You see how much time has passed between these informative blog posts? We've been all hustle and and bustle and Christmas cookies around here. Oh there have been birthdays and friend visits and holiday gatherings. Baking and barking and small backyard fires. We had a Hon visit in there too, with a low country boil, a boat ride, and the Holiday Shanghai Tournament.
I'm using this post as my end of year photo dump, starting with my Elephant Ears because they've only got a few weeks left before the frost will kill 'em and I just really like them.
Ahh we started the month with our last wedding and subsequent last round of Car Tetris for the year. Packing the cars with all the wedding crap is something I enjoy doing. Everything is square or rectangular so it's really just a wet and heavy 3-dimensional puzzle. I'm honored to be known for my ability to efficiently pack anything from suitcases to grocery bags. I rotate and arrange and use every square inch available, and the results are pure satisfaction. Now why have I paired a car full of blooms with a gooey caramel cake? Because my holiday baking just couldn't wait for the appropriate season, so I started baking back in November. The total number of cookies baked must be in the hundreds. There was a babka, Moroccan pasties, multiple cakes, and a failed attempt at a puff pastry tart, but the point is, I need to cut back on The Great British Baking Show.
Just before the last wedding, Brett began setting yard residue on fire, including lots of my dead sticks and stumps from the wedding season. Usually I throw everything into our compost bin but it is currently at max capacity. The roaring flames enlivened Brett's caveman ancestry and he rummaged around all over looking for things to burn. He was still out there well after dark.
We celebrated Chelsea's birthday at a fun spot on the water. It was a balmy nice day (we've had a wonderfully mild December) and we ate all the things a person should eat on their birthday.
Dad has continued what seems to be a month long experiment with his facial hair. We've had the pleasure of lots of family time, which means lots of one-liners from Popples. We mostly enjoy watching him enjoy his own commentary.
The girls partook in a series of Holiday brawls, mostly indoors when we least expected it, and are now living in a light lockdown. They are together for just a few hours each day and otherwise rotate between being locked in a bedroom and having the privilege of "family time." We're loosely trying to figure out who we can give one to. We can't live like this... but we love them so much. Their previous warden/trainer Simms, is coming back by in January to "refresh" their lessons and help brainstorm some solutions.
Here's Brett using our big new table to stretch out his quads. He's had a stressful month - one not conducive to spending all waking hours with your in-laws. All of his project clients got all whipped up about end of year deadlines and threw extra work at him just when he expected to wrap things up.
This year we did Christmas Eve with The Unions and Christmas Day with the Eisenhauers. And by Unions, I mean Mom's side. Aunts and uncles and cousins, oh my! There were squirming tikes, lots of sweets, and Erik and Chelsea were honorary family members for the night.
Brett and I relished in how quiet our house was when we got home.
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