Trisha Travels to Chicago

The first weekend in January, Trisha traveled to Chicago to celebrate Kim's birthday. They enjoyed a fun night out at House of Blues to watch Trippin Billies (a great Dave Matthews tribute band). The following night, Trisha got together with her high school friends for their annual get together (Trisha hasn't been in over 20 years). While Trisha was in Chicago, Ron got out to a friend's 50th birthday celebration. Great weekend all around!


At House of Blues...


Girls Holiday Celebration at Stacy Janda's House...


Paul Valentini's 50th Birthday Celebration...

New Years Week

The Pergandes have never been more excited to welcome in a new year. We are excited to put 2017 behind us. We enjoyed a simple New Year's celebration. Mom and Dad went to a nearby friend's house to welcome in the New Year while Presley hosted a friend at our house and Canyon celebrated with some other high school friends.



Mom and Dad also enjoyed our first Wild Game of 2018 and enjoyed watching them crush the Buffalo Sabres.

Teacher Appreciation Night - Girls Hockey

The high school girls hockey team holds an annual teacher appreciation night each year during one of the hockey games. It's a pretty cool event with over 30 teachers being recognized for the impact they have on the girls education and learning. Presley selected her Mr. Corey Christopherson for her teacher. He taught her in gym in the fall and is now teaching her in health class. She was a bit nervous for the event (since she is only an 8th grader). Really cool night!

Holiday Time at the Pergandes

We were excited to host Grammie, Grandma Harriet, Aunt Kimmy and Auntie Annie for Christmas this year. It's a special tradition to host for our family and we treasure the time and memories with our family. This year included some traditions like baking ginger bread cookies with Grandma Harriet (this year Canyon got in on the fun), attending xmas eve service at church as a family, hosting Barbara Jondahl and her family on Christmas Eve and opening presents on Christmas morning (this year in our special X-mas PJs from Aunt Kimmy). It also included new traditions of high school hockey tournaments for Presley and Canyon. Both teams made it to the championship games. Presley's team had a great game but lost in overtime while Canyon's team took home the #1 spot! To round out the year, Mom and Dad got to head downtown on 12/30 to see 4onthe Floor to celebrate the re-lighting of the Grain Belt beer sign on the Mississippi river.

Gingerbread Cooking Making with G.H...


Christmas Eve Service


Xmas Eve with Barbara and the Abbeys...


Our new Xmas PJs from Aunt Kimmy...


Christmas Morning Present Opening...



Pregame Party with Grammie (she's got coffee :))


JV Championship at the Schwan's Cup...


Grainbelt Lighting Afterglow Party with Ron's Cemba Pals...

Central Singers Holiday Concert

Presley participates in a singing group at school on Thursday mornings. Each year, this group has the opportunity to sing at Mall of America during the holiday season and sing holiday tunes. It's one of Presley's highlights of participating in the group (I think she likes to skip school and go shopping). This year, Mom was able to make it to the concert and be one of the chaperones for her and her friends. Fun day, fun experience!

Ron's Birthday Present to the Family - Welcome Roxxy!

The Pergande crew has fallen for our little Roxxy. She is feisty, sassy, and loveable. On December 10th, Ron's Birthday, he gave us a present by welcoming her as our newest member of the family. We are still committed to fostering a couple of animals each year to save the lives of dogs and cats on the "chopping block" but we are excited to have a dog we can call our own and introduce her to the rest of our family this coming holiday. The kids have been awesome taking care of her, cleaning up after, playing with her, and taking her for potty breaks. Here's an excerpt from our holiday card (she was still a foster at this point) and on our christmas tree shopping excursion. Welcome Roxxy!