SO Fun!!!
Pam, thank you! These are wonderful, and are getting so much mileage!
Thank you so much for sending these, and all the other great gifts!
XOXO
This year’s Christmas Eve was Perfect! We had such a nice night. Inge and Gesa brought over fresh crab for dinner, and a huge Boudin sourdough crab to match!
We had German sausages and pretzels, and just the right kind of mustard.
There were beautiful gifts exchanged, and everyone was happy and healthy.
These cookies are the most eagerly anticipated delivery of the season!
We are so indescribably happy to receive such a sweet gift from Kiera’s parents.
The kids and I literally squeal with delight!
I wish I could convey how fresh and delicious these are.
I guess you’ll just have to use your imagination :)
A couple of random iPhone snaps to remember the awesomeness of the night.
Oh YOU KNOW there were some amazing Christmas cookies…
Awww. (Behind Chief you can see the photobooth backdrop)
Surprise Guest! UJ!
Whaaat!? Such a fun surprise!
And we got Aunt Pam on the phone, and it was some great Gott family love.
You might want to know,
There are much better photos over here at (the
NEW & IMPROVED) Natural Light Photography Website!
We put the kids down in Kiera & Cole’s bed so we could stay longer…
Fun times. Happy Holidays, and the best year ever (twentynine!) and a new
apartment layout, and festive jammies, Cherry M&Ms?!, ancient rap reggae, best friends, family, and a new NLP website…
dare I say?
Epic
Oscar and I made a pact to bring home the same type of tree as we had last year. We fell in love with it’s elegant style, and we want to make this type of tree “Our Tree”.
It’s known (at this lot, anyways) as a “Silver Tip”. Grown at high elevation, it’s not cut from a tree farm, and comes in limited supply. What else can I say. It’s special, and we had to have it.
We planned for a Friday evening, and went to the same lot as last year.
Upon arrival, we had fun, acted silly, and only noticed a little later that they had ZERO Silver Tips in our desired height range (8 to 11 feet).
7 ft. was too short, and 12 ft., too $$$!
The tree people said they were getting new Silver Tips in the next evening. So we left. Lucy was heartbreakingly sweet, pointing out how many perfectly good trees there were, and how we really should bring one home. She cried. Mark looked up other lots, but no one had Silver Tips. We did a Delancey St. drive by, but they didn’t got nuthin’.
We distracted our sadness with Bi-Rite Ice Creams.
When we arrived, they said they Did have the trees we were looking for. However they were still locked on the truck, and they didn’t have the key. They said come back in an hour. What? Mark got someone to take our phone number so they could call us. We went to stall at the Stonestown mall.
Oh yeah, and when we left the lot, again, without a tree, Lucy cried.
We got the call. We arrive on the now very familiar scene. The woman said to me, “Well, we have them, but they’re not so great. Follow me.” UGH. So we walk to the back, where it’s poorly lit, and there are palates strewn around a big dark wet ditch. She picks up a perfect height Silver Tip, straight as an arrow. I say, “I’ll take it.”
(who knows what trees she had been looking at, but clearly it wasn’t ours).
Hooray!!
By the Way, Lucy cried again, leaving the lot – this time because I wasn’t actually carrying the tree, and she thought we were leaving Again with out a tree. Now Lucy, that would be a little crazy, don’t you think?
I picked up Oscar early – at lunchtime. All the kids in his class chimed out, “Oscar, your mom is here!” and Oscar looked a little ruffled. He doesn’t like unexpected appearances that much, I don’t think. Stick to the playbook, thank you.
His classmates, just coming on to the playground for recess, wanted to know where he was going.
When Lucy heard all the kids asking where he was going, she fixed up her posture, and was about to shout, “The Beach!”
when I (gently) grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with my hand. I answered, “I have an appointment”, and smiled blandly.
When we got to the car, I let Lucy tell Oscar our surprise destination.
It was all smiles from there on out.
Oh yeah, in the car, Oscar asked, “Mom? When is Winter?”
(click on any to see larger)
(from instagram)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Addendum: (or whatever):
I was missing Booker like crazy. There were so many happy labs fetching booeys. Oscar noticed it too. Crissy was the place that we took Booker the most!
Then I started missing Ava.
Then I snapped out of it because Lucy was screaming that Oscar had ruined her sand-thing. Or vice versa – I’m not sure.
We sat down together on a towel and had icy cold apple juice, and pirates booty. The kids leaned their shoulders together, and I felt better.
I’m not sayin’ anything, but I’m just sayin’.