Christmas 2009, part one

We had the privilege of visiting California to kick off our holiday festivities this year, and we had a great time! I got to snap lots of shots of my adorable nieces and nephew (the girls were a lot more willing to ham it up for the camera, what a surprise!).







This is one of my favorite pictures. Not just because I'm holding my adorable youngest niece (who insisted on being shown each picture taken of her, and then would giggle and stamp her feet in a delighted little dance), but because of the AMAZING weather we had during our vacation. I'll be honest, I started looking more seriously for jobs for Joel in Santa Cruz once we got home....

Two things we like right now

The first is a TV show that Meris got us hooked on: Bones. We've had to start limiting our tv watching time because of this show. And both of us love this song from one episode in Season 2.



The second thing is one of those marvelous 2-o'clock-in-the-morning-on-your-graveyard-shift finds:

http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=23303422&gt1=35000

Guernsey

I'm reading a great book right now: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It's a historical fiction novel comprised entirely of correspondence letters between the characters. To be honest, I didn't think I would like it because I couldn't imagine an entire book of letters being interesting. But I was wrong. It really is delightful and it has inspired a great deal of day-dreaming on my part.

I want to go to Guernsey. And so will you if you read this book, or even just look at their website: http://www.visitguernsey.com/

This cute little Bailiwick has everything an ideal vacation spot should have: beautiful scenery, historical sites, wonderful food, ideal exploration paths, quaint accomodations, etc. Not to mention, you can get to it from Weymouth which, according to one of the characters in the book, is the ideal way:

"I would catch the afternoon boat from Weymouth. There is no more beautiful approach to Guernsey than the one by sea--either with the sun going down, or with gold-tipped, black storm clouds, or the Island just emerging through the mist."

Here's a teaser

Our Christmas celebrations this year lasted for about three weeks. One week we spent in Santa Cruz visiting with lots of family, and the last two were spent in Moscow with Kate and Davey home for the holidays (and Lynn and Kenzie for part of the time who were nice enough to drive them from Spokane). I don't have time right now to post all the pictures of our fun times, so consider this the teaser trailer before the main event. Highlights of the most exciting parts of our holidays:

First, a masked event.



Second, (the tension), not everyone was pleased to have David home for the holidays... (ok I stole that picture from Kate).



And lastly.....



If that doesn't catch your interest, I don't know what will.

Fantastic French Fries

I was making a steak and salad dinner last week and I decided to be daring and make homemade french fries. They were delicious (and so good for you, I'm sure, right mom?). So here's the recipe. I could honestly put this batter on just about anything it's so good.

2.5 Pounds Peeled russet potatoes (or however many you want, I didn't use that many for the two of us)
1 cup flour
1 t. garlic salt or garlic powder
1 t. onion salt
1 t. salt
1 t. paprika
1/2-1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil

1. Slice the potatoes and place in cold water (if you're worried they'll discolor)
2. Heat oil over medium high heat
3. Combine flour through paprika. Stir in the water as needed to form a paste (for dredging the potatoes through)
4. Dip slices in batter and place in hot oil so they aren't touching, one at a time (if they touch they stick together).
5. let cook, flipping over halfway, until they are browned on the outside and soft on the inside (I just taste-tested so I have no set time for you).
6. Drain on paper towels.

Picture time!

Here are our top two favorite pictures from the past week. First, our newest Christmas ornament. I love the world-within-an-ornament ornaments, so I was tickled to find this one.

As I'm sure I've already mentioned, our cat Whiskey and our parent's cat Sammy are not exactly on agreeable terms. In fact, it has become a daily tradition for Sammy to come around to our outside door and stare in at Whiskey. A hissing-fest naturally ensues. I finally took a picture of their strange routine:

Also

In case the weather is as blah wherever you are as it is in Moscow right now, here's a little something that cheered me up!

http://vimeo.com/2926432

Sorry I couldn't embed it. And since I don't speak Swedish I just have to hope they're not saying anything wildly inappropriate!