December 2011

This has been the worst December, weather-wise, that I can remember. There has been no real snow to speak of and there has been a non-stop inversion that has kept us inside. So far December has been pretty blah. I'm looking forward to Christmas and getting to see Aven enjoy all her new toys, that will be a nice diversion.

Here are a couple pictures from our very uneventful December:

Aven willingly, although apprehensively, sat on Santa's lap this year.

Aven on stage at her daycare Christmas pageant performing "Where is Santa" to the tune of Frarajaka.

Christmas Cactus.

In 2005 the year we bought our house, one of Cara's friends gave her a Christmas gift. a plant called a Christmas Cactus, or Zygocactus truncatus. It's a plant that blooms only when the it gets cold, i.e. in the winter i.e. around Christmas. The plant was flowering when we got it in 2005, but there was no flower in 2006. We doubted that we would ever see it flower again, since flower shops routinely use hormones to make flowers bloom in the store which sometimes ruins the plant for any future flower's. So we were very excited when we saw our first flower in 2007. I didn't get around to taking a photo until the flower was on it's way to the grave so it's a bit droopy, but this was our holiday flower in 2007.

And in 2008 we were greeted with another flower.

Finally the end of my story, this year we have had one blossom already and another 2 that might bloom here soon. Here's my photos from this year.

Here are some quick photos from christmas at my parents.


Here's Grace fresh from her trip to the motherland. She looks cute in the rusian style hat my Mom gave me.

Here's me in the same hat, with pedophile santa in the background. Seriously doesn't that santa just have a creepy look in his eye. It's really kinda creepy in person.