christmas 2012

Paul only gets Christmas Day off from work, but he took a day of leave on Christmas Eve.  With the weekend, we got four lovely days together as a family.  The weather was very cooperative, giving us both days warm enough for walking in light coats, and fresh snow for Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve.  

Christmas morning with our blow up snowman actually upright.  The snow helps keep him anchored and we've had so little this year thanks to El Nino that he's spent a lot of time lying down on the job.  We bought a timer for the lights, so he blows up and the lights on the porch come on every evening at 4PM just as the sun is starting to set behind the mountains.  At 11PM, when most of us are in bed and asleep, our lights and snowman also shut down for the night.  

Walking near Dixon Reservoir, about a mile from our house.

 Tim's discovered the benefit of sunglasses on clear, snowy days and is wearing a pair of mine.  Luke is too put off by hats and glasses to appreciate the shade they provide, so he looks on the world through half-closed eyes.

The reservoir appears well frozen, but we stayed close to the bank just in case.

Christmas Eve, the stocking were hung by the chimney with care...Santa has already filled them with treats, and set up the BBQ and BatCave for the boys so that they have instant access to them in the morning.  Tim is already voicing some doubts about Santa.  Last week, he said he didn't think Santa could make something like the BatCave.  On Christmas day, he spotted the box for the BatCave in the garage and said he didn't think Santa brought the BatCave because there was a box.  I told him that Santa knew how much he and Luke both liked the pictures on the boxes, so he gave them the box and put it in the garage for safe keeping. I think he bought it...Most Americans put out milk and cookies for Santa.  Tim said that Santa didn't like milk and opted for wine instead.  He also thought Santa would like the toffee and peanut brittle that I made better than cookies, which was good because we didn't have any cookies.

Basking in the joy of their many Christmas presents.  Thanks to Aunt Melissa, Gran and Grand-da, Aunt Cinder and Uncle Jeff, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Scott, GG and Gramps, and the Viners for all wonderful the wonderful gifts.

Watching our new family favorite: Wallace and Gromit and the Were-Rabbit.

Yes, they are actually sharing.

Paul got a new down coat and took a walk in the foothills to test it.  

Merry Christmas Everyone!

thanksgiving

One of the benefits, and there are too many to list, of being married to a foreigner is that Thanksgiving is important to Paul only because it means a day off of work to spend with his family.  I get to decide if we're going to go traditional or think outside the box.  Thanks to Mom and Dad, we get a little of both this year.  We spent Thanksgiving Day at home, just the four of us doing some of our favorite things, like cooking in the backyard.  The weather was glorious.

 Why would anyone want turkey when there are fillets in the fridge?

And building forts out of the furniture.

Wicked, man.

A very good place for lunch.

Paul took the day after Thanksgiving off, not to fight the crowds in the shops, but to spend even more time with the family and enjoy a traditional meal at Mom and Dad's.

halloween

Happy Halloween

work honeymoon

A new job always has a bit of a honeymoon period for me because I like change and new things.  I enjoy that time when what's right about the place is in the foreground and what's wrong is invisible.  I imagine that will last here for about a week, maybe two.  There are some things that will always be 'right' for me.  Such as the architecture.  I like attractive buildings.  They don't have to be old, just attractive.   I also like it when the grounds are pretty.

This is Spruce where my office is located and where I park my bike.  The interior was completely refurbished over the summer.

This is the walk I take every morning to my class in Alder Hall.  I haven't done any touch ups or color changes.  It's really that green.  I'm looking forward to the color changes of autumn.

I like this faculty staff room because it's all new, has a dishwasher, and especially because of what is in the boxes under the window.

And possibly best of all, I like teh bottom shelf of the faculty fridge.  Yum, yum, yummy.

Me on my work honeymoon.  The sun is in my eyes.

family together again

Jenny and Neville arrived on June 25 and left this morning.  We had an amazing month with them and went to Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone for our annual camping trip.  They were kind enough to give us two weekends away from home and the boys.  I'll get around to posting about all of it soon.  Right now we're feeling a bit lonely with them gone and they boys miss the love and attention already.  Roll on summer 2013!

first night together

Tim and Luke often watch a DVD in our bedroom before they go to bed in their own rooms.  Luke falls asleep listening to music with one of us, and Tim falls asleep watching a DVD in his own bed.  Last night, Luke was wide awake when the movie in our room finished, but Tim was ready to go to bed.  Luke joined him and we left them, expecting either Luke to leave after getting bored with Tim's choice in movies or Tim calling to us demanding that Luke leave.  Instead, we found them asleep.  

And they slept in these positions the entire night.  Luke doesn't sleep through the night very often.  He likes company.  Tim was an unknowing provider.  Because of the High Park Fire, not far from here, we had to shut the house up tight.  It was cool enough to sleep but warm enough for few clothes and no covers.

triple crown

I am now married to a South African, a Brit, and an American.