The Holidays in a Nutshell

After a student who we will call The Decorator did exactly that for my classroom in preparation for Christmas (he also made me a diorama of a cemetery around Halloween),I set off to Seattle (ok, Auburn) for the holidays, which were surprisingly low-key this year. No crying, no family drama, just some good old-fashioned festive togetherness. Before I launch into stories, here are some shots of the fam, by way of introduction:

Dad

Mom

Burke

Cam

I keep telling my friends how good-looking my brothers are, and I think those pictures speak for themselves. Hopefully they'll think twice about taking pictures of themselves with my camera. Blogs are blackmail.

So here are The Top Ten Highlights from my 2-week vacation (ah, the joys of teacherhood)...

1. Dad's red Christmas vest, which he has proudly worn each Sunday immediately preceding Christmas for the ward choir program since he bought it at the tender age of 20 for a debutante ball. (Daddy, where was MY ball?) It has become an Auburn 3rd Ward favorite.

2. Christmas morning #1 with Mom and Mike. (Go ahead and click on that picture if you want to see how truly good-looking my brothers are. )

3. Christmas morning #2 with Dad and Rusty. (ok, so divorce isn't ALL bad)

4. Receiving ROCKY: THE COMPLETE SAGA for hours of movie-marathon bliss. It was an inspired gift from Mike and secretly hoped-for. (By the way, this is pre-blog, but I was totally the most amazing Adrian for Halloween.)

5. Skiing at Crystal Mountain. The snow was plentiful, light, and comparable to Utah's. The terrain was challenging, extensive, and comparable to Utah's.

6. Debating whether or not to buy myself a hamster.

7. Going to the Museum of History and Industry with Mom and learning about the Mercer Girls, who were sent to Seattle's bachelors during the city's early days for the "realization of the benefits of matrimonial alliances." Those benefits were, apparently, mostly for the men.

8. Spending time with Burke, who I hadn't seen in a whole dang year. (Ok, I love the rest of my family and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them, but, you know, it's Burke.)

9. Rediscovering Black Velvet. It'll make you wish it was the 90's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut09zkRoG0g

10. The wonder of shooting guns out near the small town of Carbonado, WA. I was a first-timer, and wasn't sure I'd be a fan, but it made the Top Ten. I didn't think the actual pulling of a trigger, smell of gun powder (or whatever I was smelling), and blowing up an apple (on the second try!) could bring such tremendous satisfaction.

So there you have it. The Holidays in a Nutshell.