Spearing and Shopping

Two weekends ago Rustin and I parted ways for an extended weekend. He was invited to go up north on a 'men only' spearing trip. There's a reason why it's a men only thing. He took the camera, so unfortunately there are no cute pictures of Grace in the Cities. We left at noon on Saturday and met Michelle at our hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites by the Mall of America. I would recommend it, especially if you have kids. Grace slept the best she ever has at a motel because each room has two rooms in it. She felt like she was in her own little. As we arrived it started snowing and didn't quit until Monday evening. Thankfully not much accumulated, but it made for unfun traffic. We ate supper at TGIFridays and then went to the mall for the rest of the evening. On Sunday we arrived at church and met many old friends and quite a few surprise visitors. Grace did pretty good in the morning and was a crab in the afternoon. Pretty typical. She needs her sleep just like her mom. After church we hunted down a Target in the area. We went back to the mall in the evening. On Monday we had a full day planned, so we got up at 6 with Grace and started getting ready. I should comment on the complimentary breakfast they offer every day. There are about 6 different stations filled with fruit and breakfast food. They have a chef who will cook you an omelet to order or pancakes or whatever you want. In the evening they have a happy hour with a spread of snacks and veggies. We were well fed. There were 9 or 10 floors and our room was on the 5th floor. Grace loved to go into the hall. It overlooked the lobby, restaurant and tables set up for breakfast and happy hour. There were many trees and plants and ponds mixed in the setup also. The only negative was that Grace, if not watched closely, could slip through the bars, so she didn't get to spend as much time in the hall as she would've liked. It was nice to have Michelle along to help with Grace duty. After breakfast we went to Rosedale Shopping Center. It is located in northern Minneapolis. It was a nice, less crowded, mall. I was going to take Grace up to say hi to Santa, but when we were about 30 feet away, she was tensing up so I decided not to push it. We ate lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and then travelled to the Somali Mall. It is located in downtown Minneapolis, so we didn't want to get there too late in the day. We felt fairly safe as we entered the gated shopping area. It was very different than I had imagined. We wound through a long hallway and arrived at the store, greeted by an eager saleswoman. We looked through the many skirt racks as the women would hover around and speak to each other. Who knows what they were saying! We noticed that if you picked up a skirt that said size large, it actually looked like it would fit a size small person. When you wanted to try on a skirt they ushered you into their booth and pulled a flimsy curtain and sat and watched you commenting how good the skirt looked. After a half hour of looking around and being pestered, we left with one skirt. It was a neat experience for me, but I don't know if I will have to go again. We went to another shopping center on the west side of the Cities. By the time we were leaving the snow was falling harder and rush hour was starting. It took a little over an hour to get to our motel where usually it takes 20-30 minutes. I was tired so we decided to order in pizza. Tuesday morning we didn't get down to breakfast in time so we travelled around for a LONG time trying to find a Denny's. We finally found one and the breakfast was delicious. We were going to shop at IKEA but decided we didn't know how the roads would be, so we parted ways. Grace and I stopped in Willmar to pick up her 1 year photos and do some more Christmas shopping. (I'm almost done!) Michelle drove through rain and snow almost the whole way, so it's good we left when we did. Grace and I slept good that night.

Rustin didn't leave til Sunday after church. They drove through snow up to a resort. (I don't know which one.) They arrived late but stayed up late buying groceries and playing games.



This is Rustin's catch after a whole day of spearing. That's from 9 til 4 or 5. They set up these spear houses and each of them sits in his own house with a propane heater all day by hisself. I don't think too many women would want to torture themselves this way.




This is Rustin's catches for Tuesday. Two 7 pounders and one 5 pounder. It was a little more of an exciting day for him. Every night for supper they eat fish. They each brought a bunch home, so I get to try my hand at making fish.



In case you didn't know, this is what a spear hook looks like. They lure the fish into their hole with some sort of bait and then stab them with this hook.



Here's Rustin and the Guys.

This past weekend church was cancelled because of the snowing and blowing. We called into Tremont and had a very relaxing day at home. I'm kind of holing up at home and trying not to go out if I don't have to. Yesterday the thermometer said -20. I'm looking forward to heading south next week. Hopefully we won't bring the snow and cold with us!

Thanksgiving

I just want to say to the commenters on my blog, Thank You for providing entertainment for the rest of us. I'm glad you enjoyed Grace's first birthday as much as I did. It's good to know my diary is being read, and I'm not doing this for naught.

My Mom and Dad came up the Sat. before Thanksgiving and stayed until the following Sat. It was very enjoyable to have them here for awhile. They were surprised to see how much Grace had grown. She was a ham for them which I was thankful for. When they walked in the door she went right to them with smiles and blabbering. On Monday, Mom and I took Grace to Willmar to get her one year px taken. She screamed and cried the entire time. You wouldn't be able to tell by the px, though, because the photographer was excellent with kids. She distracted Grace enough to snap a shot and then the crying would start back up. I was glad when it was finished and happy to see some good ones.

We did alot of relaxing, visiting Rustin's parents, house projects, sleeping, outdoor projects, just enjoying the time together.

My siblings arrived early Thur. morning. Grace welcomed them here at 2 am and proceeded to stay awake crying until 6 am. I honestly think this was the worst night I have ever had with her. She fell asleep until 9 am and woke up her cheerful self. I don't know if she had a stomach-ache or if she was teething. This is what I am blaming it on. She has 4 teeth coming in on top, so even her face is starting to change.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Rustin's parents in the afternoon and evening. I always look forward to the scrumptious turkey dinner.

I worked Wed, Fri, and Sat at the store, so Mom came with on Wed to help out. I think she had fun, but you'd have to ask her. She was able to peruse the aisles anyway and fill up boxes to take home. Good thing they didn't have any passengers. Fri I took off some to spend more time with my siblings. Rustin put them and Dad to work trimming trees in our yard. One branch almost fell on our house during the last snowfall, so we decided it should go. Later in the evening he hung Christmas lights outside.

My family left on Sat so they could make it to work and school on Mon. They arrived to Tremont just in time for a 4 inch snow. I was glad that for once it was them and not us! Sat. evening we went to Rustin's parents for one last shindig before ReKeeta went home. She was here for two weeks and Eric came up for Thanksgiving and a ride home. Abbi and Grace had much fun together in the two weeks. Abbi is 6 months older than Grace, so there was definate tasks she could handle that Grace couldn't. After observing Grace crawling everywhere, Abbi started crawling sometimes. It was cute when Abbi would tell Grace 'no-no' for things she thought Grace shouldn't be doing.

This week has consisted of putting up the rest of the Christmas decor inside, cleaning up the house, and playing around with Grace. Jody came over on Mon and we made cookies for a cookie exchange we are both in. This weekend the Christmas gatherings are beginning! On Sat Grace and I are going to the Cities to meet Michelle for a few days. Rusting is going Spearing up north with a bunch of guys, so I thought it would be perfect timing for a girl's weekend.