Adventures for the New Year

Sean has two labs that he works in. It just so happens that one of them has an awesome view of the Space Needle. For those of you who don't live in Seattle, the Space Needle does a good fireworks show every New Year that is timed to music. So in the interest of staying warm, we watched the show from Sean's downtown lab. We arrived down there around 10:30 and played a good game of Dominion (I think I won) and just before midnight we broke out the sparkling cider, crank radio (hooray for our 72 hour kit getting used), and crackers (mini little gifty things that make a popping noise when you break them open.) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We even sported the crowns that came in our crackers for a New Year's photo.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas together! We woke up at a reasonable hour and enjoyed our pretty tree with pretty presents under it for the last time. We opened gifts and then spent most of the day video chatting with family. Our nieces and nephews are super cute! Sean made a yummy cheesecake that we took over to some friends in the late afternoon. They were nice enough to invite us over for delicious appetizers and a scrumptious dinner.

12 Dates 'til Christmas

So I thought I would be all crafty and make up 12 dates for Sean and I to enjoy between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We didn't end up making it to all of them but it was still fun.

12 Drummers Drumming- We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV and ate orange rolls.

11 Pipers Pipping- We went and watched the day after Thanksgiving Macy's Parade in Seattle.




10 Lords a Leaping- We were going to go downtown to Swing Dance with live Big Band Music, but we were too busy to make it.


9 Ladies Dancing- We watched ladies singing on the Christmas ships.



8 Maids a Milking- We went to the Holiday Pops Concert with the Seattle Symphony with the plan to get hot chocolate afterward (we didn't end up getting the milk after all)



7 Swans a Swimming- We went swimming at the Greenlake Community Center (no worries heated indoor pool)


6 Geese a Laying- We laid around and watched the classic Santa movie.


5 Golden Rings- We were going to go to the Seattle Center and skate on their ice rink, but again too busy.


4 Calling Birds (Did you know the real words are Colly Birds; Collys are like crows)- We were going to go to Point Defiance Zoo Lights in Tacoma, but it kept being too stinking cold. I don't make a habit of wandering around and looking at Christmas lights when it is in the 30's outside.

3 French Hens- We were going to go out for a nice French Dinner, but that's still in our future plans.


2 Turtle Doves- We went around and looked at Christmas lights in my 2 Seater Car with the top down. :) Until it started sprinkling :(


1 Partridge in a Pear Tree- We gathered as the Georgis around our Christmas Tree and read the Christmas Story.

We kind of made up for some of our missed dates...

We went downtown for the Figgy Pudding Caroling Contest. It was awesome, picture all different caroling groups along the street of downtown and the streets are closed off from traffic. It was fun to hear all of the different groups and all of the money donated goes to feeding the homeless downtown.



We met up with a large group from church and saw the Gingerbread houses at the Sheraton that are designed by local architecture firms and baked by local chefs. We also checked out the Christmas windows. Lots of fun with other peoples kiddos.



We also splurged and shelled out the cash to go to the Harry Potter Exhibit while it is here in town at the Pacific Science Center. Sean got to get sorted by the Sorting Hat on our way to Hogwarts. He is in the house of Ravenclaw, with his brains does this really surprise anyone? We also explored the rest of the Pacific Science Center, including the Tropical Butterfly Room.



Our friends Holly and Nathan invited us over to make gingerbread houses. We did a decent job of reconstructing the Bern Switzerland Temple.



It was a busy holiday season, but we enjoyed each and every adventure!

Adventures in Thanksgiving

We had a good Thanksgiving this year. We woke up late and watched the Macy's parade while we decorated for Christmas. We took a side dish over to the church for the Thanksgiving dinner they were hosting. It was a nice way to take a walk as the roads were still covered in snow. It was nearly 3 miles round trip. A nice way to walk of the Thanksgiving calories in advance. The missionaries came over and played games in the early afternoon and we finally started cooking dinner around 7pm. I guess these are the things you can get away with when your young and don't have any kids. :)

This is our yummy spread of food. I wish I could have one of those rolls right now. Yum!

Adventures in San Diego

In November Sean went on an all-expenses paid vacation... er... work trip to San Diego. It was the annual Society for Neuroscience conference, and Sean got a travel award to present his research. The conference is huge- 30,000 attendees with 10,000+ posters/presentations to choose from, spread over several days. The weather was fantastic the entire time he was there (too bad he was stuck in the conference center all day), and as part of getting his award he was invited to a swanky evening reception on the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier (now museum) parked in the bay next to downtown.