Christmas at Ben's House

THUMP!

That was the first sound I heard on Christmas morning, as one of the kids opened and then "gently" closed the door to the room where I was sleeping. I have to give them credit, they'd been up for about an hour, waiting for me so they could start opening presents. Meanwhile, I was oblivious. I got up, and then it was "bring on da noise, bring on da funk" for the rest of the day.

I spent Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning with Ben and his family. It was a load of fun, the first time I've spent the day with them for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Sarah came over and we shared one of their traditions--Chinese take-out for Christmas Eve dinner. I don't know the origins of that one--I couldn't find it in the four gospels anywhere--but it was great. Christmas Eve will never again be complete without Orange Beef and Walnut Prawns.

The kids all got matching pajama bottom pants in a Mickey Mouse pattern from their Grandma R., modeled above by Sam. They changed into those and also were wearing (except Ammon) t-shirts I'd brought back from the Philippines.

On Christmas morning, they opened the rest of their presents. Their Grandma R., Sarah's mom, made an amazing array of beautifully crafted items, a dress for Lura, matching shirts for Sam and Ammon, a bow tie for each of the boys, among others. Gay is an exceptional skilled tailor. They also received some toys, some gifts from each other and from Ben and Sarah. Sam got a new bike--a real beauty. I gave Lura an "American Girl" doll (Kit Kittridge), robot kits for Sam and Ammon, and a set of "Thomas the Train" DVD for Joshua. Sarah made me a cloth grocery bag with a baseball fabric (lined in perfect Green Monster green). Since Seattle will start imposing a $.20 per bag fee on plastic bags in January, that is a very timely and useful gift. She used a regular plastic bag as a pattern--the apple did not fall far from the tree in her household.

After present-opening, Ben and Sarah had prepared a brunch with breakfast casserole, bread pudding, hot chocolate (homemade), muffins, breads and fresh pineapple. Their friends Steve and Apple came over, with their daughter Samalia. The little girl was born at the same time as Joshua and was also very premature, and the two families met when those little kids were in Mary Bridge together for several months. It's been fun to see the two of them develop and grow so beautifully after such a rough start.

Emelia's Birthday

I refer you to Becky's blog for the story around the birthday cake, and I do recommend it. Truly a sad story.

I met Becky, Mike and the kids at the Red Robin restaurant in the Northgate Mall for a birthday celebration. Her friends Cynthia and Carrie were there with their husbands and Margery was there, but still waiting for her boyfriend, who is in Ohio. Becky has done a great job staying close to the friends she made in high school and they seem to always be around for her family celebrations. That's really been great, as they're fun and good people. They go out of their way to spoil Becky's kids, which is also fun. The highlight gift of the day was a huge pink stuffed pony that Cynthia and Dan gave Emelia. Emmy loved it right away and started riding it and hugging it. Another big hit was the quilt from Margery with scenes from the Wizard of Oz. Emelia loves that movie and the quilt was beautiful-Margery made it with help from her mom, who is a very talented seamstress. Emmy declared it a blanket for her horse, but from her that was meant as high praise.

I love this picture of Cynthia with Zack. That kid fell asleep during dinner, despite the din of the busy restaurant, and managed to even sleep through the wait staff singing the birthday song!

Becky's fourth effort at a cake for Emelia turned out great, as you can see from these pictures Becky took at the party on Monday. Emelia really looks like quite the ballerina princess and the cake is outstanding!

Becky's Alphabet Tag

A-Attached or Single--attached to Mexica
B-Best Friends--they know who they are
C-Cake or Pie--why even ask? Cake, even the best cake, is nowhere on the radar beside a good piece of pie, particularly apple pie made with tart apples, served with razor sharp cheddar cheese and good vanilla ice cream
D-Day of Choice-Sunday is my only day off
E-Essential Item-Internet connection
F-I need to give my youngest child some alphabet lessons
G-Greatest Accomplishment-This is technical, but my work creating the childhood disability evaluation form is something that's lasted more than 10 years now--an eternity in government forms time--and people still comment on how good the form is. How's that for obscure and arcane?
H-Hometown-Springfield, Mass.
I-Indulgences-An occasional trip to the Philippines, a subscription to the Opera
J-January or July-Well, January is my birthday, so it gets the slight edge even though July has baseball and Independence Day
K-Kids-5-3 boys and 2 girls
L-Life is Incomplete Without--Baseball
M-Marriage Date-I'll let you know
N-Number of Siblings-2, 1 bro, 1 sis
O-Oranges or Apples-Apples
P-Phobias-Heights-if I was 6' tall, I'd be scared to stand up
Q-Quotes-"No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people" (H. L. Mencken)
R-Reason to Smile-W leaves office in under 2 months, though he leaves little to smile about.
S-Season-Fall
T-Tag-Haven't played in years, I'm more of a hide-and-seek guy
U-Unknown Facts About Me-If I wanted you to know, they wouldn't be unknown facts
V-Very Favorite Store-Powell's Bookstore in Portland OR
W-Worst Habit-Procrastination
X-X-Ray or Ultra Sound-I'm getting more and more x-rays these days, just spare me any more MRIs.
Y-Your Favorite Food-This changes by the day-lumpia, shrimp cocktail, rare steak, jambalaya are all good, but it is very difficult to do better than a high-quality, well-prepared hamburger.
Z-Zodiac sign-Aquarius (Chinese-Ox)