Christmas with the Twins

For the Christmas, Corinne and I are still doing the alternating year thing; one year we spend Christmas with my family, and the following year we swap and spend time with hers. This year happened to be a Daly Christmas year, so we hopped on a plane and spent a week in NJ.

But this was no ordinary year - this was our twin nieces' first Christmas! At four months old, Katya and Nadija aren't quite old enough to really enjoy the holiday, but they sure are old enough to monopolize it! Neither is mobile yet; you always know where they are, because you put them there. But they are really great kids, and aside from Katya's occasional scream-fest for no good reason, they are generally happy just to be with people.

There's no question - Drew and Michelle certainly have their hands full with those two. So when Drew asked if we would watch them for a night when we were visiting while he and Michelle took a night "off" to go to dinner with friends and spend some time by themselves, we were more than happy to help. It also gave us more of an opportunity to get to know them better (as much as you can know a 4 month old). We had a good time taking them for a walk around the neighborhood, which the warm weather afforded us. And somehow, thanks to Grandma and Grandad, we never had to change a diaper!

Aside from the kids, the holidays this year were actually pretty relaxing. We spent lots of time with family, but managed to avoid the trap of too much traveling which historically has resulted in the type of vacations that you need to take a vacation from. The weather on the East Coast was unseasonably warm, and the lack of snow was actually a bit disappointing. To us it doesn't quite feel like the holidays without a bit of the white stuff.

So it was back to the West Coast with us, taking with us the bounty of the Christmas haul, including: a homemade "sock monster" from my Aunt Anita, seen in the photo at right; a FoodSaver vacuum sealer for all of that great summer produce; a pair of log tongs (hey, we're tree farmers!); a book on animal tracks, so we can identify who is roaming our property (and eating our garden); and several calories derived from my cousin Beverly's homemade fruitcake, whose ingredients were purported to cost $70!

That reminds me... I promised to post our "Favorite Recipes of 2006"!

- Mike (& Corinne)