We're back

Back from our internet hiatus and back from a fantastic vacation north to visit my Godmother, both of which we really enjoyed.  In years past our vacations have given us great blog fodder thanks to an abundance of youthful energy, but for some reason (could it be we are getting older, or is it just the toddler sapping all of our strength?) this year we relished an entire week of just lounging.  Really just lounging.  We spent a little time out on the town (we really love Petoskey), a little time cooking dinners (trying out our favorite recipes on family is always fun), and a little time playing in the snow, and all of it was fantastically relaxing and the perfect way to start the new year off right.

More pictures from the trip can be found in the Merry Christmas (2008) album.  Happy new year!

Hiatus for the holidays

We are taking an internet hiatus for the remainder of this festive season, but here are a few highlights from our Christmas celebrations and the pictures are up in the Merry Christmas 2008 album.  We hope you have safe and enjoyable celebrations, and we'll see you in the new year!

1 day: Kerrytown capers

It has been my family's tradition, since Curtis and I were little, to go to Kerrytown Market the morning before Christmas.  The tradition arose from necessity–mom had to be there early to visit Monahan's Seafood Market and pick up the oysters with which to make dinner–and slowly grew to celebratory proportions; now we go (not necessarily early thanks to order ahead availability) to pick up oysters, squid, and other last minute edibles, and also to eat and shop our way through the quaint and unique building of stores.  We end the morning with the quintessential Christmas picture by the holiday scene on our way out the door.  Thankfully, late as it was (5am this morning instead of midnight last night), Curtis's train made it into town in spite of last night's nasty weather, and today the tradition has continued.  Merry eve.

Welkom Sinterklaas!

Today is Saint Nicholas Day! A calendar event that probably doesn't even make it into your date book if you are from the United States, this holiday, or actually its eve (vooravond?), is the gift giving centerpiece of the holiday season in The Netherlands. Don't forget to put your wooden shoes by the door and wrap your fun, unique little gifts for family and friends! The importance of the holiday is wrapped around the remembrance of Saint Nicholas, a Bishop from the fourth century who gave money to poor families and toys and food to children. And don't forget Black Peter; Swarte Pete, St. Nick's sidekick, is known to kidnap the bad children and sell them into slavery. And who said anything about reindeer? In The Netherlands they have an abundance of waterways so Sinterklaas relies on the much sturdier vessel of a tugboat. Are you laughing yet? Good, because it is a festive holiday of great merriment and gaiety.

In our household we celebrate Saint Nicholas Day for several reasons, the first of which is to help return Christ to the center of Christmas by nudging "Santa" back a few weeks (or eradicating him altogether, perhaps), and two others being our Dutch heritage and our penchant for tradition and holidays.  Last night our son eagerly placing his shoes by the fireplace before going to bed, and this morning he woke up to a small bounty mashed into them, including new pajamas and two new books, and, since the order of the day is giving, there was also a coin and a small firetruck, both of which were to be given away later in the day (which went , after lunch, to the Salvation Army and Toys for Tots respectively). We finished the day with a family party, including both sets of grandparents and my aunt and uncle (fresh off the plane from an actual visit to the Netherlands and bearing much appreciated candies and decorations of the season).  Though we are a day off this year (we opted for the feast day instead of the eve, as they do in Europe, because Saturday was easier this year), we still had a great time;  we enjoyed gifts around a lit tree (complete with hilarious poems on each), tastes of Dutch cheeses and beers, and a meal of Runderlappen and Hutspot (for recipes visit the To Your Health blog).  It was a wonderful celebration with much of the aforementioned merriment and gaiety all around (which may or may not have had something to do with those Dutch beers), and was topped off with a beautiful dusting of fresh white snow.

Thanksgiving weekend

Our modern day American Thanksgiving may be just one day, but according to Calvin's library book the original Pilgrim celebration lasted for several days.  We don't remember our elementary lessons well enough to back that up, but we're not ones to look a party horse in the mouth, nor are we to be outdone, so this year our celebration lasted for six days and took on several different forms.  On Wednesday afternoon we celebrated with that good old Thanksgiving tradition - baking - when Calvin and I made a pumpkin pie from scratch; meaning, that is, from a pumpkin.  Wednesday night we ventured a little farther from the norm and celebrated love by attending the Baptism of our Godson, Isaac.  Turkey day itself was a whole family affair this year, with both sets of grandparents, aunt, uncle, and even an extra friend sitting at table together to partake in all the yummy treats of this very flavorful holiday.  After a meal like that one can't very well just sit around, so on Friday morning we set out to find our 2008 Christmas tree, a process that might have been easier if the online tree farm lists were general updated.  As it was we found ourselves driving out to a farm in Saline whose only ornamentation was the "Closed. Out of business." sign out front.  Never fear, a half hour drive past Chelsea found us a passable harvest, and while our living room might want for space right now, it is sporting a beautiful scotch pine replete with a lifetime's bounty of meaningful ornaments.  We finished our decorating at a record pace this year because we continued our thanks giving by hosting a dinner party on Saturday night and a brunch at Sunday noon and wanted to use our Christmas dishes for both events.  Our house was filled with the sound of toddler play both times, and not a single garnish or bauble was broken, so we consider both parties to have been successful.  And that brings us to Sunday evening, when we traded our finery for pajamas, our fancy meals for quick soup, and our frolicking for an evening by the fire singing Christmas carols, just us three.  We did a lot of giving thanks this weekend, for family, for friends, and for all the accoutrements of our daily life, and then we quietly gave thanks for the those little moments between and all the joys they bring.  Especially the mounds of shoveling that awaited me this morning, and Calvin's rendition of "Over the River" to which he treated me (and the neighbors) while I worked.

Scads of pictures in the November 2008 album.