So, that happened..

It’s February 2010, and this only our second post since 2009. And that post was well before Christmas.

Its times like these I’m glad I don’t have to answer to a higher blog authority, especially if the authority was Mrs. Leidman, my 8^th grade English teacher. She may have only been five-feet tall and 120 pounds, but she was tough and feisty. If she was in charge, I’d now be typing blog updates every day after school until well into 2011, and just happy to be alive.

But I digress, much like I blog.

Since our last post in 2009 a few things have happened. Let’s begin with Christmas and start with the annual Riddle caroling party.

For all intents and purposes it was Miles’ first appearance at this long-standing tradition. Last year at this time he was only a couple months old and spent the evening sleeping or snuggling on his Mana. This year he stayed up well past his bedtime enjoying Grandpa Mike’s guitar playing, the Christmas lights and the chorus of voices that, as a whole, are always more joyful than in-tune. I accept my part for both adding joy and subtracting tune.

For a better part of the night the party was minus Sarah and Jeremy. They were busy preparing for a little trip that would take them half way around the world to be with their kids and add to their, and our, family.

That leads me to Christmas Eve. The first time we hosted a Christmas gathering.

As it turned out, it was the first time ever we weren’t expected to be anywhere on Christmas Eve. A first, and unique enough that we were happy to be where we were.

With an open docket, we decided to do church and dinner with Sarah and Jeremy, joining them for the First Universalist Christmas Eve children’s service. Although the journey only took us to Uptown, a few miles from home, it was still an adventure. It was snowing and raining (seriously, raining in Minnesota on Christmas Eve?) as generously as the season is holly. It was a short, traditional service that featured a number of performances from children’s choir. After each reading and song Miles felt the need to either applaud or respond loudly verbally. We laughed in the comfort of all the other parents attempting to “wrangle” their wee ones doing the same thing. Whew. Actually, it seemed the few of us who made it were just happy to be in each other’s company on such a winter’s day…

Service was followed by dinner at our house. We chose a traditional meal: Carnita Tacos. It was a memorable dinner for many reasons. The gathering ended early as both couples still had lots to do. Us with Christmas, them with Christmas and that little trip…

Christmas Eve…. full of last minute to-dos… Katy was busy getting everything that needed to get done, done; I was busy trying to stay awake and baking goods in the spare time. Eventually, the night wrapped up with both of us passing out in the living room.

This led to Christmas morning. It marked our first Christmas morning at our house with our first baby boy. Obviously, this was more significant to Katy and I than Miles (marked by me tearing up as I wrote this), but he had a great time too. Gifts were unwrapped and good times were had. He was more interested in the wrapping and bows than the gifts… we should hope to only be so lucky for the years to come…

This was followed by Christmas Day at Grandma Becky’s and Grandpa Mike’s then onto Great Grandma’s for a full family celebration and dinner. On all accounts, it was a wonderful Christmas full of unwrapping gifts for Miles, who continued to show that sometimes the best gift is the wrapping and the box it comes in.. Had it been a few degrees cooler, it may never have happened this way as it continued to rain all day. The oddest Christmas weather we can ever remember.

Christmas with my family got a bit disjointed. The weather led to undesirable traveling conditions, so we had Christmas in mid-January at my sister’s house in Brainerd. Actually, it was kind of nice to extend the holiday.

Miles had a great time with his older cousin, James. They both got sleds from Grandma and Grandpa Tepley and Miles enjoyed his first sledding outing.

What seemed to be a never-ending trip eventually came to a fantastic finish. Sarah and Jeremy returned from Ethiopia with their children Hirut, Helen, and Binyam at the end of January. Since we spent the better part of January waiting with baited breath for updates on their travels and adoption process, to finally have the family home was a true splendor.

All in all, we’re all happy and making our way through another Minnesota winter. Here’s to more consistent, less weighty blog updates. Pictures and video to come. Hopefully yet this year…

Cheers,

The Tepleys.