invited anyone interested to join us at church for a Thanksgiving meal. We had a wonderful time of food and fellowship.

Seth's culturally themed "Friendsgiving." Seth brought a French pastry for dessert.

The week after Thanksgiving I flew to Ontario, CA, and met my mom at Aunt Lila's house to visit her for a few days. We enjoyed worshiping at her church, seeing family we hadn't seen for a while, and just spending time catching up.

The girls had their first indoor track meet at SDSU!

Youth group Christmas party at the Rollerdrome.

Now we are gearing up for yet another trip--to Iowa for Christmas and Nicolas and Josie's wedding!