Winter 2009

Molbaks, November

Every November Mom takes us to Molbak’s for our annual Christmas photo. This year Sofia wasn't very cooperative for the pictures; apparently my annoyance showed on my face. But eventually Mom got some shots she liked [right].

Once that was done, we picked out our official tree ornaments for the year. Sofia chose a fawn on skis carrying some baby birds and squirrels; it suited her. As for me, I chose a miniature-scale Ford Cobra Jet big block engine. Very appropriate.

Being at Molbaks always means that Christmas is approaching.

Sinterklaas, December

This year December 5th was on a Friday. All week long Sofia had been leaving wooden shoes on the floor in front of our family room fireplace, and each morning she raced downstairs to find candies and toys in them that the Zwarte Piets had left. I was happy to play along—I got candy out of it, too.

For December 5th dinner we had our traditional waffles with fruit and whipped cream. When we were done eating, there was a knock on the door. Sofia rushed to open it and found that Sinterklaas had left a large burlap bag on the doorstep. We dragged it inside, and then Sofia got into it so far to pull out all the goodies that I had to pull her out of the bag, too [left]. Inside were chocolate letters, poems, and wrapped gifts. We opened our gifts, read our poems (some in Dutch, some in English), and ate some chocolate (sent by Sofia's grandmother in Holland).

Sinterklaas still doesn't feel like a tradition that really belongs to me; I'm just not Dutch. But it is fun, especially to watch Sofia enjoy it. Even better, for me it signifies that the Christmas season has begun!

Snow! December

From December 14th through the 25th the temperature froze and the skies snowed. Each morning I’d look out the window and wonder whether I was going to school or sledding. (A couple times I did a little sledding in the car.) Winter break wasn't supposed to begin until the 22nd, but with all the snow, we got out three days early. It snowed nonstop and became the biggest snowstorm since 1970-something. By Christmas Day, we had almost 2 feet on our back porch!

Needless to say, I was out in it almost every day. Because it was not always easy or safe to get around, the family didn’t do all our traditional Christmas activities, like driving at night to see Christmas lights, going to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, or visiting downtown Seattle. But every day I was outside with my friends having a blast (see epic fail at right). That actually made December feel more Christmas-y than ever.

Christmas Eve, December

On Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa Paul and Bonnie’s house. The roads were snowy, with a good potential to ice over, so there was question whether we'd get there at all. But we've never missed a Christmas Eve there yet, and we didn't this year, either.

Two of Bonnie's daughters are living out of state now, so the group was smaller than usual. I missed the spontaneous wrapping paper wars, but it was nice to not get automatically lumped in with lots of younger kids (Sofia was the only one younger than I). We ate a roast beef dinner, told stories around the table, and opened gifts. As always, Grandpa was very generous (money that will come in handy on my trip to England).

Because Sofia needed to get to bed, we didn't stay this year for the musical entertainment. I forgot my trumpet, anyway. It was a careful drive home in the snow, and I tried to get to sleep soon to make Christmas Day arrive more quickly.

Christmas Day, December

Mom warned Sofia and me that we couldn’t wake her and Jan until 7:00 on Christmas day. I woke up about 5:00, tried to get back to sleep, was up again at 6:00, and finally woke Sofia about 10 minutes to 7:00. I sent her in to Mom's bedroom, where I could hear her jump on the bed and yell, “Wake up! It’s Christmas morning! Santa came!”

When we went downstairs, there was obvious evidence that Santa HAD come… a pink dollhouse as tall as Sofia wrapped in a giant red bow next to the tree. Sofia went nuts. I felt a bit nuts, too [right]; I wanted to open presents!! After what felt like an eternity since I had woken up, we finally got around to emptying our stockings and opening our gifts.

About 10:00, Jan left to pick up Grandma. Not only had Santa come over night, but so had yet more snow. When Jan returned with Grandma, the car got stuck in the driveway, and I had to throw on my snow clothes and help him dig out the tires so that Grandma could get into the house [below]. That was an unexpected Christmas Day activity!

We had an awesome Christmas brunch with egg casserole, sour cream potatoes, ham, and cranberry salad (my favorite). Then we opened even more presents. It was a great morning.

Eventually Dad came to get me, since I couldn't drive myself in the snow. Then I did Christmas all over again at his house, where we ate tons of food, opened more presents, and staged WWIII with the Nerf guns Dad got for all four of us. I love having two Christmases. It feels like cheating.

For the next two days, there was so much snow and the streets were so slushy that we couldn't get out of the neighborhood. So it’s a good thing that I received lots of great Christmas gifts because I had lots of time at home to enjoy all my new things.

"Can I help you, Ma'am?" February

Scary, huh? I'm working at Target.

I started training at the beginning of February. I'm supposed to have about 15 hours a week. I'm trained to work a cash register, but so far I'm just doing floor work. Already, though, a woman whom I helped filled out a customer satisfaction form about me (and said good things).

So far the people I work with are nice, and the job's not difficult but also not boring. Best of all are the paychecks. New car, here I come!

[ Home ] [ Our Travels ] [ Family Features ] [ About Us ]