Santa Never Fails!

We had resigned ourselves that we wouldn't be seeing our families this Christmas holiday. We would just have to be patient and wait until our trip in February. Late November, to our surprise, we find out that StoneRidge Guy's brother and sister were planning a trip to Boseman, Montana the week after Christmas. What was even better was that sons Casey & Ryan were going to join them. This option afforded us an opportunity to not only see our sons, but to see other family as well. A no brainer, we would make a quick trip to Montana. The plan was to leave on Dec 27th and stay until the 31st. The boys would drive back with us and spend New Year's Eve at our new home. Casey had to leave on the 1st and Ryan would stay til the 6th.

Because I knew we would be seeing the boys only 2 days after Christmas, I opted to not ship their gifts, but deliver them in person. Much more fun for everyone all around, especially since they both had included another unusual request from "Santa". So, if you don't already know, a few years ago they started to include some type of wacky gift request on their Christmas wish list. It has become quite the challenge for "Santa" to come up with them. It seems each year they become a bit more imaginative on both sides.

Casey asked for a pinata of himself as an elf filled with eggnog candy canes and Ryan asked for a remote control Laker car. Santa had been working diligently for a month on both of them, so I was very excited to see their reactions.

As planed we left for Montana on the 27th arriving in Boseman late that afternoon. We would be staying in my sister-in-law's sister's condo right downtown and only 15 minutes from her Mother's 15 acre ranch house where the rest of the clan would be staying.

They all decided to have dinner at the condo that night to give us time to settle in. It didn't take long before the Christmas presents came out and the games began. Santa makes our boys work for their gifts. Usually there's a scavenger hunt involved to find clues to the location of their presents. This year they had to find the numbers 1 - 7 in order. Each member of the family was assigned a number and they had to guess who was who. A wrong answer meant they had to perform a task.

Act like a chicken

Steve thought it was quite entertaining.

Rub your tummy and pat your head.

Casey & Evan

The clues

The elf pinata filled with candy canes and eggnog candy

There is a remote that controls this movable basketball court. The Coby doll actually throws the ball.

The next day we headed to the ranch house after renting cross country skiing equipment. Brother's-in-law Paul and John cooked the two dinners we would enjoy. The days were filled with games, skiing, reading and just relaxing. Hard to believe you can do that with 12 people in one house, but it was all done gladly.

The ranch houseThe siblings: Paul, Teri & Steve

The cousins (top to bottom/left to right): Grant, Tyler, Ellie, Evan, Casey & Ryan

Paul's wife Sue. Mother to Grant, Tyler and Evan.

Casey & Steve

John, Teri's husband, in foreground left, giving Ryan & Steve a lesson. Dad to Ellie.

Taking a walk: Teri, Grant, Ellie, Evan, Tyler & John

Maggie looking for a stick. She loved going along.

Casey

John made 15 bean soup for dinner our 2nd night there.

This was dinner each night. Loud but fun!

We left Montana on New Year's Eve morning in a very crowded car. 4 people and a dog along with every one's luggage and presents made for tight quarters. We made it home in time to get ready for the New Year's Eve party which I talked about in the previous post. And enjoyed the few days we had with the boys before they headed home. We were lucky to have wonderful weather the whole time so we could truly enjoy Montana. Boseman is a very cool town and I wouldn't mind going back to visit again.