This was an unusual Christmas. Uncle Walt's cancer became dire in the weeks leading up to the holidays and so Grandma Barbara decided to forgo her usual visit to Minnesota and stay with her brother and his wife in Florida. It was a blessed decision because after a long battle with brain cancer, Walter passed away peacefully on Christmas day. He was a wonderful father figure to Dad - the kind of man who loved to help out, who knew how to fix everything. It was a sad passing of an important man.
Since Aunt Katie and Grandma were going to be in Florida on Christmas, we decided to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Schneeman's house. We packed up a few presents and food for Christmas eve and headed over to celebrate with the whole Schneeman family. We went to mass on Christmas eve at St. Joes. It was the first time we'd seen the new alter and so that was quite a beautiful surprise. The Waldvogels, The Eric Schneemans, The Chris Schneemans and us were all at mass together and it kicked off a lovely Christmas Eve party at Grandma's ad Grandpa's house.
Santa came bearing gifts for all the kids, we sang Christmas Carols and ate beef tenderloin. There is something special about this family tradition - and we very well may be at the twilight of this era - so it was precious to me to sleep in my childhood home with my children and husband. To wake up and have coffee and Christmas breakfast with my parents was the real gift of the season for me.
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| Baking Christmas Cookies |
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| Katie took MJ to the last year of the Holidazzle Parade |
