We left the trailer and cycle in Mississippi and headed for Minnesota for the holidays in the truck. We had brought out our winter coats, Jo’s sweaters and dress clothes. Because the trailer would not be plugged in, we had taken all of our freezer food to Tom McKay’s. The outdoor fridge from the trailer was plugged in, in Jane’s garage with door stuff (condiments etc) from the trailer. All other trailer food was in our cooler, coming along to Minnesota. Our clothes and other belongings were packed into multiple plastic totes and tote bags. I tried to organize it so that we would be able to grab one or two containers when we needed them.
We saw a bit of snow on our way north and it seemed to be getting colder. We reached the farm about 9:30 PM on November November 20, to a white ground and 16 degrees. YIKES! We brought all of our belongings into the porch, for accessibility but also to keep things from freezing.
Dave and I were going to be hosting Thanksgiving so we had a lot of work to do. We started by heading to town the next day to buy groceries. I was nervous because I knew we would only be able to find frozen turkeys and I needed it thawed by the next morning. As soon as all shopping was done, we headed back to the farm and the first thing I did was put the turkey into a water bath to start the thaw.
The rest of the day and Thanksgiving morning were very busy. As usual, Dave was going to grill the stuffed turkey on a Weber grill. I made sweet potatoes and scalloped corn. Our guests provided the potatoes, salads, pies, relishes and dinner rolls.
We had a full house on Thanksgiving. Scott, Linda, Jimmy and Mason came. Dean and Karen drove down from Fargo and were planning to stay for the weekend. Mike and Bridget came from Mankato. Beth, Aaron and Lucas came from St. Peter. When lunch was over, I started simmering a turkey/wild rice soup, to have for supper. The day was a super success.
Because Dean and Karen were here but did not plan to return for Christmas, we decided to stick around for the weekend. We went in to New Ulm on Friday and did some shopping (mostly just browsing) and then headed to the Rathskeller, Minnesota’s oldest bar. We were meeting Scott, Linda, Jimmy and Jenna there but it would be a couple of hours. (Scott and Linda were just picking Jenna up from the airport.) It was torture but we managed to enjoy ourselves while waiting!!!
That Sunday, we packed up the truck again and headed to St. Peter. We were going to stay with our friend Rebecca. She lives in her parents house but they are gone for the winter. Dave and I would basically have the run of the house. Again, we unloaded all of our belongings from the truck. We put most of it into Rebecca’s spare bedroom and would leave it there for the rest of our Minnesota trip, only taking what we needed as we moved from place to place, couch surfing.
We kept very busy for the next month. Home trips always mean getting caught up on doctor’s visits. One was to my surgeon at Mayo. We had hoped it would be the final checkup but it seems the surgery from last summer was not as successful as hoped. I will see her again next spring to decide if we should try one more surgery. (I’ve already decided I will probably do that but will postpone until November or December 2019.)
We enjoyed catching up with all of our St. Peter friends. We went to some Legion Loot nights, meat raffle nights at The Redmen, Jim’s house and one night, we joined a group in Kristi’s garage for a football game. It was great to see Rebecca, Jim, Julie and Randy, Michelle and John, Kristi, Dan and Taylour, Taylor and so many other people. We also visited Beth and Lucas a couple of times.
One night, Dave and Jim were craving prime rib, so the three of us plus Rebecca went to the Boat Landing in Madison Lake for a prime rib supper. An unknown benefactor picked up our tab!!
We also spent a lot of time with family. We stayed with Teresa on two different occasions for a couple of days each and at my house with Angie, also for a couple of days each time. We attended many grandchildren’s programs, something I had not been able to do much while I was working. We went to Allison and Kody’s school program one day, their church program another day and Cameron’s concert one evening. We went to Sierra’s combination band and choir concert another night. Unfortunately, we were not able to get any pictures of Sierra’s concert.
One of the fun things we did was to arrange a surprise birthday party for our friend Jim. We held it at the American Legion. There was a snow storm that day so we did not think many people would come. We were surprised by the huge turn out and happy that it was indeed a surprise for Jim’s “Sex” birthday.
Our final visit to Teresa’s house was a couple of days before the Lindberg family Christmas on December 22. We went early to help her get ready for the brunch that was planned. (I’m not sure she would agree we were much help but it was fun.)
The Friday that we were at Teresa’s, Dave’s number was drawn at the St. Peter Legion Loot night. If we had been there, we would have won $650!!! Oh well, family time is priceless!
The Christmas gathering was wonderful. We all brought food and as usual, there was too much but it was so yummy. Teresa’s kids Cameron,Allison and Kody were there. Angie’s kids Kyle, Sierra and Parker came. My ex and his girlfriend, Harry and Collette came. The only ones missing were Nate and Kate. We sure do miss them! Later in the day, Teresa’s friend Eric showed up. All of the gifts I got for the grand kids seemed to be a success. The girls gave Dave and I a neat picture board for the trailer so we can create a family wall.
We headed back to the farm on the 23rd, for the Peterson holiday celebration. One day was spent with Dave’s dad and last minute shopping. Some of our Mississippi friends had requested some “treats” from Minnesota so those items were on our shopping list. Joel, Tom and Jane wanted some cheese curds. Joel wanted some Schell’s Pils and Lanna wanted Grain Belt Blue. We were able to get everything except the Blue. It is a seasonal beer and had just been pulled off the shelf two weeks earlier. We will have to get that for her next summer.
On Christmas Eve, Scott, Linda, Jimmy, Mason and Jenna joined us at church in Sleepy Eye. We drove through the park on our way back to the farm, to see all of the lights. Many of these had been made and donated by one of my friends, Bob and Berni Schabert of Courtland. Beth, Aaron and Lucas were at the farm when we got back. After some visiting, we decided to open Christmas gifts before eating. Beth and Aaron still had another celebration to go to. It was so fun watching Lucas and Mason play together, helping each other open gifts. (Lucas had learned to walk since they saw each other on Thanksgiving.) After gifts, Beth and Aaron left and the rest of us spent the evening chatting and munching on goodies: meat and cheese sandwiches, lefsa, shrimp cocktail, cookies, salads and much more. It was great seeing everyone for one last time before we leave the state again.
Dave an I saved our gift opening for Christmas morning. First, I put an egg bake into he oven and then we sat down in front of the tree to exchange gifts. I really had not been sure what to get for him but he seemed to like my choices. One of his gifts to me was the puppy I had been begging for. This one is a brown lab named Max. She is stuffed, so we don’t have to worry about leaving her when we are out on our day trips away from the trailer. Funny Dave!
We headed back to Rebecca’s on Christmas evening to pack up the truck and get ready for our long trip back to Mississippi. We planned to leave by 4 AM the next day. It was a great trip but we were anxious to get back to our own home.