Oregon City, Oregon - Week 51 - December 21 - December27, 2020

Christmas Week - what a week, indeed!

Monday - Ruby spent the night with us and woke up to pancakes and a snuggle in the hammock chair.

I decided that Monday was the day I was going to replace the caulking on the kitchen countertop behind the sink.  It was really kind of a mess - cracking, brownish in places, it could remind you of a countertop at a bad beach house rental.

Malcolm was a super helper - he does know what he's doing!!

All fixed now - shiny beautiful white.  I'm going to do the counter by the stove next week.

Tuesday was the day for Ruby's Christmas Activity.  She wanted to bake cupcakes and cookies and a cake with grass and a rose.  She even drew a picture of her design....which gave me a big clue that I really needed Warren to bail me out on the cake

But - I knew we could be successful with cupcakes.  Ruby learned how to crack eggs

And the Snickerdoodles turned out quite well

Meanwhile, Warren was preparing the roses for the cake...what would I have done without him?

The cake we made was a disaster - everything that could go wrong......did. The first two layers turned out so thin that I knew we needed a third.  Then that layer was so big and thick and pointy that I needed to cut a bit off the top so it would fit in between the two small ones.  Bad decision...I did it when it hadn't cooled completely (yes, I know...that was very wrong), and the sides crumbled badly (yes, I know, I did not use a pan with vertical sides...) I didn't ever notice that detail.  Applying the frosting....well, you can imagine that.  Finally Warren arrived with three beautiful roses, and I came to the realization that all cakes, in the future, should be made by Warren....... the cake master.

Prefect - - it met her expectations - she was happy!

Tuesday was the night that we all met for our Secret Santa Gift Exchange.  It was wildly exciting!

Shelby gave Dad some much needed leather gloves and a plastic toolbox for his Dremel tool.

Travis got something - the business end of a propane torch

Bev got two cookbooks so she can expand her cooking horizons.

I gave Camille some tiny sparkle lights which are all the rage now

And some screen glasses which you must need if you're doing virtual school.

Bev was my Secret Santa.  She gave me a glass mounted display of dried flowers that she had collected at Jefferson Park.  Ohhh.......Jefferson Park with its meadows full of flowers, is one of my most favorite places.

And a new headlight that offers an alternate light as opposed to a spotlight.

Wednesday was the day to redeem the Christmas Activity for Logan, Clara, Abby, Gretchen, and Eric.  They all chose "Go to the neat park near Sandy and get Joe's Doughnuts".  Weather was nearly perfect - no rain and sunny but jackets were necessary.  It really is a great park.......except...because it is winter or because of the pandemic, the bathrooms were closed!!!  What????  That caused some grief.

We got everyone a lunch from Dairy Queen (big drinks which caused problems later.....) which they devoured and also left them not so hungry by the time the doughnuts arrived.

Thursday morning I decided to organize the tool shelves in the pool room.  I want to do some "window work" but couldn't find the tools I need.

Christmas Eve Day - we decided to get "take out" and give the cooks a holiday.  The Scotts and Louthans got food from Cheesecake Factory and Dad and I got juicy brisket from Buster's.

Then we went violin caroling - the only time we played this season. It wasn't raining, so that was good, but the temperature was in the low 30's, and I was happy when we got home.

Christmas morning we were up early and went to visit each family to enjoy their festivities. No photos - just imagine happy kids opening packages and being excited.  The Scott family all got matching jammie bottoms....and tops.

Christmas Day Dinner was - wait for it....Mexican - as it has been since before I can remember.  We used to go to my Dads for Mexican food on Christmas Day - I think.  Anyway. Dad and I made Sopapillas (from the Doughboy recipe).  The Doughboy recipe is successful and the Sopapilla one is not, so we went for the sure thing.

Jessica made chinchlladas, and Bev made something delicious.  Ann made yummy candy and chimichangas.  Warren (cementing my vow to never make a cake again) made an amazing cake.  It was a rolled up, two layer cake set on its side and then frosted with an incredible frosting that required a propane torch to make it perfect.  He's making the ganache (whatever that is) in this photo.

Warren left early so I sent him a photo of my piece and told him it was delicious,

He told me to not 'forget the ganache", so I ganache-ed it!  It was a chocolate sauce!

Mermaids are still a BIG THING if you are a little girl.  Last year it was mermaid slumber bags - this year it the "full-on" tail.

Add roller skates, and you have a mini-derby

With a little help

But the tail was a bit restrictive.

Jude got a Geode Kit for Christmas, and he and Dad worked on it on Saturday.

One of the geodes (pictured above) turned out to be a boring chunk of quartz, but the second one had a crystal inside!

Jude also got a Crystal Growing Kit.  He and Paul came over to set it up at our house.  As Jude said, "We need a quiet place where the crystal can grow".

And now the crystal solutions are growing on our kitchen counter.

His two crystals grew well.  The yellow one was the most photogenic

I worked in the woods on Saturday and fashioned two foot bridges made of three 4x4s of treated wood and two bricks.  I am happy!  One no longer has to deal with the mushy muddy edges of the creek when leaping over the water.

For contrast, here is a photo of the area before I got rid of all the filberts.  At least I think it is the same place.

Here is a third footbridge I made down over the creek between II and III

Abby's baptism was Saturday night.

  

Only our family attended and we were all masked.

Between the baptism and the confirmation, Whitney played some lovely interlude music.  Copeland must have escaped, from Warren and he was headed for Whitney!  As he approached her, Whitney swooped him up and into her lap without missing a note!

Lots of photos afterwards