Went over for some yummy vittles to Zoe's house (Chris/Lisa). The little gal had her pick of suitors for the day...she is a big cutie with those wide eyes of hers!
Oscar (Tessa/Jamie) & Daniel (Shannon/Chris) showed Monte their new crawling moves, standing & Oscar's trademark 4-wheel cruising for the CD rack. Visions of busy times ahead in our future!
The friend flock showed up with crappy gifts wrapped beautifully in hand. It was the fourth year we have had this party at our house. I think some of the gifts keep getting passed around year after year or hidden in the coats/bags of the guests as they were leaving.
Monte scored a vintage ceramic piggie bank after the whole swapping, stealing & hemming-hawing was over. I've decided my faith is OK with the pig, we performed a quick ritual & the pig is now converted.
We even managed to have a break in the rain & some time to hang patio-side for smore making (a big thanks Erin!). Also a big thanks to Sheri for all the pre-party help.
Of course there had been last minute preparations. Lief had a huge load of wood delivered for the winter chimenea festivities while I took over the tree decorations (cranberries & popcorn) & still have stained fingers to prove it :-)
Thanks for the great Hanukkah gifts...the books, *gently* (ha) used clothes from the Seattle boys & fun treats from LA. Unfortunately he got a little upset when I ran off to get the camera (ah, the wonders of separation anxiety).
Funny to think he used to swim around the bucket of this scale. Now he overflows it, keeps trying to escape or grabs at all the nifty scale gadgets. He is 30" long, 22 pounds/9 ounces & still has a huge head, I forget the %. The persistent ear infection is a bummer but luckily the fever went away, whew!
We outfitted Monte in a new winter bear suit. Just in time for his first SNOW storm! I imagine we will have lots of opportunities to test our the Hanukkah bear suit!
We trekked out in the weather to join the Hanukkah party with our Rabbi & meet his new bundle Liat.
It was held at the Asian Cultural Center, a good group turn out with loads of latkes! I still like mine best (my first cooking attempt this year).