December 1 found us making our way to Petal, MS to spend some time with Jane.

After getting set up, we went to Hattiesburg to meet Jane and Tom, along with some of our other friends.  We went to a nighttime Christmas parade and tree lighting in the park.  The evening ended with supper at Tratroria Pizza.

The next day, we met at Mario’s along with lots of other people to celebrate friend Ken Pace’s birthday.

Dave and I went to Walk On’s to watch the Vikings play.  Once again, we won.  This is an awesome year for our team.

Monday, December 5 we joined a group of people at Hutch’s house for Monday night football, great food and fun people.  I don’t remember who played or won but my choice was different from most of the group.  I suspect the Saints were playing…

Tom came for supper on Tuesday.  We served the tortellini soup in our freezer.  Both Tom and Jane seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

We left for Minnesota on the 8th.  This time, we were not planning to make the trip in one day.  Seventeen hours is too long!  We stayed in O’Fallon, MO at the Super 8.  We got to Mankato the next day and checked into our motel, Quality Inn and Suites.  After getting settled, we headed to Applebee’s for an appetizer to call supper and a Margarita.

Beth, Aaron and the boys came to the motel the next afternoon.  We enjoyed some hot tub time (the pool was way to cold even though it was supposed to be heated), pizza, family time and Christmas gifts.  The boys enjoyed playing with Boo, the pool and Hide and Seek.

Dave and I went to South Street on Sunday to watch the Vikings lose and spend time with Mike and Rebecca.  When the game was over, we went to Angie’s house, to stay for 5 days.  We enjoyed spending that time with Angie, Parker and Kyle.  Dave made a few repairs at the house.  On Thursday we went to 7 West Taphouse with Dave’s son Mike for a holiday lunch.  Later we took Angie to South Street again, to meet up with Mike and Rebecca.  After they left for the Mavericks hockey game, Dave, Angie and I went across the street to my favorite pizza place, Paglia’s.  Yum!

On the way back to Angie’s house, we drove through Sibley Park to see the holiday lights.  They are always so well done.  We had not seen them for about 3 years due to Covid.

On Friday, the 16th, we drove to Minneapolis to pick up Sierra for the start of her Christmas holiday.  She has finished her first semester at the U of M with only seven more to go!  It has been snowing for a couple of days but we had good roads going to the Cities.  We stopped for lunch in Jordan at Clancey’s.  The bartender remembered Dave from 5 years ago when he used to stop there about once a week.

After getting Sierra home, we loaded up all of our “stuff” to go to Teresa’s.  The roads were not bad but ground drifting made some slick spots.  We got there safely and spent the evening with Teresa, Cameron, Allison and Kody.

The next day, we held the annual Lindberg Christmas.  Angie, Kyle, Sierra and Parker came over as well as Harry and his friend Karen.  We had a delicious brunch before spending time chatting and opening gifts.  Teresa gave us some Figgy Pudding SPAM.  Hmmmm, I wonder how that will be… She also gave us fixings for Bloody Marys.  Angie gave us a bottle of wine that I am anxious to try, Minnesota Nice Hot Dish Red  which is supposed to pair nicely with leftovers.  My daughters know us so well!  I think the kids and grand kids liked the gifts we had been picking up all over the US since last March.

Dave and I left Sunday morning, for the trip back to Mississippi.  Rain and winds had frozen the pickup tailgate so we had to put everything in the back seat.  It was a good thing we didn’t have all of the gifts anymore or I am not sure what we would have done.  Boo was not crazy about having her space invaded!

After a night at the Candlewood Suites in Cape Girardeau, MO, we got back to Jane’s house on the 19th.  That was a neat motel, like a studio apartment and very reasonably priced.  I think Boo is getting tired of sleeping in different places though.

Our first few days back in Petal were very laid back, getting the trailer put back in order, wrapping the rest of our gifts and making plans for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On December 22, Hannah and Blakely came to Jane’s house to make Christmas cookies and other goodies. I was on hand to take pictures.

On Christmas Eve, Jane, Tom, Dave and I went to services at Asbury Church. When we got back to Jane’s, we were joined by Hannah, Jordan and Blakely; also Garrett and Anna. We had lots and lots of goodies to eat before opening gifts. It was a wonderful family evening.

Dave and I enjoyed Christmas morning by ourselves. He is pictured below in his Minnesota all sports shirt that I found for him. We went to Jane’s for a sausage and biscuit casserole and watched the movie Christmas Chronicles. We all went to Becky’s house (Tom’s sister) for a Christmas supper. It was an awesome Christmas!

We spent our last night in Mississippi by going to downtown Hattiesburg where we got to listen to Hub City Sound Machine perform. We had decided not to stay out until midnight to see the ball drop. Instead, we went to Becky’s house along with Eddy, Tom and Jane. We ended up staying until almost midnight!

And now, on to a different location and a new year!