Christmas 2013

These kinds of posts are largely for my own archival purposes, but bear with me and I'll reward you with something special at the end. 

An Advent train wreck on my counter: cookie plates, cranberry-and-candle centerpiece, kids' advent manger/sacrifice counter, and the 3-D stained glass window Advent calendar. And a bunch of random art stuff in the background.

 We did a Jesse Tree for the first time this year!  I participated in a Jesse Tree ornament exchange, which resulted in a wide variety of ornament styles.  I love variety, so it works for me.

 A little under-lit and blurry, but this was the best Christmas Eve photo we got.

 Isaiah, barely restraining himself.

 ... what is this, some kind of Bumbo Christmas jig? 

 My gang

 Demolition time for the gingerbread house.

 I wanted a picture of our house at night, and this was the best I could get (the flash lit up the fog).

And now for the reward:

I give you: a young Hercule Poirot! 

 ...Or just Solomon, sporting the Mustachifier his wiseacre uncle gave him.

The Fall that was Winter

We had some unusually wintry weather in November this year -- for about a week the lows were in the teens and the highs in the mid-twenties.  I'm sure this is boring for anyone who lives in a place that gets real winter weather, but here in the maritime Pacific Northwest such temperatures are not the norm, and certainly not in November.  I got all excited and took pictures to document the cold.

 Hm.  I guess we should have winterized the fountain in the pond before now.

 Heavy frost on an ornamental cabbage.

Aaaaand what the heck, here's a cute Solomon picture.