Holiday Cheer

I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone already.  Time sure does fly by!  I went to 5 Christmas gatherings in three days.  I loved spending time with my family and close relatives and of course eating as much mashed potatoes and turkey as possible :-) I certainly had my fill.  I am so thankful for the blessings that God has given me and what a better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior than by coming together as a family.

Last week, I rang the bell for the Salvation Army at the Herbergers store in Baxter with my little sister queen, Bailey Wachholz, Miss North Metro Outstanding Teen.  Because of our fierce Minnesota weather this past month, the Salvation Army has not been raising enough money for their upcoming year.  This was the first year ever where they actually sent the volunteers home because of the terrible weather in the Twin Cities area.  I wanted to help the cause so I volunteered my time ringing the bell.  Our shift was from 9:00am-12:00pm and we took turns ringing the bell when our hands got tired.  It was nice to have company this year.  Last year I did it by myself up in Moorhead and having someone to talk to made time go by a bit faster :-)

Bailey and I

The next day Bailey and I performed at the Mall of America in the Best Buy Rotunda.  It was a blast!  The mall was so busy with last minute shoppers.  It took my Dad and I about 25 minutes to simply find a parking spot.  The rotunda was decorated so beautifully with the biggest Christmas trees I have ever seen !  I sang many Christmas songs trying to spread the Christmas spirit :-)  I sold some of my CMN silicone bracelets to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network while we were performing.  Thank you so much to my director Christina for selling my bracelets and my Dad and Pam Wachholz for taking photos.  We also got some video footage of us performing and I will try and post them as soon as possible :-)

Bailey and I

Looking up at the four floors of people above me

The Biggest Christmas Trees Ever

My Cousin Carly and I

This week I will be attending Kathryn's send-off party in Detroit Lakes.  I am very excited to see her again and her new wardrobe.  I'm even more excited to watch her compete in Vegas!  I will be going to Miss America for my first time ever this year!  I will be there for an entire week watching all of the prelim nights and of course the final night!  I am so excited for Kathryn, she has already made Minnesota proud and I can't wait for the rest of America to meet her :-)

I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Always,
Bethany Beniek