Well, we have survived our first Montana Christmas. We had a
nice time, though at first we were all a little sad about being apart from
family. Despite being two states away from family, we felt very loved. Several Skype
sessions and presents in the mail really helped connect us and made everything
just a little bit more festive.
Our holiday season started on December 15th when
we went up into the mountains to cut our tree. Getting up into thick trees and
deep snow made me very happy, I will always be a forest and mountain girl at
heart. We went up to the family cabin of one of Tim’s co-workers, he invited us
up to visit and cut our tree on his property. So we made a big batch of chili
to bring for lunch and drove an hour up into the mountains. We had a good time
visiting and picking our tree, though trudging through 3 ft deep snow carrying
two kids wasn’t easy. Connor tried his hardest to walk by himself but the snow
was just too deep. I got a great work out though, carrying the kids through all
that snow. We got our tree, then it was home again to decorate.
The week before Christmas I started baking cookies, though
this year I had to get a little creative since the list of kitchen things that
are still in storage include a stand mixer, rolling pin and cookie cutters.
They turned out pretty well despite the more hands on approach I had to take,
we ended up with frosted sugar cookies, molasses cookies, and peppermint bark.
The peppermint bark recipe was a new one for me, it came from Food Network
Magazines December issue. It was easy and came out really delicious, I just
made it a little too thick. Next year I need to use a bigger pan to spread it
out more. Still, a little goes a long way and a week later we still have some
left over for snacking.
Now those of you who know Tim well, will know that he can’t
go long without a project, so it will come as no surprise when I say that Saturday
before Christmas he started remodeling the bathroom. The bathroom really needed
it: the tub surround was cracked so the wall behind it was water damaged; the
fixtures were old; and the whole room was an unfortunate neon yellow. Still, it
was maybe a little much to take on to remodel the bathroom two days before
Christmas.
Christmas eve arrived and we had a lovely meal of some
venison supplied by a friend of ours
(more on the food of Christmas next post). We opened a present each and
attempted to read “A visit from ST. Nick” though the kids are a little young
yet.
On Christmas morning we had a nice time opening presents,
then our landlord called and told Tim that the gas lines were frozen and could
he come help unfreeze them? Since helping out around the property is in the
lease, and since the gas lines supply our heat as well, out Tim went into -10
degree temps to help Vernon out. Poor Tim spent most of Christmas day working
outside. The kids played with their new toys and I worked on Christmas dinner.
Tim and our landlord were thankfully finished in time for dinner. We had another
lovely meal and some mellow family time.
Overall the Gunderson’s had a very nice, quiet Christmas
here in Montana. This post is getting pretty long so I will post about our food
next time.
Happy Holidays!
No comments:
Post a Comment