Christmas Day

The kids get their stockings first thing.

 Millie embraced the holiday spirit and was eating her chocolate before anyone noticed.

 The rest of the day was spent eating, opening presents, and enjoying each other's company.

Christmas Eve

We kicked off the day with gingerbread pancakes, blueberries, and whipped cream. Anja and Liisa planned an elaborate scavenger hunt for the kids with a "Twelve Days of Christmas" theme.

After a simple lunch we met for coffee across the street. Monnica and Scarlett joined us.

We went to the Christmas Eve family service at the Lutheran Church again and came home for a make-your-own nachos bar. Which was new to us this year, but is now a firmly established tradition. It was easy and tasty and went swimmingly except for the one pan of nachos that I upended in the oven.
The kids opened their gift from Grandma.

Around here the presents don't show up under the tree until everyone is asleep, except for the ones the kids give each other.

Carefully staged to avoid the eyes of any curious people popping out of bed.

Thanksgiving Feast

The Tacomans joined us at Mimmu and Iso's house for our traditional festive lunch.

Sandwiches and pie for dinner. Her Christmas tree was already up and decorated which gave the event a little extra sparkle.

Road trip to Idaho

We were there for Halloween so there was lots of dressing up in Grandma's costume collection. These were both made by Aunt Cindy for her cousins. 

One of our audiobooks this trip was Where the Red Fern Grows. "It wasn't impossible even though it was a long way from the Snake River Valley in Idaho," the narrator read as we drove through the Snake River Valley. There is a statue of Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann in front of the Idaho Falls library because Wilson Rawls lived here for a time. We stopped by after the library trick-or-treat for a photo.

With cousin John and cousin Abby (and Billy and the dogs).

There was pumpkin carving at the house and a harvest festival at the church (Penny loved the bounce house) and lots of candy.

This little ladybug took some unassisted steps while we were there.

We got to press some cider with Mark's aunt and uncle and some of the cousins using his Grandma's cider press.

A fun-filled visit for sure!

Aunt Pat visits

It was so nice to have Pat come to visit us! She came with a car full of treasures (art, rock collections, books, dress-up dresses!) and stories and time to spend with us.

We went on several adventures to nearby nature areas that we hadn't visited yet. The weather is definitely colder now, a parka is not unwelcome in shady places or early in the morning.

One of our trips with her was to the McNary Wildlife Refuge. We spotted a coyote in addition to the birds.

 It was a beautiful morning for exploring.

 We are so glad that she could be here with us!

Finland : Kirsti's birthday

The Americans went to visit Urajärvi Manor before lunch. My mom and aunt used to go there when they were children. We looked around the grounds while waiting for the guided tour of the house to begin.

Check out the beds. They were extended at night and collapsed during the day to provide more room.

After the tour we went back to the house for lunch. In 2009 we had reindeer and potatoes for my birthday and we decided to make that a tradition.

And I always have a strawberry layer cake.

Helvi and Osmo came to have coffee with us.

It was good to celebrate here.

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Maryann

We cooked dinner outside in our fire pit.

Mark helped Millie eat her toasted marshmallow.

Some of us took a day trip to visit the tall ships and Fort Walla Walla. (Others stayed home with sick or small children.)

 

The kids were very impressed with the brick of tea that one "settler" had as well as some old hard tack.

We were glad they could come see our new house and spend some time with us.

Idaho : Birthday celebrations, cousins, crafts

Our travel day was a little shorter this trip because Grandma Irene was visiting a new great-grandchild in Arizona. We missed having dinner with her.
When we got to Grandma's house Helena was given some birthday gifts. A book, finger puppets, and a fantastic red cape sewed by Grandma. It's going to get a lot of use in their make-believe play.

We made our usual visit to the library for story time. And it was craft day so the kids got to make a tissue paper fish. We also checked in on the live fish in the library and saw the fattest koi.  
Aunt Jennifer organized a birthday party for the little girls and Mark. Millie loved her birthday tiara.

She opened presents like a pro.

 Birthday buddies.

 Balloons and the cakes that Jennifer made.

 Aunt Maryann is always a favorite with the kids.

 Aunt Becky arranged a serious crafting session. They are decorating picture frames.

Henry is pretty sure he needs a tablet just like cousin Tony.

Grandma Irene joined us for one night, it was so good to see her again.

A busy and fun trip.

Christmas Day

Mark's mom had sent gifts with us last time we visited. 

The kids each got two indoor frisbees (or berets) from her as well as a complete collection of state quarters. She sent the placeholders from the coin folder and the kids had fun matching them to the state they came from. A quick holiday geography lesson for everyone.

This year the kids bought gifts for each other. It was fun to see them make decisions about what to get. Henry bought everyone an individual carton of goldfish crackers, including himself.

Mimmu and Iso and the aunts and Steve came over and had breakfast. They brought a mountain of presents. We made coffee cake, an egg casserole, and fruit salad. The kids had one round of breakfast before the guests came and we had to stop them before they consumed all the coffee cake. Next year we might need a bigger one. Or two.

We opened presents and played with gifts throughout the morning. It snowed, but we didn't play in it since there was enough activity inside. Had we known it would be almost the only snow of the winter we would have gotten out in it.

There was salmon and mashed potatoes for lunch with carrots and Brussels sprouts. Followed by some stocking candy.

We had turkey sandwiches for dinner. Nora got several craft sets. The day finished with a completed potholder made on the new potholder loom.

After Thanksgiving

 On Saturday morning my dad and I cooked up ohukaisia (Finnish crepes) for everyone.

 We had three pans going to keep up with the crowd. Bacon, fruit salad, and cookies rounded out the meal.

Nora has a little of several toppings on this one. It can be hard to choose what to have. After brunch we had an unexpected chance to see a house that was going to be for sale.

That night we had sandwiches. Nora's creation was cheese, salami, and a potato chip topped with herring. She says her everything sandwich was better than the one she made with turkey.