Weekend Update

As I was busy today, compiling my family history, and wishing that more people had written more down when they could (because getting stories and details from people who are dead is *really* inconvenient), I laughed to myself, thinking that my descendants will be wishing that I had written less, and taken fewer photos! Maybe less is more...

My camera is M.I.A., and it's not very much fun to write about things we did without pictures to go along with it. Anyway...

Eliza danced with her group for a Christmas parade in Meridian. It was so cold that the iPod they use for the music stopped working and then the stage broke. Also, the Funnel Cake stand next to the stage caught on fire. Everybody gave up and went home.

We got our Christmas tree last night. This might very well be my favorite day of the year. I love the anticipation of waiting until after dinner, getting bundled up and heading out to pick out our tree. This year Eliza picked out the perfect tree for us--for $25 no less. The guys running the tree lot had a nice fire going and hot cider to boot. Wilson found a stick that looks exactly like a gun and spent the entire time running through the trees pretending he was an 'Army guy'. I love tying the tree to the top of our car and then dragging it into the house. Quotes from 'A Christmas Story' are inevitable during this process.

Today we were invited to attend the Basque dance celebration. Eliza's good friend is from a Basque family and dances with scores of other kids from this area, celebrating their heritage. (Until I moved to Boise, I had never heard the word Basque--feel free to head on over to Wikipedia, as I can't do it justice). The dancing is so great--kind of like folk gypsy polka. Then the Christmas celebration--with Olentzero, the Basque version of Santa. Oh, that I had pictures! It was cute seeing Eliza and Wilson surprised that they had a gift with their name on it in his box.

Tonight we made Christmas fudge (if you think your fudge is good--it isn't. E-mail me for this recipe) and decorated the tree. As I have no photos to document it, just imagine two cute kids with fudge on their faces hanging ornaments on an ever-green tree in our living room. Picture a daddy with a bad head cold asleep on the floor and a neurotic Mom who heroically let her kids put the ornaments wherever they wanted, and only adjusted a couple of them later.