Christmas Photos 2012

Well, Christmas is over. That went fast. My parents came to visit us for Christmas. They arrived on Christmas Eve, in time for the service at our church. For the first time since our church was formed in 2006, we had a Christmas Eve service that wasn't held in Seattle. We loved going to a service so much closer to home.

The highlight of the service was the choir. I could have participated but I decided that driving to the evening practices was a sacrifice I wasn't willing to make. They sang three beautiful songs. Maybe my friend Linda can tell me the names? I can't remember what they were other than Gabriel's Message.

Here is our little family. Thanks Anna for taking the photo.

As for waiting to open gifts on Christmas morning, I thought my boys would be much more anxious to get going with the opening but I forgot that they now have Minecraft to keep them occupied first thing in the morning.

My youngest son loves gag gifts.

We even got Grandpa to model the new glasses. I hope all his friends see this photo. :)

My boys continue to love Lego. Here is the Brick Bible - the Old Testament done in Lego.

J got a Canadian Olympic hockey sweater but I didn't get a good photo of it. I'll be getting a dishwasher and a minivan in January so no big presents were under the tree for me. I got some smoked salmon. Yum!

My hubby gave me this beautiful card.

We had our Christmas dinner in the afternoon, at about 2:45 pm.  We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, asparagus, rolls, and cranberry sauce.

I was very happy with how the meal turned out. I tried brining the turkey following The Pioneer Woman's instructions. To brine a turkey you soak it overnight in water and salt and spices.

The turkey was delicious! My boys both got to have their very own drumstick.

A privilege of being in a small family!

I put together this centerpiece using materials from Michael's (the hurricane candle holder and the candle ring).

We do Christmas crackers every year. This is a British tradition. I'm surprised how many places sell crackers, though. I found lots at Cost Plus World Market and at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. My boys are reading the jokes from inside the crackers.

Crackers always have a paper crown inside, along with a joke and sometimes a small toy.

my parents

On Boxing Day, aka the day after Christmas for you Americans, my parents returned home to Victoria. We were so thankful they were healthy enough to be with us this Christmas.

J's Dad lives very far away and isn't able to visit at Christmastime. This is C talking to him on the phone.

Here's our Christmas tree. I didn't decorate it. C did most of the decorating. He enjoyed it.

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Top 5 Books Read in 2012

source

Here are some highlights from the books I read in 2012. I read a total of 37 books. Not as many as I read in 2011 (43), but I read some heavies this year. I read both Les Miserables and Great Expectations, so those should count as two books each!

If you're curious, here's my review of the books I read in 2011.

My favourites:

1. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

What else can be said about this book  I was engrossed in this book for a few month. I listened to the audiobook and read the book. I loved it. There are so many interesting characters and Jean Valjean is a terrific hero. I wish that HBO or the BBC would make a miniseries of the book. A movie just isn't long enough to capture the complete story. Since I enjoyed this so much, I tried to start reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame (also by Victor Hugo) but it didn't pull me in same way. Maybe I'll try again someday.

2. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

I loved this memoir but it isn't for everyone. I had such mixed emotions while reading this. Jeannette's parents lived in terrible conditions, most of the time by choice. One house they lived in was literally falling down. Her parents were pretty creative in making lemonade out of lemons, as the saying goes. Her mother at the time of the writing of the book was *choosing* to live on the streets of New York.

3. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I listened to this book as I drove in the car. After I finished I watched a few film adaptations. I think my least favourite was the one where Jillian Anderson played Miss Haversham. Not the best casting, in my opinion.

4. Lit: A Memoir  by Mary Karr. I would recommend skipping the first couple of chapters. I listened to this book. It was a bit confusing since she starts each chapter with a quote from a poem. When you're listening, it is hard to know what is a quote and what is actual content. Mary Karr is a very funny woman. She overcomes alcoholism and becomes a Catholic which was quite surprising. Her writing is amazing. I plan to read another memoir of hers - The Liars' Club which concerns her childhood in Texas. Warning: contains some bad language.

5. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.

This book could be called a tragedy but I was amazed how it pulled me in. Carrie is a small town girl ruined by moving to the city and Hurstwood is a man ruined by his obsession with Carrie. The books details Chicago of 1900 and the lack of options available for single women. There is a lot to discuss so this would make a good book club selection.

So, my favourites of 2012 were memoirs of people in gritty circumstances, and thick classics.

I read two books by Eric Larson this year - In the Garden of Beasts and The Devil in the White City.

Both are non-fiction but read like a novel. In the Garden is about the American ambassador and his family who lived in Berlin, Germany during the time of Hitler.

The Devil in the White City is about the principal architect of the Chicago Fair paired with the story of a murderer (also in Chicago during the World's Fair) who eluded the authorities for a long time.

I also read a whole bunch of Barbara Pym books this year - Quartet in Autumn, A Few Green Leaves, Some Tame Gazelle, No Fond Return of Love, Jane and Prudence, and Crampton Hodnet. These are cosy books that don't require too much thinking. Predictable but in a good way. I don't recommend Quartet in Autumn - it was the most depressing one.

What do I hope to read in 2012?
I think I need to read a few non-fiction Christian books. Orthodoxy by Chesterton and Don't Waste Your Life by Piper are a few ideas. I'd like to read something by Dietrich Bonhoeffer since I so enjoyed the biography of him that I read in 2011.

I hope to read some more classics. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (I just saw the movie), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and The Warden by Anthony Trollope (I loved The Way We Live Now). My to-read list is over 200 books! My problem is deciding what book to read next when I finish one.

What did you read in 2012? What were your favourites?

I'm linking up with Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books (Special End of Year Edition).

UPDATE: I'm also linking to Jones Design's What I'm Reading Link Party.

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Merry Christmas to all!

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{this moment}

This week's memorable moment isn't warm and fuzzy with twinkling lights and the scent of gingerbread. Life is much more real, eh?

My hubby discovered a water leak last weekend and we've been dealing with it ever since. Thankfully, it is outside - between the house and the water source. We've been turning the water on in the morning and off at night and when we go out for an extended time. Instead of paying thousands of dollars to have our yard dug up to find the leak, J opted to do the digging himself. Here he is digging in the front lawn and the boys are helping. They loved getting dirty.

A few of my plants had to be dug up. We are hoping to find the source of the leak soon and we are also hoping that the leak will be found before he gets to the cement driveway. Ugg. That would be a big deal (digging up the driveway). Sometimes home ownership isn't much fun.Pin It

Surviving Winter

bad photo of my sons and a friend

I know that winter doesn't officially start until tomorrow but it sure has felt like winter, at least the Pacific NW variety, the last few weeks. Rain, rain, rain, cold, wind, even a little snow.

The boys are off from school for Christmas break. They have a lot of energy. What to do? Well, today we went to a new place to let off some steam -  Elevated Sportz in Bothell.

Here's my review.

Pros:
- lot of seating area for parents (much better than Jump Planet)
- a large space including a basketball area for big kids, a foam pit to jump into, a huge trampoline area, trampoline dodge ball, and an area for little kids.
- food and drinks available for purchase
- very easy to find. Just off Bothell Everett Highway, north of Thrashers Corner, south of 164th.

Cons:
- the price - 12 dollars per child for 60 minutes of play. They do have passes but they don't save a lot of money.
- the building is pretty chilly for the people who aren't jumping.

Will we be back? I think so. There is a Living Social deal right now that I'll probably buy which would make a visit half price.

It is always good to have places to go in the wet weather.Pin It

What's this red book?

Something funny happened tonight that I wanted to remember. We were at church this evening to hear from our missionary friends, a couple who do medical missions in Africa and another friend who works in linguistics in southeast Asia. Our pastor was handing out hymnals that were red (so that we could sing Christmas carols). My son asked me, "what's this red book for?" I had to chuckle realizing that he doesn't know what a hymnal is! We do sing hymns at our church but we have the words up on the screen and before that the words were printed in our bulletin for singing. A little sad, perhaps, that they don't know about hymnals. :)Pin It

{this moment}

Getting ready to cut our Christmas tree at Farmer Brown's Christmas Tree Farm last weekend. It was raining a bit and A decided to stay in the car.

All I want for Christmas........

Such sad news today from Connecticut. I'm resting in the knowledge that God is in control.Pin It

Hockey - how Canadian!

As a family, we went to our first hockey game together on Saturday night. The game was between the Everett Silvertips and the Vancouver (BC) Giants. My hubby was quietly cheering for Vancouver. The Silvertips are in the Western Hockey League (major junior) and all of the players are Canadian except for two Europeans. :) The Giants players are almost all Canadian as well. It was fun seeing the score board listing other games and seeing names like Swift Currant (Saskatchewan) and Red Deer (Alberta).

Our son's cub scout troup went as a group and we sat together. I explained what a hat trick was to several parents. We had great seats and it was a good game. The Silvertips won 4 to 1. They had lots of fun things going on in between periods including a race of radio-controlled cars on the ice. During the game there was a short fight between two players which the boys loved.

I wish I had some fun photos to share of the kids cheering and dancing to the music but the arena wouldn't let me bring my camera in saying it was a "professional" camera.

Hockey is exciting to watch and easy to understand. The fans liked to ring cowbells to cheer so you might like to have earplugs along. I recommend going to a game!Pin It

{this moment}

My sons at C's Christmas concert on Tuesday night. Note that C has lost a tooth in the front so he can sing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"Pin It

Our trip to Victoria

Well, I'm back to blogging, knock on wood. I'm now using Amazon cloud services for storing photos. It involves an extra few steps so it will take me a little big longer to update my blog. Patience please, dear readers. :)

Before we left home I created a list of things to do while in Victoria on this trip and we actually did ALL of them!
- Victoria Bug Zoo - great for little boys.
- a visit to a favourite consignment store to look for American Beauty (ironic name) china. I found 2 plates! Victoria is a terrific place to find china.
- Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse

- Hatley Castle

- the Festival of Trees at the Empress Hotel
- Murchies Tea
- supper at Swiss Chalet - known for roasted chicken dinners
- a visit to our favourite bookstore - Bowlen Books
- visit Munro's Books

My parents and the boys.

Our weather was good overall. Not too much rain or wind. We were able to go on two outdoor outings - Fort Rodd Hill and Hatley Castle, both located northwest of Victoria.

On Saturday the weather was gorgeous. J and the boys had breakfast outside in the warm sunshine at Village Restaurant in the Oak Bay neighbourhood.

Amazing for late November! According to J, the food was delicious, albeit kind of pricey. They provided blankets for patrons to put on the metal chairs, a nice touch. There was a cute gift store across the street called Bungalow where we found a lot of TinTin memorabilia, including a book not available in the US which we bought for A.

For our return trip on Sunday we weren't able to take the return ferry from Sidney, BC (pictured below)

to Anacortes. That ferry was booked up in advance so we drove a little ways to Swartz Bay and took the BC Ferry to Tsawwassen, BC (just south of Vancouver) and then drove south on I-5 to return home. We were thankful that this option was available and since the wait for the ferry was short we were able to leave at the same time as the other ferry left. We saw a pod of whales on our trip. It was funny. The ship's captain announced that whales could be spotted on the port side. J and I wondered if the very large ferry would tilt to one side with everyone going to see the whales. :) It didn't.

Going through the lower BC mainland meant we could make one more trip to Tim Hortons before we returned to the USA. The boys love the donuts and J loves the coffee. It was good to be back in Canada again.

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Our Nontraditional Thanksgiving

As many of you know, my husband and I are Canadian, born and raised. We've lived here in the US only since 2000. Therefore, American Thanksgiving isn't something we grew up with. (In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated in October.) For many of the last few years (not all) we have travelled to Victoria to visit my parents during Thanksgiving break. The main reason is that the kids have time off from school and J has time off from work. We don't have a traditional thanksgiving meal with turkey and all the trimmings. This year one of my kids had a bit of a hard time reconciling this fact. We assured him that he would still be eating well and the main point of thanksgiving is being with your family and being thankful. Don't you Americans get exhausted by making a big meal in November and then another one only one month later? :)

I plan on blogging more about our trip (including photos) but Blogger says that I've reached my limit for photo storage. Boo! I've been blogging for seven years! I hope to find a way around giving money to Google in order to solve this problem. :)





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Silhouettes

I recently told my husband that as a Christmas gift idea for me, I wanted help creating silhouette images of our boys. I thought it would be possible to do using some photo editing. I was so surprised to find out (by reading the upcoming events listed in Red Tricycle's e mail) that silhouette artist Karl Johnson was coming to our area.

Our appointment was at 4 pm on Friday afternoon in Bellevue and it was raining. Not the best time to be driving! I was very glad that I made the effort and I also think they were worth the price. They were $42 dollars each, including mounting and framing. I especially love how he did C's glasses! Also note that he did A's eyelashes.

He was amazing to watch. My kids took turns sitting for their portrait and Mr. Johnson just took a black piece of paper and his scissors and cut out a silhouette in less than 5 minutes. No drawing. He told me that this is his main job, that he travels 7 days out of every month.

You can e mail him a photo to have a silhouette made. For more information, see his website. He's also on Facebook - "Karl Johnson Cut Arts."

I treasure my silhouettes and may even get new ones done when my boys area few years older.Pin It

{this moment}

My oldest son with his original writing which he read aloud in language class. All the kids read their stories (over 2 days) and parents were invited to the classroom for "Author's Chair." His story is called Northwest Trek Adventure. I blogged about that trip here.  The compliment he received from his teacher was "A is a mature writer with an amazing vocabulary." :)Pin It

Halloween 2012

For my alter identity this year I was a flapper.

I found the dress and headband (with the feather sticking up) for less than $20 at JoAnns. I had planned to wear a bobbed wig but when I took it out of the package, it was obviously cheap and would need a LOT of styling to make it look right and I don't think you can style plastic hair very much. :)

J's work had a Halloween party during the day so I went to it. Unfortunately, the participation level, aka people wearing costumes, was pretty pathetic. There was one exception. J's colleague Chris was a "wookie monster," a cross between Chewbacca and the Cookie Monster.

Here is J carving a pumpkin.

He carved a mosquito which ties in with the company's work fighting malaria.

Here are my cuties in their costumes:

I made A's big bad wolf costume. I found the idea here. The felt pieces were hot glued onto the hoodie so it wasn't too hard. When we first talked about what he was going to be, he said he was "too old for Halloween." ?? He's only nine! I'm glad he changed his mind.

I made part of C's costume. I used iron on letters to spell SWAT on the front of the black turtleneck. I had a little trouble figuring how to iron them on but I'm a pro now. The helmet came from the party store's Halloween section. C already had the gun (a rubber band gun) but I painted it black. Our neighbor/friend N's costume was also a swat policeman.

J put together a costume (for going trick or treating) at the very last minute. No pictures, sorry. He wore his black trench-like coat, his fedora hat, and added some black sunglasses. He was a spy.

The boys joined their neighbour friends to go to a few houses on our street before supper. After supper we joined some friends who live in a nicer neighbourhood than ours and trick or treated with them. One of the kids was a sumo wrestler which was pretty funny. You can see him in this photo - he's on the right.

Here's C with our friend J:

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