And Christmas in Maryland

With Mom and Dad in Ukraine that means my poor brothers and sisters and their families get stuck with me invading their holidays!  This year for Christmas I went to Maryland - I haven't celebrated Christmas with these guys since before they moved out there!  I had a great time time - we decorated sugar cookies and gingerbread houses, went duckpin bowling, made lots of goodies (and ate lots of goodies too!) acted out the nativity and played lots and lots of games - an ideal Christmas!!

 I'll admit I felt bad for the poor kitties - maybe too much love??

 The nativity star:

 And Mary with baby Jesus:

 One of the shepherds

 And a wise "man"

 Joseph and Mary (how sweet is this??)

 Treats left for Santa (love the note - it reads:  "FOR SANTA" and then in the bottom right hand corners it says "no one else Dad"... hmmmmm....)

 Showing off some of her Christmas finery

 Look at these beautiful girls!!

 And this handsome guy!

 Just one of the many games that were played

And the girls modelling their new fleece scarves (thanks for the good idea Bonnie and Anna!!)

 And on the way home I got stuck over night in Denver.  The good news is that Brother B and his family live not too far away and they were kind enough to come pick me up and let me spend the night with them (and believe me having experienced a weekend in an airport before, I was truly grateful!!).  The girls Christmas presents from the aunts arrived a little late, so I even got to watch them open them!!  A was kind enough to model her new clothes for me!!

So in a couple of days I got to see 9 of my nieces and nephews!  That was great.  Thanks to the Maryland crew for including me in their festivities and the Colorado crew for rescuing me!!

The hard part... getting back to "real" life tomorrow... not fun...

Thanksgiving at Disneyland!

I'm running more than a little behind these days... I got to spend Thanksgiving with K&L and family and our destination was Disneyland!!  We first drove to Las Vegas and made a quick side trip to Hoover Dam:

 I have to admit I had some movie flashbacks - from the new bridge I was wondering if Megatron from "Transformers" really was hidden behind the massive wall of concrete, from on top of the dam itself I was having a "Fools Rush In" moment...  Anyways, the new bridge is pretty spectacular and the old bridge on the dam itself is pretty impressive!!

 The next morning before heading on to California, we made a quick trip down the strip...

 I don't ever remember being on the strip in Vegas... I was amazed - what an interesting place, but I'm pretty good with that short trip!

The next morning found us at Disneyland!!  It was all decked out for Christmas and was really amazing...

 Of course we eventually got off Main Street and made it on some rides...

 Poor little C didn't get to do much except sleep and ride in the stroller!!

 All the kids got to pose with Mickey

 Honestly, I think I have a picture of this kid doing this same thing, in different cars of course, on just about every trip we've been on!!

 It's a Small World seemed even brighter than I remember!!

 Look at that smiley, cute boy!!

 Hmmm.... who is the older brother and who is the younger brother??

 We spent a second day in California Adventures, my first time there.  Cars Land was awesome - just like the movie, and also totally decked out for Christmas - I loved how the decorations here were all car themed - tires, orange cones, oil cans, air filters, etc - it was really cute!

 We went to a 3-D movie in A Bug's Life land...

 And of course had to buy some mouse ears for everyone!

 The next day we made a quick trip to San Diego to go to Sea World - I still love watching those orcas perform - amazing!!

 The aquariums were great...

 A polar bear

 and a beluga whale

 And we had to stop at the beach before we headed back!!

What a great Thanksgiving - thanks for letting me crash the party guys!!  :)

OOPS!!  And a few more pictures salvaged from my phone... 
 Now what good auntie would let this one slip by...honestly he slept like that for miles and miles and miles!!

 Showing off hats and cars at the burger joint in Las Vegas

 And the family that chicken fights together, stays together!!

Holly Jolly Season...

This Christmas was a little different for me.  It was the first one I've spent without family.  I am grateful for the good friends who adopted me and let me share in their family Christmas traditions!  I spent Christmas Eve with a dear family - and enjoyed a wonderful meal, sharing favorite Christmas traditions and memories (mine - the Monday before Christmas my family would always go Christmas caroling - more about that further down...) and worst Christmas memory (mine - Christmas when I was in 6th grade - I had the chicken pox... bad and then I got a staph infection in my pox so they didn't scab over, which resulted in outie chicken pox scars, which a doctor later tried to convince me were really cigarette burns - nice, huh?), reading the Christmas story from the Bible, and singing Christmas carols accompanied by the piano and trombone, all accompanied by much laughing and caring - it was really a lovely evening!

On Christmas morning, I made my way across the street and opened presents and had breakfast with another fun family - I got a kick out of watching the kiddos open their presents:

And Benny the cat really enjoyed the curling ribbon on one of my presents:

And sweet little girl had to come back to my house and help me finish opening my presents here!!

All in all, while different and quieter than my usual Christmas', it was still a good day!!

On another topic... the last few weeks, for various reasons, have been tough.  First I tried dealing with it by eating therapy - only encouraged by all the lovely, delicious treats that magically appear on my doorstep

It is only with a tiny bit of shame I admit that this is only a small bit of the goodies that occupied my treat drawer that is now just about empty....

Next, I tried retail therapy

which then led to baking therapy

These are loaves of Cinnamon Orange Bread - now let me tell you about Mom's cinnamon orange bread.  Simply, it is one of the best things on the planet.  Period.  I love this stuff.  So much that when my first 4 (yes, that is correct - FOUR) batches didn't turn out (bad yeast - you know the sugar test?  where the volume is suppose to double in 10-15 minutes?  Yeah... try way over an hour - which made me feel better that I wasn't completely clueless in the kitchen), I had to consult with the fount of all wisdom - Mom, because I was determined to get it right and share some of this lovely, delectable treat with my neighbors and friends.  Mom always made this for neighbors and friends during Christmas.  In fact - back to the Robinson Christmas caroling tradition - people who let us sing Christmas carols to them... and we are not good singers, we have enthusiasm and desire, but in all reality, we are just not singers (how many people have had their choir teachers ask them to please only mouth the words?  More than 1 Robinson...) would be rewarded for their patience and endurance with a loaf of cinnamon orange bread.  When I was packing up the house for the big remodel, I found a loaf in the freezer that even once thawed, was hard as a rock - we're talking serious freezer burn.  But this is so good that to waste it would have broken the 13th commandment (Moses just never had the pleasure - didn't know what he was missing!)... so I got out the electric knife and carved off pieces and toasted them and ate every last crumb.  So now I have some to share - or not ....

Neighborhood 4th of July Celebration

One of my favorite things about my neighborhood is our neighborhood 4th of July celebration.  There are block parties and BBQs the evening before and kids and adults alike decorate bikes, scooters, etc and then on the 4th (or the 3rd this year!!) there is a pancake breakfast, a parade, and a street carnival.  And since the SugarHouse Fireworks were saved this year, I once again get to walk out the front door and enjoy the fireworks with my neighbors from someone's front yard!  The breakfast and parade this morning reminded me of what I picture the 1950s might have been like - just a huge community of neighbors and friends celebrating the birth of our country and remembering those who served and those who are currently serving.  I got to enjoy the parade again this year after a couple of years of snow cone duty at the street carnival after the parade.  I love it...  so some pictures from the Highland Park 4th of July celebration!!