We had a storybook Christmas. It really couldn’t have been more perfect. Just a few days beforehand, it started snowing and it kept snowing and snowing and snowing. We hadn’t had this much snow since….oh 1996. The whole family spent lots of time outside playing in the stuff.

1. Frosty, 2. Kids in the Igloo, 3. Shoveling, 4. Sam’s Baby Blues, 5. Claire, 6. Claire

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

I tried to coax the kids into making a snowman, but they were more interested in shoveling the sidewalks…and the street. Eventually, we had a large enough snow mound to create an igloo.

What fun! Some worrywart neighbors expressed concern for letting kids play in a structure that might collapse on them, but we weren’t worried. First of all, we were always supervising them when they were playing outside, so if something happened, we’d be right there to take care of things. Secondly, Robert and I built snow forts like that throughout our childhood. My brother also used to go winter camping at 7000 feet and built similar structures to sleep in.

Know-it-alls really get my dander up.

Christmas Day was very relaxed. We opened gifts, played board games and ate an exquisite meal. I made beef bourgignon–and oh my gawd, the sauce on that dish is to die for! We sopped every bit of it up with homemade bread. Yum!!!!

As is traditional for my family, I baked Potica. It was gobbled up in no time flat. In years past, I’ve had trouble getting the sweet bread to cook thoroughly in the center without burning the outer portions. I baked it at a lower temperature this time and it was a big improvement! Wrapping the whole thing in foil for the first portion of its baking time is also something I’ve been meaning to try.

My brother and his fiancee also came to visit us for a couple of days. We don’t get to see each other all that often since they live far away in Montana. We had a splendid time playing Yahtzee (I won-woo hoo), building puzzles, eating, drinking…and clowning around in my handknits.

Will loved the hat I knit for him. It’s supposed to look like the cunning hat worn by Jayne in Firefly. I had a hard time knitting badly. It should look worse than it does, haha!