More Spokandyland Pics

Emmy in her cute bow.

I don't know why, but Emmy always seemed to be the center of attention.

Christmas day. I love that guest rooms come equipped with fluffy white robes.

Christmas breakfast was a yummy strata with eggs and mushrooms and bready stuff.

Hilary and I got in a nice walk most days. Here is the view from Ann and Brody's neighborhood, looking over Chewelah.

Mike and Tanya came up from Spokane in the afternoon and we opened gifts and hung out. Christmas dinner was crab, which meant that the lone vegetarian got to hold Emmy for much of the meal while everyone else was occupied with cracking and jabbing those little forks around.

The music-note crowns are from the traditional British party crackers (noisemakers). Inside each one was a numbered whistle and music to some traditional Christmas songs. See two posts ago for a beautiful rendition of The First Noel.

More Emmy.

I joined the Conklin boys on Wednesday for a day at 49 Degress North, the beautiful ski area just 15 minutes outside Chewelah.

Mom, you might notice that we are both wearing helmets. Safety first.

At lunchtime, we drank mochas and devoured the largest tray of nachos I have ever seen.

Full and content.

On what turned out to be our last run of the day, Goose and I accidentally exited the downhill area and ended up below the lodge on the cross-country trails. A shuttle had to be called to take us back up and we missed the last chair lift ride. It was still a great day of skiing.

Ann and Brody sporting their new matching Emerson (College) sweatshirts.

We tried out another gift of Ann and Brody's: a wine tasting party kit.

On Thursday morning, we headed back to Spokane for brunch with grandma.

We visited the historic downtown Davenport Hotel which was displaying gingerbread "houses" that had been designed by local architects. Here's my attempt at an old-fashioned photo on the balcony overlooking the lobby.

Hanging out with Emerson:

Let's Play Guesstures

See if you can guess the word each person is acting out. See below for answers.

1. Scott

2. Hilary


3. Goose


4. Scott


5. Goose


6. Me. The slip is not intentional.

7. Brody

8. Notice the difficulty Ann has in grabbing the card before it drops down--she didn't even get to her fourth word, "rockette"--unfortunately for us.

Answers:

1. drag
2. cranky
3. jock strap
4. dog
5. concussion
6. computer, stopwatch, channel, picket
7. cut, bell???, ground, ?
8. nametag, girdle, cover, ?

Christmas Eve with Grandma Conklin

Eric and I spent last week celebrating Christmas with his family in Spokane, Washington. Brother Mike and Tanya live in Spokane, with Grandma just down the street. And Mom and Dad (Ann and Brody) are in Chewelah, which is about an hour north. Brother Scott and Hilary were out from Athens, Georgia, which meant that we were all together for Christmas Day for the first time since the year before Goose and I were married.

We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma at the Waterford, the active adult community she has called home for around 15 years.

Here's Grandma opening our gift for her--a framed picture of the grandsons:

Grandma with Mike and Emmy, who looked as cute as ever in her Christmas dress and "looses" (her legs are so tiny that her little stockings were certainly not tight).


Scott and Hilary modeling one of Grandma's knit creations:


The Waterford hosted a lovely candlelit Christmas Eve dinner:


After dinner, Grandma taught us to play one of her favorite card game, Spite and Malice. I never knew the Conklins could be so mean.


The "Hoyle Room" is well-used.

The First Noel

The Whistling Conklins, live from Chewelah.

Winter Weekend

We had a great dinner Friday with Scott, a friend from Holy Covenant, at the fancy-ish but reasonably priced Bijan's Bistro. I had never heard of either tagine or tartine, but we tried both and loved them.

Goose and Scott outside:


Afterward, we walked to Joe (a Blind Faith friend) and Lilian's for a small holiday gathering. Even though we had just eaten, we had to sample the goodies.

Today, we slept in late, then spent the afternoon cleaning and organizing while the snow fell and fell outside.

Now presenting....toasty holes!

We finally found our box of Christmas decorations and--yay--my santa cap.


Our lovely sandstone nativity scene:


We also caught up on our Advent calendar readings.


One of the windows in our entryway:


Footprints in the fresh snow outside the front door:


We finally ventured more than a few steps outside this evening. We decided it was finally time to buy a shovel, so we walked the three blocks to the hardware store. On the way back, we stopped at El Guero ("The White Guy"), our local grocery, for some edible supplies.

The light outside was really neat.


Wanderin'.

Lots of Happy Conklins

Here are a few pictures of Emerson and family.

AnnMom (now AnnGram) and Emerson:

BrodyDad, Emerson and Tanya:

All with MargaretGram at the Waterford for Thanksgiving:

We're so excited to meet Emerson in person! Only two more weeks!

Saturday

A group of folks from the Starbucks store where I work, along with a few from other stores, volunteered for a huge Christmas celebration that a local non-profit puts on. We spent several hours helping kids with Christmas crafts, decorating cookies and dancing. Santa was even there! After a fun, but very late, night with Barrett and Megan, it was a bit difficult to get going in the morning, but I was so glad that I made it to this event!

The kids there were so sweet.


HombreArana (SpiderMan):

Skylar and Juan with another little artiste:

Amber (on the right) does the Macarena:

Oscar and Quiana before the rush:


After the event, we headed to Los Comales for some great Mexican food. What a difference it makes to really like your co-workers.

One more picture of the snow:

HC Advent Party

The Holy Covenant Advent Party is one of my favorite church gatherings--and this is only the second one we've been to! There is always much food and merriment and great conversation, but the best part of the evening is singing Advent Songs and Christmas Carols. We all cram into the cozy parsonage living room and sing with vigor--and man are there some amazing singers in this church! It's hard to tell from these pictures, but there were probably over 30 people in the room (and spilling into the hallway). I love Advent.

First Snow!

Some snow fell a week ago, but today is the first time that anything has stuck. Hello, winter, cold and icy.

Thanksgiving #3

Rose and Robert hosted a big gathering at their place on Friday and it was a feast!


It was great to see Robert's family, who came over from the Grand Rapids area.


Little Justin enjoyed his meal, as usual.


It was also big Justin's 31st birthday:


The clean-up was a team effort:


"Here's how it is, Uncle Eric."


Elijah seemed to never run out of energy:


Mom with the bunny ears...


We have a lot to be thankful for.