Only 12 days until Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!
I'm not sure I'll write again before Christmas so I added the premature greeting. Today is a windy windy day! Our Christmas tree in the screened porch blew over, but there is no sense in setting it back up until this wind stops. Yesterday was a fun and busy day. It started out going to Erin's graduation in Brookings at 10 am. It was a typical college gradation ceremony, long and boring. But the party at Johnny Carinos was great! They have the nicest party room there. It has a fireplace, windows with a view and good privacy. I highly recommend it! And we had a great waitress too. The food is always top notch Italian. One interesting thing was the mussels. Have you ever had them? Well, I would advise taking a close look at the insides of one of those creatures. Kyla dug one open before she ate it. There is some nasty hairy thing inside. Seriously, some things should not be eaten. But Grandma and Grandpa seemed to enjoy them. I'll stick with chicken, everything else tastes like chicken anyway doesn't it? And I don't have to worry about any nasty hairy innards either. OK, moving along. We had a great time at the party, then we came back up to Dell Rapids to go to the Polar Express at the theatre. It was an entertaining show. Actually the story was lame but the animation was incredible. After that Deb, Brian, Tim, Erin and Jeff came over for Tom and Jerry's and Ginger Snaps (the cookie). They left at about 7:30. Then we went to an outdoor party at Ron and Cindy Friedbauers. It was really neat. They had tons of Christmas lights, a campfire, hot cocoa and cider and Christmas goodies. They had music hooked up. We spent sometime in the house and garage too. It was very festive. We left there at about 10:30 and went to Mark and Kellie Sneve's for a little get together. It was fun relaxing and visiting with old friends. We looked at some old motorcycle trip pictures and reminisced, had some more snacks, and enjoys each other's company. We finally made it home at 1:30. So it was a very fun day!
Are you all ready for Christmas? We are really looking forward to the kids coming home for the holidays. It will be so nice to all be together for a whole week. I'm trying diligently to have everything ready before they get here so I can relax and enjoy their company. I think I am on schedule!
Today is the local tour of homes. Kyla, Dianna, and I are planning to go this afternoon. It is always fun to see everyone's decorations and the interiors of other homes. Tonight is the car club Christmas party at the Prairie View. It is always a fun time. We do a gift exchange, and enjoy a nice meal paid for by the club. I have grown to enjoy this group of people even though the whole car thing isn't big for me.
Our LandMark party was on Friday night. It was really nice. We were at the Prairie View for that too. There were 12 of us there. Everyone gets along really well. I can't believe I have been selling Real Estate for 12 years already, and Greg for 4 years. Wow, time just flies!
Well, I hope I haven't bored everyone to tears. I hope that you are enjoying the preparations for Christmas as much as we are. Don't forget our party next Saturday the 18th, you are all invited!
-Jeannie