Most of the month was spent preparing for Christmas Dinner for 13 on the 25th followed by dinner for 14 on the 29th for the Lloyd family. Both meals went fairly easily and were loads of fun. It is always great to get together with family and we were lucky to have so many come together at one time.
Rog had a karate event down in Santa Barbara the first weekend of the month which gave me a chance to do some thrift store shopping. I also went to my sister’s holiday party here in Penryn.
We met another sister for lunch in Stockton. I haven’t seen her since the reunion in June so it was a fun afternoon catching up.
We got in one project this month. The kids during the school break and made pasta snowflakes. Michelle helped in Max's classroom for his holiday party so Karissa came over and helped me make apple roses.
The grandkid date this month was a joint trip to see the Nutcracker. I read the story to them before we went and warned them that there would not be much talking during the play. They were all dressed up and off we went. I think they loved the first half and endured the second half. But even Rog stayed awake and we actually had a real good time. It was my first time to see the entire performance and I now have the need to see it out of my system. A week later, while he was on school break, we went out for pizza with Max as well.
Karissa invited me to the kindergarten holiday performance at her school and I was really impressed. I couldn’t guess how many of these I have been involved with, but this one was one of the best I have seen. The kids sang 4 songs and they did a really good job of it. Then we were treated to cookies and hot chocolate. Too bad Pops had to go to karate...
This month, we also shared the Bloom Solstice celebration on the 21st. They are starting new traditions for their family and we were lucky enough to share them together. The grand kids came over that afternoon and helped me make the sun bread. That evening we bundled up and roasted hot dogs over the bonfire. Michelle and Eric had made a tasty stew, there was chocolate beer and hot chocolate and then, for dessert, a yule log. Michelle had crafts for the kids to do during the evening. They made gnomes and pentagrams. Each of us offered a packet of aspirations for 2016 into the fire, then dusted ourselves with sage. Despite the rain, the smoke, and the chilly weather, it was loads of fun.
The following day, we got together for a gift exchange. I had made scarves for Michelle and Max, and a Rapunzel crown for Karissa. Eric and Michelle got an hour of falconry, Karissa got a couple of dolls, and Max got a Forerunner model. Rog and I cashed in with a coupon book from Max and the ultimate chocolate chip cookie mix from the family.
Ryan and Beth had us over for Christmas morning. We exchanged gifts and had a delicious egg scramble with fruit and persimmon muffins. We gave Ryan and Beth a couple of coupons for the local breweries along with Lloyd T-shirts. Pops got a new duffel bag and I got a pool skimmer. We watched the Hollywood parade and had a nice, relaxing morning. Then it was back home to cook the prime rib and smoke the turkey. At 2 pm, folks started arriving and we ate at 5pm. Everyone brought side dishes and we ended up with so much food it was incredible. We had a lot of fun catching up with my brother and sisters as well.
We hosted the Lloyd family to a spaghetti dinner on the 29th. Bill, Nita, Bev, Ed, Beau, Arleen, Jasmine and Kavon joined us with the Blooms and celebrated the holidays. Bill came a little early to scan some family documents and share genealogical info. Beau is gluten free so we found out that gluten free noodles are quite pasty but gluten free brownies are delicious.
We finally got a break in the weather and headed up the hill to our building in Auburn and cleaned gutters. A couple of them were totally clogged up so it was a timely project! We also installed the lens covers to the fluorescent lights that were cracked. We had 2 different sizes and found out that there is a third size we need covers for. Egads.
The Hawkinsons came down for the New Year’s Eve celebration. We have given up driving anywhere on New Year’s Eve but they were willing to hit the roads. I made a stew and Terry brought salad. I tried a bread pudding for dessert with apple slices on top. We played a round of “64” and then watched New York bring in the New Year. We were in bed by 10 and I didn’t even wake up when the neighbors let off their noisemakers at midnight. Another year into the playbook.
No comments:
Post a Comment