Christmas 2019

Christmas came fast this year. And Pergandes were catching up. This year, the Pergandes hosted Grandma Harriet, Grammie, Aunt Kimmy, Uncle Don, Laila, David, Jonathan and Jozy (the neighbor's dog). It was a full household. Great to have family hear and enjoy new and old traditions together.

Grandma Harriet joined us for Christmas tree decorating. It was Canyon's year to put on the Santa Tree topper.




Grandma Harriet worked with the kids on gingerbread cooking baking and decorating.



Aunt Kimmy treated us to awesome Christmas pajamas!



Jonathan enjoyed snuggling with everyone.




Santa brought new phones for the kids, which they enjoyed activating right away at the Apple Store.



And unfortunately, the holiday season also included an ACL operation for Presley, who was injured during a hockey game against one of the team's biggest rivals, Minnetonka. Surgery was scheduled for Decmeber 30th, which also gives us a week to recover before school starts back up.

November & December Family Excerpts

Presley and Mom continue to participate and volunteer in National Charity League. This is our selfie from the annual tea at Interlachen Country Club.



We enjoyed our annual family Thanksgiving tradition, which included football watching, game playing, and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that everyone helped make. This year, Domino decided to join in on the Domino game.



Presley's season started off with a bang as one of the top defense for her high school team. We had a surprise visit from the cousins Tim and Tara who showed up to cheer on Presley at the Farmington game.



Chicks with Wicks had to say "see you soon" to their pal Lynette who is moving to Arizona for her husband's new job. Going to miss this chick!



The soon to be four driver household welcomed a new car into the family. Canyon will be the lucky primary driver of this new Honda HRV. Everyone but Dad was excited for this new addition to the family.

Fall Excerpts

I have not been as good at updating the blog these days. But looked at photos to pull out a couple of fall highlights. Presley, Mom and Dad were fortunate to get invited to a Gopher Football game on a beautiful fall day. Dad was also invited to a game this fall with a couple of buddies. This has been a winning season for the Gophers. As of this post, the Gophers are 10-0, the most winning season in over a hundred years.



The Eden Prairie Eagles did not fare as well this season. They have historically been the best or one of the best teams in the state. This year the team fell to Rosemount in the playoffs. Nevertheless, the kids still enjoy going to the games and getting dressed up in the "themes". Here's a pic of Presley with the kids' friend Annabelle in "Pink Out".



This year is a very bittersweet year with Canyon's last year of high school. This fall, he joined some buddies on a college visit to Nebraska. Had a blast but unfortunately had a rough following week, pick up some bug that had him under the weather for 7 days, ultimately requiring a hospital visit for fluids and shots..... He's on the mend now, thank goodness.

1str Round College Applications Are Complete!

Canyon has been working hard all summer on his college applications, writing essays and research different schools. For his first round, Canyon has applied to 4 schools. I am so proud of his hard work and diligence. I know he will go far! Here's a pic of Canyon after he submitted his applicstion to Mom and Dad's alma mater.



Also adding a couple of pics from Dad's trip out east to visit one of his best friends, Steve, in NYC and on Nantucket. Think they had a great trip!

Powderpuff & Dudes Dance Team

One of Eden Prairie's great homecoming traditions is their annual fall fundraiser. This year's fundraiser was for Special Olympics. The girls play flag football, or Powderpuff Football. Each class is coached by the senior boys from the football team. Seniors play Juniors and Sophomores play freshman. Between the two games, the Dudes Dance team, coached by the senior girls from the dance team, perform for the fans. It's fun event. The kids look forward to this event every year and have a blast planning. And it raises money for a good cause.

Presley played for the Sophomore Girls team (they beat the Freshman). And Canyon performed with the Dudes dance team. Mom was out of town for the actual game but was able to capture some pictures from when the boys performed for the school pep rally and at the dress rehearsal the night before. Great traditions!

Senior Homecoming

This will be a year of "lasts" with Canyon. He went to homecoming with his "Squad" of friends and his friend Grace who he went to some dances with in the past.

Fall Pictures

Canyon is a Senkor and that means Senior Portraits. He wasn't really in to taking pictures but I was able to get a referal for someone who took some great shots of him. This is one of my favorites. Presley also got some pictures taken for soccer that I like. Including a couple of my favorite in here....


Canyon....



Presley...

KAABOO Festival Del Mar

Ron and Trisha were fortunate to attend Kaaboo Festival in California with our UCLA Anderson pals. And we were also fortunate to have Grandma Harriet watch the kids (and pets) while we were gone. It was a once in a lifetime experience. We stayed in the amazing home of Catie and Aaron in Birdrock and we were VIPs at the festival, which means we got to do meet and greets with the bands, go backstage during the concert, enjoy premium viewing access, enjoy free food and drink all day, and enjoy VIP shuttle access from stage to stage. Ron and I love live music and this was definitely a once in a life time experience....

They greeted us upon arrival at the festival with champagne...



Day 1 with the Anderson crew...




One of many amazing backstage opportunities...



Pool time at the concert...



Meet and Greet with Tim Reynolds (of Dave Matthews Band)...



Our "humble" abode with an amazing view in Bird Rock...



"Birding" through La Jolla on our last day in town...



Celebrating Grandma Harriet's Birthday by exploring the Mural Festival in St. Paul and enjoying a great Thai meal....

First Last Day of School for Canyon

This year marks a big year. Canyon's last year at home.... Where does the time go? Here are pics from the first day of school. Presley's outfit is courtesy of the Varsity Soccer Seniors....Also included a picture from Canyon's last minute trip to Houston with friends and a concert.

Grammie Visits MN

Grammie came to MN for a belated birthday celebration. In addition to her time at the state fair, we also got to see some of Presley's soccer with the Varsity Soccer team, enjoy a walk through one of the last standing Victory Gardens in the US, and get some play time with the pets. Thanks for the great visit Grammie!