Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Well, I wanted to sqeak in these last posts before the new year. We managed to get several great shots of Ruby's first Christmas and took lots of video too. Jared propped up the video camera and got quite a lot of footage of us opening gifts. We had hoped that Ruby would enjoy unwrapping the presents, but she seemed totally oblivious to what was going on. She pretty much just wanted to pull the ornaments off of the Christmas tree. Somehow she had totally missed the existance of the Christmas tree until Christmas morning when we were all crowded under it.


I'm sure you're aching to ask-- did we dance around the Christmas tree and sing carols. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that, no, we did not. Both Jared and I had been planning on it, but then we just totally forgot about it when the moment actually came to do something about it. I think the main problem was that we didn't really have any hoopla until Christmas morning. We have decided that it's definitely a Christmas Eve thing--something that should be done in semi-darkness! We (I) also chickened out on using the real candles. That darn cat has been under the tree almost non-stop and periodically shifts the tree to a precarious angle, so there was no way I was going to put fire on that tree. It's been really nice to have our Christmas lights though (even though we got the cheapest ones-- $13/string!!). Hopefully, we'll be able to bring the Danish dancing tradition with us back to the states--although, I think they can keep their real candles. It's a nice idea, but the reality with pets and kids sounds like a nightmare!

We also bowed out on the Danish tradition of a Christmas goose. The thought of cooking a goose and all the extras in our tiny oven was way too much! Especially when there are really only two of us eating. Instead I roasted a chicken and made all the typical Christmas side dishes including sweet potatoes--yum! For dessert we did have the Danish specialty-- ris a L'amande. It's a rice pudding with cherry topping. The tradition is that there are chopped almonds in the pudding and one whole almond. The person who gets the whole almond (and doesn't chew it up by accident) gets a prize. The trick is that that person is supposed to save it in their cheek until everyone has eaten the whole pot and is stuffed, then they say "Wow! Look what I found!". Well, I found the almond, but I forgot to hide it until the pot was empty, which really disappointed Jared. I'll try harder next year!



This week has been such a treat having Jared home with us. We were able to finally get our Christmas newsletter done and Jared's made serious headway with the video (sorry family, it isn't in the mail yet!). The city has been quiet, with the exception of the fireworks which have been going off with increasing frequency since before Christmas. I have heard that we're in for a real frenzy tonight, and I believe it. All day it's been one after another. Sometimes it sounds like they hit the house or whiz right past the window. I'm starting to feel like the townspeople in Fellowship of the Ring... some naughty hobbits have gotten into Gandolf's wagon and we're all going to be scared silly before the mischief is over!






I'll leave you with our family pic. Oddly enough, the first one ended up being the best. We kept trying to get Ruby to smile without holding the medicine bottle, but she wouldn't hear of it. Oh well, it's a memory!