Christmas

We celebrated Christmas together with lots of presents, lots of food, and a holiday movie (Die Hard, of course!).

 

Jasper greeted Popo expectantly, knowing that she's bringing treats from their hotel. 

 

Liesl's "Elf on a Shelf" aka donkey on a swing.

 

Fig bread! And cinnamon buns, bacon, fruit salad, frittatas.

 

Liesl's present to Seb: completing the MacLaren Lego car that he received last Xmas.

 

 

 

 

Jasper got to open his stocking first, which included an old jar of peanut butter. 

Afternoon naps were in abundance.

 

Dinner! rib roast, mashed potatoes, peas, roasted carrots, pull-apart buns, ham, radicchio and fruit salad.

 

A spirited game of Carcassonne (Steve won, of course) and a chocolate pecan pie made by Kim.

fig bread and the Nutcracker

Mom and Dad arrived on Friday afternoon -- just in time for a leisurely stroll around the pond and then dinner together. On Saturday morning, we made and baked four loaves of fig bread.

And then Carl and Kim's family arrived on Saturday night, tired after a long day of driving from Sacramento. We had dinner, Liesl and Roxy read the Nutcracker out loud, and everyone went to bed.

 

 

On Sunday, four of us went to see the OBT's performance of The Nutcracker.

 

We had an amazing dinner of pulled pork and buns and vegetables, and then Bompy/dad read Twas the Night Before Christmas to the four grands. Merry Christmas Eve!

gingerbread houses

Liesl and Ella had a grand time decorating gingerbread houses on Friday evening. They made a crazy mess; they rehearsed and performed a dance; they stayed up late talking because Ella slept over.

 

 

On Sunday evening we went to the Sullivans for their annual cookie party. Liesl and Campbell sang carols at the door before entering (despite Fiona's best attempts to close the door in their faces). There were so many cookies, and some next-level homemade gingerbread houses.

 

Random, unconnected cute photos of Jasper, snuggling with me in my office one day, and out on the Forest Park trails another.

Seb's driver's license!

Seb had his driver's license test yesterday at 4, and he passed. Woo-hoo! He's been waiting a decade for this moment.

 

We had to go wait in line at the DMV today to get the actual license (yesterday was the drive test, through a private provider, because the DMV has no testing availability for months). And then Seb drove himself to his own soccer practice at Buckman -- first solo drive! It was pretty amazing.

Portlandversary

We celebrated our 11th Portland anniversary with dinner at Higgins. I had bouillabaisse; Liesl had steak; Seb had pasta w sausage; Steve had duck. 

 

I wore a white sweater and then ordered a tomato and wine broth bouillabaisse. Not so smart.

Jasper likes the broccolini.

Liesl and I had fun window-shopping and Christmas shopping on NW 23rd Ave on Saturday afternoon. The area has definitely rebounded from the Covid slump. Jasper was with us, because we'd been at a soccer scrimmage earlier, and we were surprised and delighted by how many stores welcomed him in (many with dog treats). The toy store was a particular favorite; he sniffed and sniffed and sniffed, but was very well mannered (he didn't steal any stuffies and mangle them).

Seb's friends slept over last weekend and they had fun decorating the dog.

 

In other news, Liesl prepared a Christmas wish list and delivered a lovely presentation. Good public speaking skills.

 

Seb had to leave culinary class early one day, and his makeup homework was to cook something at home and send a photo to his teacher. He made pasta w a bolognese sauce, and Caesar salad.

 

Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. 

Xmas tree!

We got our tree on the day after returning from Florida, got the lights on it that Tuesday, decorated the rest of the house on Thursday, and finally put all of our tree decorations up on Saturday. It was a busy week, but we're festive now!