More snow

Having fun playing with the camera on my new phone:

Photo op

It has been ages since we took a family photo, so we took advantage of being together yesterday and headed to our local Walmart portrait studio yesterday to get some photos:

New phones!

We have spent the last 22 months of our 24-month cell phone contract counting down the days until we could get rid of the Worst Phones in the World. As of tonight, we each have a brand new iPhone 5. Fortunately, we have Sarah here to apply our screen protectors and get us started!







Now we can post photos of our food! (Seriously, watch this--it's so funny!)

O, Christmas tree, o, Christmas tree . . .

. . . we want to eat your branches:



(Actually they were hearing some sort of critter moving around in the walls of the living room. I prefer not to think about it.)

A delicious accident waiting to happen

I was behind this milk truck on my way home from the airport this morning:



It says, "In case of accident, please have cookies ready. Lots and lots and lots of cookies."

Good food and Plaza lights

For Jenny's last night with us, we went into Kansas City for a delicious supper at Cafe Trio. After supper, we drove around and looked at the lights at The Plaza:







Once we got back on post, we drove around and looked at more lights. I monkeyed around a little with the settings on my camera and thought this shot of the chapel came out pretty nice:

. . . And to all a good night!

I didn't do holiday cards last year for the first time since Fred and I got married, but I got back into it this year:

Merry Christmas to all . . .

We had a lovely, laid-back Christmas Day. Here are some of the highlights:

Stockings for everybody:



Our lovely-smelling tree, first live one since we moved to Hawaii in 1999:



World's largest elf:



Annabelle gave Sarah this cat. His name is Pusheen:



We all got a laugh out of Jenny's "Coloring Book for Grown-Ups":



Rochester swag for Annabelle; Polish pottery for Sarah:



Now Fred is sporting a Rochester Dad shirt:



Annabelle made Mike a "Breaking Bad" edition set of crayons with each colored labelled with its chemical properties:



Can't wait to watch "Brave":



Polish pottery for Jenny:



A new addition to my knitting reference library:



"We're going to Disney World!"



Sarah brought a stocking for the cats. Harvey couldn't get enough of it!



Here's a brief video clip of him getting into the Christmas spirit:



Knitted corgis for Mike and Sarah:



Annabelle with her cozy "Dr. Who" blanket:



And repping for Rochester:



After we opened presents, Fred put on his dress uniform and went to serve at the dining facility. After his shift ended, we joined him there for a delicious meal that I didn't have to cook and a visit with Santa Claus:

Christmas Eve scenes

Harvey loves the tree:



Sarah brought holiday attire for the critters:







Don't they look thrilled?

Our feast:



Our table:



(Note the cat underneath.)

Free-range Christmas trees (and fantastic lights)

I think this stretch of trees along Route 9 just south of Parkville is pretty cool:





I would love to decorate a wild Christmas tree!

Here's a picture of some of the most impressive lights in my neighborhood:

Snow day(s)

We had our first snow day of the year yesterday. Annabelle was a little disappointed by the timing, as her calculus final was supposed to be that day, and she was desperate to put that behind her before school got out for break. Never fear, we were back to regular operations today, but there's still some snow on the ground. I hope it sticks around a few days so that Jenny and Sarah can enjoy it when they come up for Christmas!