It has been a busy December in the frozen North. Some of our friends observed last week that the Monday night football game in Green Bay was warmer than Portland. A big thanks to Gram who has survived the cold with us amidst a flurry of ballet errands.
Gram arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving so that Mika could join Roger on his business trip to Amsterdam. The trip to Amsterdam was fantastic. The weather was not great, but it was better than Portland. Mika had a chance to visit our friend Karen from Mountain View, who's daughter was in Ellie's playgroup way back when. Other highlights were the Anne Frank Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijks Museum, canal rides and Indonesian food. Also, our last day was spent in Delft with our friends Samantha, Martai and their three daughters. Sam and Roger worked together at Extricity back in 2001. Overall it was a great trip with great memories.
Back at home, Gram was running Ellie around (and dragging Nisa & Maile) during THE most crazy week for ballet. It was the final week leading up to their big Nutcracker performance. This involved daily practices, plus costume errands and dress rehearsals. But all was worthwhile as Ellie and the entire cast put on a phenomenal first rate performance of the Nutcracker last night. Ellie was beautiful as a party girl with her hair up high and a fancy purple dress.
Here are some stories from the last couple weeks.
We took the girls to a Christmas Tree Farm before the trip to Amsterdam. Nisa's key criteria for selecting a tree was how much clearance the tree had at the bottom for presents. :-)
Gram had to take Ellie to the wig store with Nisa and Maile. As soon as they walked into the store Maile clutched onto Gram saying, "I don't like those ladies with only heads looking at me." :-)
Earlier this week before school Gram thought it would be nice to cook up some eggs for breakfast. She asked Nisa if she would like some eggs to which Nisa responded, "I would like eggs and pancakes and sausage."
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Aloha, Alaska!
16 years ago
