We had not seen a real winter in three years, so we bundled ourselves up and enjoyed the cold weather. The monkey was sad not to be able to build a snowman since all we got was a few dustings, but it was nice to make tracks in the snow at the very least. And it was very, very cold a few days - in the teens - so that made for a novel experience for those used to so Cal weather. Note the puffy pink parka on Roo:
We put up the Christmas tree with the cousins at Nona and Grandpa's house, wandered in the woods "squirrel hunting" (the monkey actually almost got one which would have meant squirrel stew for dinner... Conflicting desire level there for him to see success), and spending time with family.
HF's family has an annual Christmas party that we always enjoy, and we had the pleasure of attending for the first time since 2007. Great time. Another highlight was seeing baby Samuel who has now been home from the hospital for just about a month and is thriving. Such a joy to see him with his parents! Total cutie, as shown below with Gina, his mom.
We spent our final night in New England with these guys (plus my brother) as well as my sister and her family who'd flown in from AL for the holiday that day - a family meal at my parents' house with everyone present for the first time in 18 months. A yuletide treat. The flight back to CA last night was sadly anything but a treat as the goose spent 4 of the 6 hours shrieking, crying, and throwing things on the ground... Certainly the worst cross-country flight of the nine we've had in the past 2.5 years. She slept only two hours! Oh well, I guess we were due.
