a DECEMBER of delights with the GRANDS! Part 1 - Life Lately with Laurie!
- Jan 8
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 21
Thursday, December 8, 2026
Welcome Back Everyone!
We hope your holiday season was everything you hoped for
and filled with oodles of moments worth remembering!
We both are ready for all that 2026 has in store
AND
while we each cherished our time with loved ones
we are both equally excited to kick off the new year here!
For those new to our blog,
WELCOME! WELCOME!
Three years ago, when we first began this blog, we were recently retired kindergarten teachers and both of us were fairly new to the world of grandparenting, too! These days we are each tickled as could be to be GRAND to two sweet Littles and we’ve both thoroughly embraced this season of life! In fact, we sometimes wonder how we ever found time to work each day!
Many of you know that our hope for this blog is to share what we’ve found meaningful in life - with our husbands as we navigate new adventures together during this stage of life but also with our Middles (our own grown children) as our roles in their world evolve into something new! And, of course, we can’t forget our Littles! We often add our ideas, suggestions and GRAND Tips for success based on our many years of experience spent with Littles of all ages!
At the same time, we use this platform to document and share happenings in our own GRAND lives with family and friends, capturing moments we want to savor!
For our first blog post of 2026
- actually our first two blog posts of 2026 -
we want to take a look back
at the month of December.
We’re not sure if anyone else cares about revisiting our holiday content at this point
but we’re still delighting in the moments that made the season extra special!
As we started writing this post we quickly realized that it was becoming an EPIC one,
which, when translated, means it was getting very, very long!
SO, at the last minute,
we made the decision to break this recap into two posts!
TODAY is Part 1 - Life Lately with Laurie!
and
TOMORROW will be Part 2 - Life Lately with Laura!
December has a way of packing a whole lot of delight into just 31 short days.
Do you agree?
Between the twinkling lights, Christmas traditions,
cozy moments at home, and all the joy (and chaos!) of the holiday season,
it always seems to fly by while leaving behind the sweetest memories.
Today, Laurie is looking back and savoring it all!
Wow - what a month!
You can probably tell what a great month it was as you scroll along!
My camera roll for December went on forever!
It truly was a busy, busy month filled with so many wonderful gatherings
spent with friends and family.
How can I even choose what delights to highlight??
The month was filled with Christmas gatherings with friends and family..
My High School Friends’ Christmas Party!
We made “Punch Out” Pictures!
Then it was Christmas Carol Bingo with my school retiree friends!
My daughter-in-law’s band (Maria and the Coins) had their Christmas show.
It was held in downtown Minneapolis.
The venue was filled with friends, family and fellow fans!
We were able to attend our Littles’ church and preschool programs!
So proud - the Littles and us!
The magic of holiday lights!
We had fun taking Little D and Little P Christmas shopping
for their mommy and daddy
and then we took them out to lunch after!
Of course, the Littles had to wrap their gifts, too!
And finally Christmas itself arrived!
It was a bowling Christmas with my husband’s extended family!
Our favorite Christmas Eve morning tradition…
Children’s service at church, then back home for lunch and presents
with our little family!
s
Later that day, it was time for some annual Christmas Eve midafternoon and evening fun.
My extended family filled our house!
I managed to weave a silly game into the gathering, (fueled by a punch that might have been a wee bit too strong) that brought laughter and cheers! (Don’t worry – It will all be explained in next December’s post!)
We enjoyed a time of gift exchanges, our traditional appetizer dinner, a few shots of Aquavit (a nod to our Danish ancestors), more games and our traditional “dinosaur” photo, shown above!.
Christmas Day meant pjs, the Vikings game and dinner at Son D and DIL M’s house.
A few days later, we celebrated our 40th anniversary on December 28!
Since it was a snowy, blizzardy day, we stayed home to celebrate!
Then it was out to breakfast for Son D’s 33rd birthday on the 30th!
Where do the years go???
We were ready when New Year’s Eve arrived!
Our Littles spent the night on the 31st so their parents could have a well-deserved evening out with friends. We went to a family party!
We spent the next day playing, crafting, reading and snuggling. I can’t think of a better way to end 2025 and welcome 2026.
My daughter sent a text later that night with a quote from Little D:
“I sure miss Grammy and BaBa!”
❄️ 💙 ❄️ 💙 ❄️
Hello 2026!
I can’t wait for all the GRAND adventures that await!
We hope you'll come back tomorrow
when we’ll share Part 2 of our December Delights post…
Life Lately with Laura!
We look forward to seeing you then!!
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING SITE FOR FEATURING OUR POST!
Love Your Creativity from Life and Linda
Thank you for featuring this post on your site!
💗 We are delighted to join the following link up parties and blog hops! 💗
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Happy Anniversary! What a grand Christmas you guys had. I just love seeing what you guys are up to.
Thanks so much for sharing with Sweet Tea & Friends this month dear friends.
Looks like a very fun Christmas. So many smiling faces. Congrats on your 40 year anniversary. I am happy to feature your fun filled post at Love Your Creativity.
Aw, I always love hearing about all the fun you all have together. It definitely looks like everyone enjoyed. Congratulations on your 40th anniversary. Thank you for sharing this post with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party.
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds
I enjoyed reading about your fun December. It sure was full of so many highlights. Your traditions all look meaningful and fun and you guys look so happy. Congrats on your 40th anniversary!
Oh, this is so fun! And I just love the "punch-out" pictures. I'd love to do one of those some time! Thank you for sharing this post with all of us at the Will Blog for Comments #75 linkup. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead--looking forward to seeing what you'll share at #76 which opens next Monday morning.