Christmas, Chicago, etc.

Wow -- where did the last week go!

On Christmas Eve, Steph flew in from D.C. -- her 6:00 am flight was canceled so she didn't make it until about 5:00 at night. Oh well, better late than never. Nate, her boyfriend, arrived around noon so we quickly put him to work on the farm. He never knew that moving corn stacks could be so fun!! (Right?!?!) In fact I think he is about ready to trade in his accounting job on 50 acres of good black dirt! Anyway once Steph arrived home, we made homemade pizza and chocolate fondue with fruit, pretzels, and marshmallows. That was followed by Mom's Apple and rhubarb Pie (after opening the gifts!). Thankfully the gifts took awhile to open, nobody was very hungry later on.

On Christmas Day we went to church and then had the Wagenbach Christmas at night. There was plenty of food and plenty of chaos. I am sure we were never like the little kids are now.

On National Boxing Day (26th) we had the Beutel Christmas. There was much merriment and music. It was nice that nearly everybody came down and sang for a very long time. The bass guitar, piano, mandolin, and accordion sure make a nice sound. Then Ben finally broke his code of silence and yodeled for most of the Beutel family. That boy has TALENT! To make matters worse I had said that I would sing a certain love song for the family if Ben yodeled. Uhh... lets just say I need some practice. I told them that when I got engaged, I would sing it to my betrothed in front of the entire family. It sounded good at the time but I might need to wait awhile in hopes that they will forget!!!

On Monday our family headed over to Bloomington to drop Nate off at the train station before we headed on our surprise trip for Mom and Dad's 25th anniversary. At least that is what Dad and Mom thought. Actually we were headed to Chicago and we took Nate up there with us. We checked into the Embassy Suites around 4:00 and then headed out to eat with Nate's family. They were very nice (which was kinda a surprise since we had only met Nate!!!) Kidding, Nate. We had a good time and then walked back to the hotel to relax. On Tuesday we went to Shedd's Aquarium. There were some really neat fish and the coral reef was very awe-inspiring. At night, Mom, Steph, Sheila, and I headed downtown to look at the Marshall Fields exhibit. It told the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was neat. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a Starbucks and picked-up some peppermint hot chocolate and Mom got tea. It was a very nice evening and we got several miles of exercise. Wednesday we headed home and presently I must end this message to attend the 3rd or 4th Annual Beutel-Rassi Christmas Extravaganza. It should be a fine time. Until next time...

Little Greg