Here’s what we did, read, watched and thought about this month.

Todd R.: The holiday celebrations were a little quieter as seasonal illness moved through the family. The baked potato bar was a hit when we gathered on the 28th, but Christmas Eve featured a new main course. Rapp Family Jeopardy was replaced by Rapp Family Bingo, with “Dogs getting into the food” thankfully unfilled on all bingo cards. The Vikings-Packer border battle added to the excitement, and now all of us are anticipating the most important (only important?) Vikings-Lions matchup in 63 years. We made our usual donation to the 9/11 Museum as a holiday gift for the family, as a reminder of an awesome December trip we took to New York City a long time ago. Sydney wasn’t able to make the group photo, but she did join us a day later and we will celebrate the holiday with her entire family in a few days. 

We began our “Film Noir Winter,” watching Laura, Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil from the classic era, and Body Heat and Bound from the modern era. My conclusion – modern Film Noirs lack the subtlety of the previous era. Lioness Season 2 and Slow Horses Season 3 are also on the agenda, so now I know why I feel like I get no exercise during the holiday season.

Rich: December was a month of family joy and fun. The Holidays always bring us together, but this one was special for many reasons. It was our first holidays without Kari’s sister Cynthia whose decades-long battle with cancer ended this year. Laurie, Thia’s spouse, joined us in Minneapolis and her presence brought along Thia’s spirit. 

All five of our children were here over the Holidays, along with our granddaughter, Elin. Zach and Ava are amazing parents and Elin is probably the happiest baby we’ve ever seen. Katie and Nick are expecting a baby boy in early April. The planning is in full swing and we are all so excited for grandchild number two.

David and Olive celebrated their first anniversary in September and were with us for the Christmas and New Year Holiday before returning to the “Big Apple.” Emma and Andy announced their engagement a couple of weeks before Christmas and their upcoming wedding added much excitement to our Holiday celebration. Sarah brought all of her wit and joy to the Holiday celebrations, and made a big batch of fabulous cookies.

Hoping your Holiday Season was also joyful and wishing you a fabulous 2025!

Todd S.: The Rapp Strategies office holiday part was a hit, especially for me as I got the honor of holding little Natasha during naptime. The Stone family enjoyed a wonderful holiday season, punctuated by our first family outing to the Guthrie Theater to see A Christmas Carol. This was simply a wondrous production; the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was a spellbinding highlight. On other entertainment fronts, my wife and I were left teary-eyed after the finale of Shrinking – in a good way. We also binged Black Doves on Netflix in less than two days. Our holiday cards to friends and family featured all the animals in our household, including our sons (Dad Joke!). And Santa filled our stockings as we enjoyed many blessings beyond the gifts. We turn to 2025 with hope for better days ahead.

Jodi: What an incredible holiday season! We traveled the state, visiting family and friends. I spent my first Christmas in my childhood home on the Iron Range in about 15 years. It was exactly what I remembered, complete with enjoying some of the 90 dozen holiday cookies and candies my mom and I pack each December. A quick trip to the cabin was quiet and peaceful. A frozen lake makes me want to lace up the skates again. Over the New Year’s Eve holiday, I binged the second season of The Diplomat and dove back into Shetland. As we head into 2025, I am mapping out another round of reading, starting with A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny. Other plans in the works are travel destinations, a workout plan to recover from the holiday festivities, cabin projects for the summer and discovering new chapters in this journey of life.

Sean: It felt like we fit a year’s worth of activities into the final month of 2024. The Oyaas family spent our holiday season together doing our best to stay warm and find the delicate balance of work, play and family obligations.

With Rosie working nights on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the shuffling of Oyaas men (Sean, James and dog, Franklin) between four different family events over the course of two days wasn’t easy. To make matters trickier, we woke up Christmas Day to find that we had been visited by the Grinch, who smashed my car window and ransacked my car. Alas, all was well in Whoville (South Minneapolis) as the Grinch was not able to steal our Christmas spirit. The joy of watching 21 month-old James spend time with family, learn holiday-specific words (Santa, Reindeer and yes, “Grinch”) kept the heart warm, while chasing after him between houses and extended family members kept the body moving enough to burn off some of the holiday treats that were consumed daily.

Any free time I had to myself, typically occurring between 8:30-10pm after James goes to bed was spent catching up on Season 3 of HBO’s Industry, which continues to be an overlooked piece of prestige television and a weekly viewing of Showtime’s The Agency, a surprise find this winter.

Now it’s time to hit the ground running in 2025!

Anna: December began with Owen and I flying to Alabama, reuniting with Ike and seeing old friends. We extended our stay with a few days in Florida, and the highlights were swimming in the pool, walking on the pier and exploring an outdoor aquarium, including a close encounter with dolphins. Owen turned two, which his mama could hardly believe. He is growing so fast and makes us so proud! Ike and I also marked four years of marriage, and it’s only getting sweeter. We enjoyed time with our families and the candlelight service at church, the perfect time to reflect on the joy of Emmanuel. We started a new Advent tradition of wrapping Christmas books and opening one per day to read with Owen, where the marvelous illustrations of Jan Brett were heavily featured. Owen’s favorite Advent ritual was undoubtedly the chocolate calendar from my mom. Christmas Day was canceled due to a stomach bug, but it led to several days of rest, and sometimes, I need a reason to slow down. Looking forward to what 2025 will bring!

Meredith: Each December as I look back through my photos of the year, I like to reflect on the ways in which I have changed. Usually I see new skills, grand adventures, memories being made and personal growth. While all of that is present in my 2024, what struck me as noticeable was different this year. This is the year I learned to let go. To not have everything figured out, planned and scheduled, and accomplished on a timeline. This is the year that I had little control over some major life changes, so I finally started figuring out this “relax” and “go with flow” thing. While it isn’t always my favorite, I have very much enjoyed the significant number of naps I was able to sneak in in 2024. I am ready for 2025 where I am sure parenthood will teach me lots of new skills and lessons to reflect on next December.

Cullen: The holidays always leave me feeling equal parts grateful and exhausted. Lauren and I celebrated with each side of our extended families over the course of a tour-de-Minnesota that ended up putting about 1,200 miles on the car. We caught up with family, exchanged gifts, and ate more spritz and gingerbread than I care to share here. We also spent a weekend in Chicago with friends to partake in the annual Christmas market. It ended up being so busy that we called an audible and stopped at Forno Rosso for pizza instead. Excellent decision.

The celebration continued in Madison. We saw the Nutcracker ballet for the first time at Overture Center and celebrated our sixth anniversary with a meal at A Pig in a Fur Coat. Our schedule hasn’t left us much time to watch anything new (I still need to see Wicked, Gladiator 2, and A Complete Unknown), but I’m making steady progress through the Broken Earth trilogy. Less phone and more reading is one of my New Year’s resolutions.

Julia: A late Thanksgiving made for a crazy December! I won’t recount the entire list of holiday parties, delicious food, and time spent with friends and loved ones, but three highlights stand out: strolling through the recently revamped Holidazzle on Nicollet Mall, seeing the British Arrow Awards at the Walker Art Center, and celebrating our annual Schafer cousin Christmas party--lovingly dubbed “Cuzmas”. I can’t say I’m very well-rested after the holiday frenzy, but I wouldn’t trade a second of the 24/7 fun I’ve had this season.

My family also went on a bit of a nostalgia movie marathon, revisiting classics like the 90’s version of Cinderella, Airplane!, and a holiday favorite, Die Hard. Of course, no holiday season is complete without binge-watching the holiday-themed episodes of Bob’s Burgers. I spent the very last day of December doing my favorite activity--going to the movies. While Nosferatu understandably may not appeal to everybody, fans of weird, dark movies should check it out.

Alida: As usual, December was a month of celebration, good food, cookie-baking and time spent with family and friends. My roommates and I threw a successful hat-themed holiday party (an alternative to the traditional ugly Christmas sweater party). People got creative and wore everything from top hats to reindeer ears, which was a delight. The RSI holiday party and white elephant also proved to be a great success. 

My family spent Christmas Day lounging at home before seeing the new Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothee Chalamet. It's a fun movie, and I was most impressed by Chalamet's ability to nail Dylan's music - his voice, guitar playing, harmonica skills and all. I spent the days in between Christmas and New Years seeing childhood friends who were still in town, which included a trip to the Weisman Museum. I got to see Kara Walker's stunning exhibition: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War, which is sadly no longer on view. Now, it's time to hibernate.