Christmas at Karens

Chocolate Moustache! Didn't last long at all.

Our ritual of celebrating Christmas day with Karen continued. Alden and I helped make cinnamon rolls the night before so breakfast was a treat.

We took turns exchanging gifts, playing with the kids, and undertaking random chores.

Im going to slide a few pictures of my birthday in here too. 

Holidays

December 21 was the gift exchange day this year.

 

The big hit for Alden was his 'safety equipment'. 

 

Elliott did super fantastic with all of the guests and handled being held and adored with the best baby attitude one could hope for.

There were even some really warm days where we took walks outside.

Sandy was able to play with the kids.

We got our first chance for photos as a family too. I think we should try again in better light.

Pre-Holidays

 Our holidays are started around December 16 this year.  We did not plan it that way, but we had guests visiting early for the holidays and one thing lead to another...

Hanukkah started December 8but celebrating was hit-or-miss for the first 3/4. By the end our guests were here and we were celebrating about every evening for something or another.

Joseph and Sandy visited, and Scott made an appearance for a couple days. They all were able to attend the school holiday recital. The program this year was much shorter and having a year under his belt Alden did quite well.

He and his buddy Evelyn supported each other for the event.

Alden also got to meet Santa (and the missus) and get a stocking full of goodies. This was a bit awkward since Ilana told Alden that Santa does not come to our house and we celebrate Hanukkah. There is a bit of a story behind this, but the short of it is that we celebrate Christmas at Karen's house and whether or not Santa shows up there is still being debated. Anyway seeing Mr. Claus in person seems to have made for some interesting internal processing.

Employee of the Year

 

 Under the leadership of our new agency director I was awarded employee of the year. Darrell was made manager of the year. I got to shake the hand of the governor and get a piece of paper for my file. It was a nice gesture and I appreciate it.

Aroostook

I had a chance to get up to Aroostook County for a couple days. I'm doing some work to help the St. John Valley apply for a grant. 

I've been to the County a few times before. I always enjoy it. There are some spectacular things, like the Mont-Carmel church... but there is also a lot of distress.

Mostly agricultural focusing on potatoes and lumber, the region has seen better days, but even the run-down buildings are fascinating.

I don't really talk about work on the blog very much, so I am trying it out.Tthis was the view from my hotel.

More of the Kids

For those interested in Elliott's growth and development.

And people who want to see how Alden prepares to help me case-in a closet.