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| "Grandpa's sidekick" |
We had a
nice, quiet Christmas this year.
My parents came up from Portland on Christmas Eve. After a crab dinner we went to the
Christmas Eve service at our church.
We got there a bit late and unfortunately the only seats left were in
the lobby. We were bummed, but it
was our own fault – well, mostly mine really. I HATE being late for things but no matter how well I plan,
it always seems to be a mad dash to get out the door (especially now with
Ryder).
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| Christmas Eve from the "crying room." |
Not long
after church started, Ryder began to fuss. He had gone to bed before the service (and we thought he’d
sleep through it), but the excitement proved too much and our tired little guy
could not get back to sleep. So we
grabbed our things and headed up to the church’s crying room. As it turned out, the seats up there
ended up being WAY better than those in the lobby below (the crying room is on
the 3rd floor and overlooks the entire sanctuary). Sure, we had to endure some fussing
from the little ones but we got to enjoy the service lounging in rocking
chairs. It was like “box seats”
for church. I kept hoping someone
would offer to sell me a pretzel. Thanks,
Ryder, for being our ticket in!
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| New Christmas pajamas! |
After the
service we headed home and opened our new Christmas pajamas. We also busted out the box of See’s
candy – an entire box of Scotch Mallows, oh boy – and that was all the
Christmas present I needed (thanks mom!).
On Christmas
morning we started things right. With a Dutch Baby, of course. The Dutch Baby has been a Thompson family tradition for as
long as I can remember. It is one
of my favorite foods. If you’ve
never had one, tell me and I’ll have you over to enjoy one with us. It is a sort of pancake meets French
toast meets custard-y heaven type of thing.
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| A Christmas Chia Pet! Thanks Dad! |
After breakfast we opened gifts (yeah, I got a Christmas Chia Pet...don't be jealous!) and then took a nap.
Then it was time for more food and a few rounds of cribbage (another
Thompson family tradition). Jesse
and I have been on a major losing streak (I’m about to trade him in for a new
partner ;-). In my house if
you get “skunked” there is a rule that you have to run around the block naked
(I think my brother is the only one who’s actually done it). Well, Jesse and I got skunked. Fortunately my parents were gracious
and allowed us to maintain our dignity with the neighbors (we didn’t run, we
merely strolled). But you can bet
we will be training hard in order to crush them next time we meet.
The
following day my parents had to head home. But first we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at Hector’s (a
Kirkland favorite). They also
watched Ryder so Jesse, Boone, and I could go on a run just the 3 of us. Thanks mom and dad!