Then we had Rog’s family for a lasagna holiday meal. There were 16 of us and we enjoyed catching up.
The next night, our neighbors invited us to their annual holiday dinner. They rent out “Via Roma”, a local Italian Restaurant and invite their family and friends. There must have been close to 100 people and we had a fabulous meal with wine and appetizers, salad, 4 main courses, finishing up with Peruvian cookies and tiramisu.
The solstice found us at the Blooms’ for the annual bonfire celebration. This year was dry and windless...so actually pretty comfortable!! We enjoyed a hot stew, sun bread and yule log. Even with school the next day, both grandkids got to stay up pretty late. We returned the next day with leftover lasagna to open presents over lunch. It was the last day of school before holiday vacation for the grandkids and Eric had taken the day off to give him a 5 day weekend.
On Christmas Eve Rog and I opened our presents, leaving one for Christmas morning. Rog was incredibly generous this year...I must have been a very good girl!! I now have an Amazon Echo and we are having a blast talking to her. I had asked for a radio and got much more than that. Not only has oit taken the place of our broken radio, but it has taken the place of Pandora and the kitchen timer. She gives us a daily news briefing, tells jokes and gives us weather updates. The grandkids are using the Magic Door skill and love asking her questions. I am sure that this will all be commonplace in a few years, but it is a real tech treat now!
On Christmas morning, we headed over to Ryan/Beth’s house for breakfast and gift exchange. I now have a lusciously warm battery operated coat that heats up and a Himalayan salt crystal lamp to keep the ions balanced in the house.. Then it was back to prepare for 15 family guests for dinner. We fixed prime rib and stuffed deboned turkey. Everyone brought dishes to share and it turned into a royal feast. Fun day!
Two days later, we packed up the van and headed to Vegas with 2 other couples, the Nordstroms from Auburn and the Lyons from Sonora (haven’t seen them since our cruising days in Nuevo Vallarta). We spent one night in Orange Grove RV Park where we were able to stock up with all of the oranges we wanted. Then 2 nights at the Oasis in Vegas. The nights were pretty cool but the sun was warm enough that we spent the days outside. We walked the strip and saw the Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage, “Love” featuring Beatles’ music. Fabulous. Back to California where we drove across the state to visit my brother and his wife in Santa Maria. She made a delicious enchilada dinner and we chatted for hours. Early the next morning, we were on our way and got home about 2:30 on New Year’s Eve.
This month was Karissa’s date. We took her to Harris Center for the college dance recital. They not only featured the dancers in the college program, but showcased some local dance studios.
The kids did get in one craft day. Rog cut up a big box and we made marble mazes.
Karissa had a dance recital and showed off all she has learned in tap and ballet. She was fabulous and we joined the Blooms for a snack at Red Robin afterwards.
Rog has made a little progress on his model railroad and I worked on knitting a pair of leg warmers for our ballerina. I now have an order for a pair of slippers for my daughter and a nice warm robe for my daughter in law.
Weather is more normal this season so maybe the drought is over. Lots of rain and snow in the mountains. We had about 7 days of frost but now the days are getting longer, and hopefully warmer. Welcome 2017!!
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