two sundays ago i baked this almond kringla, packed up

my sleigh and headed to northfield for an annual Christmas celebration.

my friend leslie and her two daughters and i are besties. leslie and i

met 33 years ago and our lives have 

been intertwined ever since.

we've shared most of our happiest days, and also some

of our hardest and through all of that, a fierce bond has been forged. 

we have so darned much fun when we're together, i wish it could be

bottled up and shared... anyhoo~ here's a peek at our 2015 

Christmas celebration.

when i arrived in northfield i decided to take a quick drive down mainstreet before going to

christa's.  this little town is one of the prettiest in minnesota~ built right alongside a river 

and very historic. the store front windows were beautiful. it all made me so 

happy i started feeling like will ferrel in elf.

this is the archer house inn. i haven't stayed there, but it's one of leslie and her

hubbie's fav. places to sleep.

so many fun shops...something for everyone here folks

now it was off to christas.

when i walked into her house i didn't know where to start. she had her whole

house so decked out it seriously could have been in a magazine.

here are just a few of the beautiful areas i took photos of.

(her bathrooms and 3 bedrooms were decorated too.)

the dining room table where we had our brunch
 was absolutely magical. 

there were decorations and inspirations, table favors and a new mug for each

of us at our places. delicious food was about to be served and

being there and having someone fuss like this for me almost

reduced me to tears.

mama leslie brought us these gingerbread mug huggers from anthropologie.

i'd seen them in their catalog but they were even better in person.

: )

the inside of maggie's new mug~

christa and leslie share a memory of a huge snowstorm

and looking out the window to see about 200 robins in the yard...

this mug reminded them of that.

we were also celebrating leslie's birthday... (61 but who's counting?)

christa told me if the house was on fire, this swedish candle centerpiece

was one thing she'd grab. the heat from tea lights spins the 

propeller at the top!

christa's last name begins with a U.

grama leslie has given her grandboys all these nutcrackers.

*it's traditions like these they will always remember.

the front porch at the U's was beautiful too.

there was an old sled on the other side of the front door.

we all noticed how pretty the rain made their flowering crab berries look.

festive dogs were everywhere~

and this gruff looking old dude was nestled in a cupboard.

christa's oldest carved the candy cane.

c's treasured wooden nativity from jerusalem, displayed on a cake plate 

i'd really like a piece (or two) of this yummy quiche right now!

momma L and her girls

we exchange gifts and have fun searching for just the right thing for each other

all year long~

anthropologie ornament. 

i LOVE him....so reminds me of my boys and Lars.

look at his tiny stitched lips!

we didn't even get time to sit in their porch, but it sure looked

pretty in the background, while we sat by the fire.

Christmas is over now, and soon we'll be packing away the

tinsel~ getting ready for a new year to begin.

i hope you had lots of moments of joy and happiness that you

can look back on as the winter grows long.

but.....

*i think if we're being honest here, almost all of us also

had some moments where we were ready for it all

to be over, the overeating and the mess and ready for the company to head on home. 

: ) yee haw!!

we got the snow i was wishing for, both

at home and at our cabin and our clan spent all day

fishing on leech lake yesterday.

i'm just along for the fun of it and am not a 

real fisher, but after a quiet day out there, with little luck,

 lars stepped out of our ice house to go see if the kids

were catching anything. (we were in 5 different portable shacks)

 i saw a cork go down. i stood up and in a panick attempted to set

the hook and then started reeling in the line. it didn't feel

like much of anything so i assumed i'd soon see a little perch through

the hole, and then all of a sudden i saw a MONSTER walleye appear.

i started screaming like a little girl yelling "DALE"  "ERIC"

"COME HERE", and then all by myself i got it up and on the ice...and proceeded

to pee my pants!

a 26 inch walleye guys.

my biggest catch EVER. too big to even keep, but

i did get a picture (a bad one) with it before eric helped

get it off the hook and slipped it back down the hole.

i'm still smiling thinking about it. biggest catch of the day! horray!

well, it's sunday and most everyone is still sleeping.

i'm going to say goodbye now and start cleaning up.

Merry Christmas, happy sunday
take care & be blessed,

xo beth