Skiing with Friends in Vermont

The Pergandes headed to Vermont after Christmas with our good friends the Haddons and the Rizzos for some fun skiing and to ring in the new year with good pals.

We skiied 2 days in the Stowe, the historic ski resort in the Northeast. The kids really progressed on the hills with Presley sticking to skiing and Canyon trying out Snowboarding for the first time.



Mom and Dad skiied with our pals while the kids were in ski school, checking out some great runs like Nosedive (where we lost Ron)!




We celebrated Mike's birthday at the "Shed" where we enjoyed Growlers to take home.


Stowe is just outside Burlington, which is a cool town in and of itself. We took some time off from skiing to check out the Ben and Jerry's factory tour (yummy) and the flagship Burton store (Jeff Burton started snowboarding at Stowe), where we outfitted Dad in some new sassy gear while Presley tried to pull out her loose tooth!




Our last scheduled day of skiing didn't happen because Vermont experienced some unseasonably warm weather. So the day after we returned from Vermont, we took the kids to local Buck Hill with some friends to get their skiing and snowboarding fix. Fun way to end a great vacation!

Christmas 2010

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas holiday this year. It was a smaller celebration but festive none the less. We had 15 people for our annual Christmas Eve dinner, including Sammy, who has helped make this an annual tradition for our family. Christmas morning was a special celebration with Grandma Harriet, Aunt Kimmy, and Grammie at our home. Santa made his annual visit, enjoying the cookies that had been decorated with Nerds, and treating the kids to some very special presents. The day was completed with sledding and bonfire festivities. And our new annual tradition will now include a family dance off! Go Grammie Go!

Our Week with Grandma Harriet

We had a wonderful & week before Christmas with Grandma Harriet. She was a regular extension of our family while she was here.

Ron made a deal with the local Christmas tree seller to convince him to give us his remaining trees and outfit our yard to look like a winter wonderland.


Grandma Harriet takes one for the team. Welcome to Minnesota Grandma Harriet!


Grandma Harriet is able to be the special reader in Canyon's class. The kids loved her and she was able to see the impact that Annie had made when she visited the school (Proud Grandma and Mom!).


We celebrate a night downtown to check out the decorations (the North Pole) at Macy's and enjoy an authentic Polish dinner and drinks at Nye's Polanaise Room.



Canyon and Presley visit the Dentist. Canyon gets a lesson on how to brush his teeth better after finding out he has another cavity. Yuck!


Grandma Harriet and the kids make and decorate Gingerbread Cookies for us and for Santa!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Winter is here. The pond behind our house has frozen over and the kids are excited for Christmas. The kids were especially excited to visit Mom's work for the holiday breakfast. Santa and Mrs. Claus make a special trip to General Mills. The kids took special care to write Santa letters (and of course, they wouldn't show Mom and Dad), which he read and kept with him. This Christmas was special also because Grandma Harriet is now retired and was able to come early and help us decorate the tree and enjoy some of our day to day activities in MN. During her visit, Presley experienced her first real hockey game. And the locker room was decorated to celebrate the special event!