Merry Christmas!

It was a quiet, relaxing Christmas Day with the family. I woke up fairly early and played some cribbage with Dad while enjoying a chai tea. Dad won. We, that is Mom, Dad, Emily Lucille, Gretchen, Emily Jean, and I, were all up by 9 am or so to start opening presents. We all put a fair amount of thought into our gifts, so we were all quite pleased with ourselves.

Mom made a great breakfast, with French toast, sausages, and fruit. After breakfasat, Emily Jean and I went for a walk around "the loop." It was a sunny, no-too-cold day with temperatures in the low-mid 20s. Quite a bit warmer than yesterday.

Around noontime, I helped Dad pull snow off the roof of the garage and then clear it off the driveway, with Dad using the shovel and me running the snowblower. I carried that unmistakable odor of oil-mixed-with-gasoline exhaust with me for most of the afternoon.

Just after sunset, Dad, Gretchen, and I went for a ski down the bike trail. I was on Grandpa Arne's old skis, which Dad and I had prepared for winter camping in March, but which we didn't end up using. Gretchen was on Mom's wooden skis, while Dad was on his own pair. We skied east to Minnetonka Blvd, then Dad turned back. Gretchen and I kept on and turned back at the Cottagewood hockey rink. It was one of the first times Gretchen had ever skied, and she did quite well. She had a mild case of the typical beginner's shuffle, but I think she was having trouble getting good kick.

Mom made a superb dinner, with fresh, homemade bread, smoked turkey, a beef and split-pea soup, and fresh salad. Incredibly good. We all picked Dad's brain for details about the family tree. He knew quite a lot, but pulled an "You'll have to ask Grandpa Arne" on multiple occasions. After dinner, I loaded the dishwasher and then took a shower, while Gretchen and Emily Jean retired to the basement to do some geneaology research on the computer.