The winter holidays are going fast. Grandma came over to spend a day in Austin and we went to see Vivian's choir's winter concert at the church where they practice. Then it was our turn to go to Canyon Lake. Gunaraj and I finished up where we had removed the covered walkway the week before and I learned how to shingle a roof. Jo and the kids went to Nicolle and Michelle's new house to "help" them move in. After which it was right back to Austin for an evening at the Horton's lovely holiday oyster and whiskey party and for Vivian's last choir performance of the year - at the Trail of Lights (Vivian and I got to do both while Evan and Jo just hung out at the party - those poopers).
I stole Karen's photo of the Horton's backyard party from Facebook without permission - the one with the lights strung between the elms. And here are six of the nine Grace Garden bunch looking like a police line-up, at close to midnight - long after most of the other guests had left the Hortons. Evan is still the littlest. Vivian is dressed in what she wore under her choir costume.
The Shahs visited and started the whole Christmas gift opening thing a day early. Then we packed (i.e, Jo packed) the Land Rover till if was so full that the crockpot had to go under Evan's feet and we drove west. We stopped near Wimberley to say hello to the Shaw-leys who were vacationing there. We shared a bottle of wine while the kids hopped in and out of a hammock in the hill country. For Christmas eve we went to Nicolle's church and I got my dose of Scott's sermons for another full year.
This is the Christmas that the kids finally gave up the pretense of the whole Santa thing. Phew. Christmas Day was a bit of an anticlimax - especially for Evan who had been counting days down for the last month. Everyday:
"How many days to Christmas, Daddy?"
"What day is it today?"
"12th"
"When is Christmas?"
"25th"
"So how many days left?"
"12 days not including today and Christmas day"
And so on.
The gifts went well enough. Vivian loved her sequined dress, books, chocolates, but most of all her American Girl doll. I had assumed we had dodged this bullet, recalling Simran's American girl doll craze from when she was Vivian's age, but pow. Evan hated his jacket, said "oh no" when he opened his scooter, but did get really pumped for his pocket knife. Turns out he loved his scooter too - he just wasn't sure he knew how to ride a two wheeled one.
Later in the afternoon Nicolle & Co, the Valby-Delasandros and the Shaw-Holey's came over to help us eat turkey, ham and lamb. Next year we'll add beef and fish because we don't want anything below us in the food chain to feel left out.
That evening the cousins and Nicolle and us went into New Braunfels to see Rouge One. Good movie. Ironically, a few hours after watching the CG Princess Leah on screen at the very end of the movie, the real one died. When the movie came out in 1977 and I was 13 and Alu and I saw it at the Sangeet Theater in Secunderabad on opening day, I was a little bit in love with her, cinnamon rolls and all (for the record, I also lusted after Luke's light saber, land speeder, x-wing and even his binoculars).
Jo and my big gifts for Christmas were what Carol gave us - a week of looking after our kids. We left for San Antonio airport at four-fucking-AM on Boxing Day and arrived at St. Kitts later that afternoon. Merry.
I stole Karen's photo of the Horton's backyard party from Facebook without permission - the one with the lights strung between the elms. And here are six of the nine Grace Garden bunch looking like a police line-up, at close to midnight - long after most of the other guests had left the Hortons. Evan is still the littlest. Vivian is dressed in what she wore under her choir costume.
The Shahs visited and started the whole Christmas gift opening thing a day early. Then we packed (i.e, Jo packed) the Land Rover till if was so full that the crockpot had to go under Evan's feet and we drove west. We stopped near Wimberley to say hello to the Shaw-leys who were vacationing there. We shared a bottle of wine while the kids hopped in and out of a hammock in the hill country. For Christmas eve we went to Nicolle's church and I got my dose of Scott's sermons for another full year.
This is the Christmas that the kids finally gave up the pretense of the whole Santa thing. Phew. Christmas Day was a bit of an anticlimax - especially for Evan who had been counting days down for the last month. Everyday:
"How many days to Christmas, Daddy?"
"What day is it today?"
"12th"
"When is Christmas?"
"25th"
"So how many days left?"
"12 days not including today and Christmas day"
And so on.
The gifts went well enough. Vivian loved her sequined dress, books, chocolates, but most of all her American Girl doll. I had assumed we had dodged this bullet, recalling Simran's American girl doll craze from when she was Vivian's age, but pow. Evan hated his jacket, said "oh no" when he opened his scooter, but did get really pumped for his pocket knife. Turns out he loved his scooter too - he just wasn't sure he knew how to ride a two wheeled one.
Later in the afternoon Nicolle & Co, the Valby-Delasandros and the Shaw-Holey's came over to help us eat turkey, ham and lamb. Next year we'll add beef and fish because we don't want anything below us in the food chain to feel left out.
That evening the cousins and Nicolle and us went into New Braunfels to see Rouge One. Good movie. Ironically, a few hours after watching the CG Princess Leah on screen at the very end of the movie, the real one died. When the movie came out in 1977 and I was 13 and Alu and I saw it at the Sangeet Theater in Secunderabad on opening day, I was a little bit in love with her, cinnamon rolls and all (for the record, I also lusted after Luke's light saber, land speeder, x-wing and even his binoculars).
Jo and my big gifts for Christmas were what Carol gave us - a week of looking after our kids. We left for San Antonio airport at four-fucking-AM on Boxing Day and arrived at St. Kitts later that afternoon. Merry.
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