Montana Writes Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas everyone. My week started off with a nice treat — a pork neckbone and pigsfoot from Corinna’s freezer. We are alive and well, although matted fur and muddy paws are the norm these days. Josiah turned 6 months old and is a middle-of-the-road 19 pounds. But he’s off the charts for his height — as tall as a 12 month old. He can’t quite sit up by himself yet, but he’s close. He’s got two teeth on the bottom and chewing on everything. We call him “the Grabber” and “the Crinkler”, since he likes to crinkle up Jed’s tractor catalogs with his fist.  Jed got his big Christmas present a bit early —  a new bunk bed. Corinna found a local builder outside Columbus (BuckeyeBunkBeds.com) who custom-made our bed with local lumber. It is awesome! Jed is already playing fort and “jailbird” with Uncle Torsten inside of it. (Uncle Torsten came for a visit this past week, and gave Jed the time of his life as usual). K and C also took their boys on a real vacation to Chicago in December. They stayed in a super nice hotel with a river view. It was both the boys’ first time seeing a big city with skyscrapers. They saw the Bean, Grant Park, the German Christmas Market (where Kurt once proposed to Corinna), and even rode a train to Geneva. Otherwise, it’s been a fun month of Christmas traditions for the family — Advent wreath making, Christmas tree decorating, cookie baking, St. Nicholas Day, Elf on the Shelf, visiting Santa in Elmore, seeing Zoolights, and opening four Advent calendars! (One of them is a 3-D tractor with a wagon full of straw bales). Our Christmas was pretty great — a nice worship service at our church on Saturday night. Then K and C lit the candles on the tree in the morning, and Jed and Josiah opened their presents after singing a few carols. (Jed can sing Away in a Manger!). Jed’s been enjoying his favorite Xmas presents:  forage harvester and grain auger toys. (Do you even know what those are?) Woof. –Montana