Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day 

CHRISTMAS EVE:  The holidays begin with Thanksgiving, but they reach their peak on December 24th through 26th.  This year, all three days were special.

Christmas Eve found us at University Presbyterian Church for the 3:00 PM service.  Likely due to the COVID slowdown at church, this was more of a traditional candle light service instead of a children's service.  I found it much more spiritually satisfying.  This was Nancy's first time back to her church in person in a few years.

The Christmas Eve dinner at Susan's began at 5:00 PM.  She had a great ham for us and Jean brought her stuffing that we'd missed at Thanksgiving since they'd gone back east. Julie brought another one of the fancy cakes she finds.

The Pastrick's had just come back from a vacation to Victoria a day early due to illness and could not make the dinner, but Randy, who lives a mile from them, was able to take their presents back to Lake Stevens with him.

Tramoya and Nailani arrived later and we had good fellowship.  

CHRISTMAS DAY:  Shadow was waiting by the tree when I arrived early to start a festive fire in the wood stove on Christmas morning.

Festivities started differently this year.  Instead of Nancy and I alerting the Dishers upstairs that "Santa's been here," with bells and horns, this year, Annie and the girls came downstairs around 8:30 AM ringing jingle bells and blowing horns.  I joined in on my harmonica.

We opened a few presents after stockings, then Annie made scratch biscuits with the girls.  After a breakfast of biscuits and more of Jean's amazing stuffing, we finished opening presents.

One hilarious yet sad gift exchange was between Annie and Thomas.  They enjoy reading the same novels, and this year they each bought the other two books.  Surprise!!  They both bought the same two novels for one another.

This may be the last year I buy chocolate cordial cherries as a traditional gift for Nancy.  I realized their quality has greatly diminished over the many years I have bought them for Nancy in memory of our beloved "Uncle" Jack Bower.

Randy bought me the outdoor lights I'd admired at COSTCO, and I love the University of Washington scarf he found for me.  I bought him the latest, book #25 in the Thomas Kydd British naval fiction series, Yankee Mission.

I did catch some of the Los Angeles Rams versus the Denver Broncos game in the afternoon.  Both teams came in with losing 4-10 records.  I wanted to see how really bad Russell Wilson was playing.  The first play I saw was a Wilson interception by former Seahawk Bobby Wagner.  The Broncos lost 51-14!

BOXING DAY:   It seems to have become a family tradition for the middle generation to have their own play day of board games or Dungeons & Dragons while the youngest generation entertains the oldest on one day over the holidays.  That day came on the 26th this year.

Helen and David Eby provided a make-your-own lunch spread.  This year, Nancy watched over Galen.  Isaac mostly napped.  And I wrangled Charis, Jonny, Reuben, and Valerie.

Of course, being in charge of the little ones meant it was yet another afternoon photo op.  It seems they won't pose as instructed, but they are keen to make funny faces and then admire themselves on my Nikon's screen.

Jean's Surprise!

Jean's birthday was on the 9th, so Joel's planned surprise birthday party for her on the 4th came off as planned.  Jean was completely surprised and delighted.

Bellevue family and a few of Jean and Joel's friends converged on their house.  While Joel did the planning, Annie did most of the work preparing lunch for the crowd and mostly allowing Joel to do nothing to tip off Jean to the surprise. 

I ordered a big COSTCO cake which read, "Happy 30th birthday Jean."

Jean's biggest gift was from Joel, an 8 oz. Nostalgia brand popcorn machine and candy dispenser.  Joel had it shipped to us to preserve secrecy.  Annie and Nancy assembled it and I tested it the night before the party. 

After lunch and cake, Joel and former apartment mate Tanner carried up the big screen TV from the basement and I ran the Jeopardy game on it that Joel had asked me to prepare.

A good time was had by all. 

A Joint Birthday Party 

Charis, Jean, Rowen, Julie, and Valerie all have December birthdays.  So we decided to hold a birthday party for all of them on Saturday the 10th.  This meant a week of hurried house cleaning. 

It is always a fun afternoon when all the siblings and grandchildren can make it.  Eleven adults and nine (soon to be 10) kids five and under made for a spirited gathering.

We provided lasagna and salad.  Jean brought the cupcakes. Charis asked that the kids play the traditional British game Pass the Parcel that we learned about watching Bluey on Disney+.

Jean needed the Kleenex in the box her grandma Jean had made as she teared up.  I had replaced its photos with ones I'd taken of Galen. The tag read, "To: Jean and Son   From: Jean and Son."

The "Sleight" Family Christmas Party
Returned to Bellevue on the 18th

For all of the prior years covered by this journal, the family December get-together had been held at Don and Judy's home in Renton.  But with Judy's declining health, and Don's age at 80, we decided to return the event to our house.  For many years, this holiday party rotated between a number of homes, including the family home in West Seattle.

This year, illness kept Randy, the Sitte's, Chris and Melissa, and the Pastrick's home.  But the smaller crowd was just right for us.  House cleaning for the 10th and this second party on the 18th was a long, tiring process.  Annie and Nancy installed baseboards along the dining room wall and they moved the Ethan Allen china cabinet from near the kitchen door to its new home in the dining room.

Jon and Sarah's girls are now grown and out of their house.  Lance and Debbie Ellis brought Tim and Tori and Lance's cousin Pami.  The Auburn Sleights, Susan, and Julie rounded out the attenders.

Along with sending my Tollhouse cookies home with Jon and Lance, we had boxes of Judy's clothes from which folks could select. 

Valerie Turns Two 

Valerie participated in the group birthday party on the 10th, but also enjoyed the modest celebration of her actual 2nd birthday on the 19th. 

Annie took us all out to Wendy's for a fun and filling lunch.  She had coupons and got me both a double cheeseburger and a "Baconator," nearly 2000 calories before the fries and chocolate Frosty! 

Back at home, Valerie opened a few presents and enjoyed the cupcakes that served as her birthday cake.

Almost a White Christmas

I postponed the follow-up visit to my Dermatologist from the 20th to the 29th.  The expected snow was not significant here, but it is typically deeper in Shoreline and further north.  The girls got their fill of snow on the 20th and 21st. 

I was amazed by the technology on display when Ishmael, our Amazon delivery driver, dropped off our last Christmas purchases on the 21st.  (Most of my Christmas shopping this year was done online.) When I checked Amazon for my last purchases, I was shown a map of west Bellevue indicating my house at the south end of our 99th Avenue NE cul-de-sac, and the location of the delivery truck depicted as Santa's sleigh.

Record Cold and Snow Hits U.S. in December

We had some light snow followed by two days of ice caused by freezing rain.  But that was nothing compared with the blizzard conditions that struck further east.  Winter storm Elliott proved to be one of the worst Winter storms in U.S. history, especially with the lake effect snows that buried places like Buffalo, New York.

A Busy Day on the 29th

The morning began with a return visit to The Everett Clinic facility in Shoreline to have my dermatologist Dr. Shih finish removing the rest of a small cancerous spot she'd located last month.  Then I drove down I-5 to Auburn to deliver presents to the Sleight boys.  The presents never made it as far as the living room.  Reuben and Jonny unwrapped their presents from the Pastricks right in the entry hallway.  On this visit, Reuben was very friendly and affectionate toward me without his normal shyness.  Then I drove up SR-18 to Covington to deliver more presents and to watch over Galen while Jean went to an appointment.

Finally, I drove to Don and Judy's in Renton to watch the Alamo Bowl.  Knowing all her brothers would be together, Laurie called from Texas where she was on an end-of-year birding adventure.  This day she had surpassed seeing 1000 different species of birds in 2022 with two more days on her trip to go.

Led by quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the 12th ranked UW Huskies defeated the 21st ranked Texas Longhorns 27-20.  Penix ended the season with 4,641 yards passing to break the 20-year-old Washington season mark of 4,458 set by Cody Pickett.

The Long Wait Nears Its End

On the 29th, Bob and Kim Disher arrived with Thomas's brother Tim and his girlfriend Joanna.  Kim decided to stay through the birth of Annie's baby while the others returned home on the 1st. 

We all enjoyed my Lentil soup on the 30th at Susan's and the Dishers opened Christmas presents. 

I'm hoping that having Kim here will free me up to focus on my Jeremiah reading and writing.

Bits and Pieces 

While the big birthday celebration this month was on the 10th, Charis had her 5th birthday cake and a few presents on the 6th.  Also, she had Happy Birthday sung to her multiple times.  Annie called so her 7th period Seniors could sing to her.  She got an elegant Barbie doll and a Tree house Lego set that Thomas picked out. 

On the 19th, during the second snow of the season, we all went to Ben Franklin Crafts & Frames in Redmond to order frames for a number of items.  Monday morning shopping, especially during the light snow, meant we were the only customers in the Frame department.  We ordered five items framed, at a cost of $4,921!  Elaborate frames and "museum quality glass" accounted for much of the high price.

The framed items will be featured here in my January journal when we pick them up and find homes for them on our walls.  Two were the signed and numbered art prints that I've had for a few years.  Nancy says the framing is her Christmas gift to me, except I put the bill on my Amazon VISA card.

My traditional December cookie baking took up much of three days.  I'm hoping that in the years to come my little helper elves will progress in their skills.  Mixing takes more muscle and one should not treat a bowl of flour like one would their own private sandbox.  Per my tradition, I again baked in white shirt and tie in remembrance of Graham Kerr (now age 88 and living in London), known in my youth as the Galloping Gourmet.  Since retirement, I have so few opportunities to choose from my collection of 100+ beautiful ties.

Last month I planted a Centiflor tomato seed in a small pot near the hot water tank under the basement stairs.  This month I needed to repot it as it had taken off nicely.  My simple design using four daylight bulbs in a repurposed portrait light fixture seems to be working well.  I just hope I can get a few tomatoes by the end of February in order to harvest their seeds for a 2023 summer crop. 

This photo also shows many of the hot water tubes that go into the basement floor.  But we have not turned on that zone to heat the basement.  I have a small space heater near my basement office desk.  The hot water tank and all the tubes and pipes along what we call "the million dollar wall" keep the tomato at an ideal temperature.  As the plant grows, I slide the light fixture up the copper overflow tube on the hot water tank.  It's an ideal seed starting spot.  I saw the first tomato flower on Christmas Day! 
 

Whether taken with my Nikon D750 or my low-end cell phone, I always end the month with more pictures of my grandchildren than I have time to post.  Here are a few I like.  It was nice to see how even "permanent" ink will eventually wash off a two-year-old's face.

There are celebrity deaths every day.  But that of former WSU and 2022 Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach at age 61 came as a sad shock on the 12th.  The sudden death of Hall of Fame Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris on the 20th, three days before the 50th anniversary of his "Immaculate Reception," one of the greatest plays in NFL history, was equally sad.

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."   
                                                                                             Luke 13:1-5 NIV

My Quote from December