Christmas and Finishes

We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner with the married kids and our youngest and her boyfriend, and of course our precious grandsons.  Daughter Erica and her boyfriend had bought the same bouquet of flowers individually at Trader Joes to give to me. I combined them for a pretty bunch.

I made a local restaurant's dish--a favorite Italian recipe they serve called Broccoli Rigoletti.  It involves lightly steaming broccoli and then frying it in olive oil and garlic until crispy.  The cooked rotini and broccoli go into a baking dish with cheese on top and heated until the cheese melts.  This is served with marinara sauce.  It came out well and I'll make it again for Grant and me in a smaller amount!  The kids brought deserts and we gathered around the tree for gift opening.  The girls all liked their Minky scarves :)

The hit of the evening was a Star Wars lightsaber toy that made different sounds and could record a message of your own. Grandson Cove was delighted--his mother less so!  Also popular with Cove was a book detailing of all the Pokemon cards.  He is very into trading cards and knows many of their names.  Auntie went up to her old bedroom and got out her binder of Pokemon cards to show him--he was much impressed.  Meanwhile, grandson Hunter was playing with his Paw Patrol toys and checking out his new scooter.  So wonderful to have them all here.

Next morning daughter Erica came over to have breakfast with us and get her stocking.  I found these mantle clips at Target--our mantle has a curved edge and normal stocking holders that hang over would only be toppling forward, so I have never used them.

They came in different colors, I chose the red for added decoration--they worked great!  Christmas dinner was at my mom and dad's--I think we numbered about 20 or so.  It was pouring rain most of the evening--luckily after the BBQing was done by my oldest brother. We did not get to see the newest member of the family, three week old Elliott, my grand-nephew, but hope to meet him soon. My brothers and sister loved their chef's boas.  I have plans to make more as gifts.  

Our city was in the news recently due to a tornado touching down near our harbor Christmas morning--there were a few trees destroyed, kayaks and large paddleboard storage racks moved, and some other minor damage.  Then after the storm hit Chritsmas night and closed all the major routes into the Central Valley, traffic north was bumper to bumper for many hours as truck traffic and all those who were headed north were rerouted.  What a mess!  The snow is mostly gone in our local mountains but the highway patrol was escorting traffic through the high passes due to black ice.  

Having nowhere to go Thursday, I spent time with needle and thread, working on the  Oh My Stars blocks for Barb's swap (Fun with Barb blog).

I was driving myself crazy counting and recounting all the different parts and pieces needed for the required 40 blocks!  Finally I got it all detailed and sewed up a bunch more flying geese. 

There was a very thick seam on this set--I discovered it was doubled when I went to press!  An easy fix, fortunately.

All 40 are now finished and ready to mail off.   I'll be back to show my visit to the Getty Villa in Malibu with my sister, niece and her fiance.