Bison

Went for a luncheon on the Old Alaska Hwy this afternoon.  We had Bison Vegetable Soup and salad.  It was delicious.  Jean had just gotten another bison a couple of weeks ago and above are the sections hanging and waiting to be butchered.

Here Jean is holding the head.  It is already spoken for by Mel in YVR.  Bruno looks longingly in the foreground!  A parting gift to me was a couple of Bison steaks, a roast and ground chuck.  Where else but the Yukon does one get meat as a parting gift?

Potluck

Once again this year Joan hosted our annual Christmas Potluck dinner.  I should have taken a picture of the wonderful food we had to choose from but filled my plate with the goodies instead.

Of course, there was bubbly to start.

And Gwen was home to take a photo of all of us at the table.  Good food, Good Friends, what more could one ask for??

Christmas Dinner

Christmas Dinner at the McArthur Johnston house last night.  Turkey and all the fixin's.  I especially liked the cauliflower dish.  Must get the recipe for that one.

Ella and Debbie.

Silas and Ella.  The kids were pretty excited on Christmas Eve, tracking Santa's progress on the Norad site throughout the evening.

Ben made good friends with Henry.

I didn't bake much this season, but did take a sampling of my wares to the party.

And They're Off

Just received this photo this morning of Emerson who is dwarfed by the Business Class seat he is sitting in on his way to Mexico.  Business Class ?!?! No wonder he is smiling!   Is he ever a lucky traveller.

Heather and Len

Just received this picture of Heather and Len (Andrea's older sister) standing by their Christmas tree which they visit every year and watch it grow.  Heather is living in the renovation of the "old" cottage in Ontario.  Now retired she and Len live in cottage country year round. Thanks for the Xmas photo Heather!

Merry Christmas!

With the kids going to Mexico for Xmas and my leg hurting, this is as Christmassy as my house gets this year. 

We celebrated Christmas on the 16th (and they flew away on the 17th).  Before Brooke, SR and their new roomie Tom arrived I set out some cheese, crackers and grapes.  I left the room and when I returned the twins were making cracker cheese sandwiches and eating grapes, all of which was spread all over the coffee table.  

Trying to get a nice photo of them is sometimes impossible.

We opened gifts

Emerson not only handed out the gifts but also helped people open them.  Here he is helping Tom (below) with his gift while Alanna examines one of her favourite gifts, Strawberry Shortcake bandaids.

Below, Alanna shows SR one of the Christmas books she received.

 After gifts, we all settled in for our sushi dinner ... complete with the dogs under the table.

!! Merry Christmas !!

Potluck

 And so it begins.  Nancy hosted the first of the Christmas Parties...this one an afternoon potluck.

Thanks Nancy.  It was fun to get together with old friends over delicious food and Christmas spirits.

December 2 continued

We went back to their house for dinner and Brooke had erected their Christmas tree.  With lights aglow, it was ready to decorate.

With a little help from Dad, Emerson topped the tree with Rudolph & Clarice.

Then it was time to try out the Nutcracker.  Unfortunately they only had pistachios so the two worked on cracking those small nuts in the mighty jaws of the Nutcracker.  Some of them did crack open but they did have fun trying.

December already

Saturday morning I picked up the kids and we headed over to the United Church for their big COOKIE WALK.  The Church made over 10,000 cookies and they were spread out in a variety of tables.  We paid for two containers, then the kids pointed out which cookies they wanted in their container as they walked along the tables.  They were very pleased with their stash.

Once home, I was told by Aunt Teri, that they had to open their Xmas presents on December 1st.  They were pleased to oblige and both received Advent Calendars.  Great Gifts!

The next morning, feeling all Christmassy I decided to put up a tree.  You have to understand that my leg is quite sore these days and I only had enough energy for a small tree!  The kids stood by it so I could take a picture, but they hid the tree, so I had them sit.  Happy Christmas!

They did some cartoon watching as well while eating snacks.  I love this picture as it reminds me of Will many Christmases ago when his mom said he looked like a little old man with his housecoat and slippers on.  Above is Emerson and he is always willing to keep his slippers on.  That's all he needs is a housecoat and we'd have the total look.