THREE MONTHS HAVE PASSED since these shoes rested on this rug in my kitchen.
Late Wednesday evening my 19-year-old son arrived home from Boston for the holidays and a month-long break from college.
I am one happy mama.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
I have a similar pair of shoes on my rug, back from his first semester at college. Enjoy!
So good to have our boys home, isn’t it?
BEST Christmas present a mama can ask for! Enjoy your boy Audrey, I’m giddy with happiness for you. Glad he arrived safely!
Thank you, Jackie. So happy to have him home. Now if the daughter makes it safely home from Appleton, Wisconsin, today, and the eldest and her husband get here from St. Paul, we will all be together this evening for our family Christmas. Freezing rain is predicted for portions of Wisconsin, though, so I’m uncertain as to whether Miranda will get here. Hoping, praying…
I’ll say a prayer that all get there safe, have a fun time!
Thank you, Jackie.
Yay!!!! For family gatherings!!!!! Blessings from my ‘nest’ to yours!!!!!!
Yes, this evening we celebrate with “the kids.” We’re hoping all three, plus the son-in-law, can get here.
How’s the weather/roads in your corner of MN? Miranda will be driving I-90 down there today.
School is 2 hrs late in this area. We’re headed to Cresco,IA, around noon. They are just clear of this and, also, 2 hrs late. Mist was in the air already last eve. This weather seems to be well off to the East and dumping more snow in the WI areas (Sparta, etc). Prayers for safety for your family travelers………..
Alright. she travels right past Sparta.
Safe travels to Cresco. Love that town, which reminds me I have yet to post photos from my visit there this past summer.
This stuff seems to be moving out now. Looks like the snowplows are out now. I imagine that the roads will get better fairly quickly after 12:00 noon.
Thanks for the weather/road update. She’s delaying departure due to current freezing rain in the Oshkosh area. A wise decision, I think.
I think so, too. Normal “work day” traffic for her to contend with on the interstate. Probably will clear off nicely later.
That’s what I’m hoping. Better road conditions as the day progressed. Highway 21 across Wisconsin from Oshkosh to Tomah is the road that always concerns me. Narrow state highway that’s heavily traveled. No cell coverage in areas. Lots of deer…
And aren’t we glad/thankful we have Someone in control of all??????
Yes!
🙂
Happy Holidays to you and yours Audrey!
Thank you, Dan. Likewise to you and your new bride.
Perfect post! 🙂 Merry Christmas, my friend! Enjoy your time together!
You can bet I will savor our evening together celebrating an early Christmas before one daughter leaves with her husband for California and the other has to return to Wisconsin. Caleb, well, we get him here for almost a month.
Hooray!
I love that photo! Merry Christmas, Audrey. I hope you and your family have a wonderful time together. I totally get the happy mama feeling. 🙂
Yes, from one mama to another, we understand the joy of having our children under our roof.
A Merry Christmas to you and yours also, Kathleen!
I am sure you are HAPPY to have him home – SPOIL him while you have him:)
Yes, thrilled to have him home. He was snarfing down Christmas cut-out cookies and lasagna earlier today and saying how good both tasted. Not dorm food, my son.
Nothing Compares to Mom’s Home Made With Love Cooking – love it:)
Have a Merry Christmas! Is always different when the family is in different areas of the country. Robin and I will spend Christmas here in AR. Saw Grant for Thanksgiving and my leg is not up for travel to NJ.
Thanks, Aunt Dorothy. Miranda is on her way home, about two hours away. So we will all be together this evening. I am happy.
Merry Christmas to you and Uncle Robin!
I love how the shoes are left right where everyone can trip over them – it’s the same story here and screams of a home filled with family. How lovely to have your big boy home. I’m sure you’ll have many precious times with him xx
I’m just as guilty as anyone else about leaving my shoes on the rug. But I like your take on it.
I certainly will enjoy the weeks he is home. The girls and the son-in-law will be here in a few hours to celebrate Christmas.
Yeah!!! Family is so important. Enjoy!
Just returned from a weekend in southwestern Minnesota with extended family. Had a great time. My girls were both here Friday evening, but are now in California and headed back to eastern Wisconsin, respectively. I have the son for a few more weeks.
Somehow I missed this post–not sure how but it must have been with the traveling. I am one happy mama, also. Micah got in last night, ate some leftover pork roast, sat on the couch about half an hour and went to bed. I think he is exhausted but it is wonderful to have both boys together and here with us at Aaron’s. There is nothing that makes my heart happier than to be with my 3 men. Blessings to you!
I thought of you on Friday, Beth Ann, especially with all the problems at Terminal 2, hoping you were flying out of 1 instead.
Good to hear you all connected and are likely having a wonderful time as I write.
We made it fine since we went out of terminal 1. Delta all the way….
Ah, that’s good to hear.
I was so glad that Caleb was already home. He typically flies Southwest, in and out of terminal 2.
Have a wonderful holiday with your family!
My brother-in-law and sweet niece flew in from Boston–maybe they were on the same flight!
Caleb arrived Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. on Southwest, starting in Boston with a connecting flight in Milwaukee. Flights were delayed out of Boston because of snowy weather there. He would have missed his connecting flight to Mpls had they not delayed that. I was grateful.
We’ve already had our family Christmas gathering. The girls are gone already, one off to California and the other back home to northeastern Wisconsin.
Have a joyful Christmas with your family, Stacey!