Christmas Card 2013

Say what?! A post to the family blog? Must be time for the Christmas Card!

Or more like an epiphany card...

So what's here? Supplemental photos & some text of the year.

(The song is It's Time performed by Isabel Torres, originally by Imaginary Dragons.)

It was a bit of an odd year. It started when John was on sabbatical and we took a trip, and ended with some enforced quasi-isolation.

The trip was almost two weeks to Washington DC and Williamsburg - great fun. Lots of Smithsonian time in DC - probably 4 or 5 days total. Williamsburg off season was terrific - lots of time to converse with the re-enactors/residents/historians.

At the end of the year, the kids came down with whooping cough (pertussis). It turns out that you can get it even if immunized and with all your boosters. Ysabela was too late for disgnosis, but Xavi tested positive so we all got the antibiotics. The problem is that the cough continues for up to 100 days afterward! So Xavi and Bela missed the last 2 weeks of school, and - even at this writing - the coughing continues. So non-contagious but pretty confined to the house.

But in between we got to our first big city comics convention, had our first and last yard sales, and lots of excellent folk over to the house. Which was finally named: Tigh Cois Cnoic, (kawsh k knock) Bottomhill Cottage.

The Trip (2013)

Really it was our spring break even if it wasn't the real spring break. We took a great trip to DC-Williamsburg-DC. (Turns out DC is much cheaper on the weekends, preseason, at least.) DC was mostly about the Smithsonian, and Williamsburg was great off-season. We stayed for days and really got to talk with the artisans and workers. Great stuff.

Pictures or it didn't happen? Got you covered! (Click to enlarge.)

Whoa. 2013? Where have we been?
We wrote it up in this year's Christmas card:

Christmas Seasonings

The season started off with promise, with a good Brandon visit, and then Ima ("Ee-ma" short for Imary) came over (with her parents) for a dinner.  She is very reminiscent of Bela at that age, which was a nice flashback for us. Scary flash forward for Tere and Aldo?

The Stuff
Finally the long awaited threat is fulfilled.

Socks for Christmas! BwaHaaHaaaHaaaa!

Oh no, this isn't all? It's not >just< socks? That ruins the whole idea! Now it's just... nice.

Some gifts seemed to have Audrey in mind.

Ysabela got her first sonic. Watch out.

Not many action figures this year. But the ones he got completed the Justice League.

Fluffy the Vampire Slayer. She wore this to church. No one noticed?

The big thing was what the kids got themselves. They've been saving for the Wii, and some generous grandparent presents helped them cross the line. So we've crossed some kind of line. The parents are nervous.

Then we got a quick trip in to see Carmen.  She seems like she's recovering well from the defibrillator procedure. We also got in some quality time the Roelants. Grace and Cate are great, and have become Sleeping Queen experts of first rank in short order. We also taught odds and evens, Nim, and zip-zap-zoop in one dinner.  

Looks like a quiet build up to the New Year: blessings on the ends and beginnings to you and yours.

2011 in Rearview

Well we did it:
a) survived another year
b) redid the main basement room (mostly)
c) actually got together a Christmas letter!

It says in the letter that we would put the photos up here, so here they are! In technicolor, and clickable for full size. Plus some bonus pix that didn't make the letter.

The card: Low resolution but viewable online. High resolution to download.

Special web bonus: the script for the comic and an unused panel!

Merry Christmas!