New Years Eve (12/31/23)

Camille held a New Years Eve dinner to honor Emilie and Jake, who were in town.  My brother, Scott,  and his daughter, Liz, also attended.  Liz and Emilie both live in Boston, studying at Harvard, so it was a convivial evening.

Camille's newly remodeled home is beautiful and her homemade pasta was delicious.

Mike and Heidi dropped by with Calder and Audrey.

Dave fades by 8 p.m., so we did not stay until the glass ball dropped on Times Square to mark the New Year.  We heard that the board games went on until midnight or later!

 

Raclette and Ramen (12/27 and 12/28/2023)

Kyle was an LDS missionary in Switzerland, and he loves Swiss food.  On December 27, 2023, the Flindts sponsored a raclette dinner, and invited me to share it with them.

Raclette is a type of Swiss cheese.  It is melted in a special oven, at raclette parties, and served over  or with baked potatoes, sausages, pickles, and other garnishes. 

Lily and her red panda are great guests at any party.

By Friday night, most of the Flindt family had gone home.  I treated the stragglers to ramen noodles, curry and dumplings at Tosh's Ramen, one of the best-rated ramen noodle restaurants in the city.

When they got back to my house, the Flindts rolled out the board games for one last session.

Is this Dad or Sophia? (12/26/2023)

Every year we hold a joint birthday party for Dave and Sophia, who were both born on December 26.  A highlight of each birthday party is the game that Mike makes up, comparing Dave and Sophia.  This year may have been the best ever.  For our party held on December 26, 2023, Mike switched heads on photographs of Dave and Sophia.  Before seeing each photo, we had to guess whether it would be Dave or Sophia.  The combinations left us laughing and laughing!

The real Sophia sat next to her siblings, Ezra and Mia, at dinner.

It was a great night for Mike's family.  Calder is now big enough to sit up to the table, and Audrey was wide awake and enjoying the party! 

The Flindts leave for home--Seattle, Dallas, and Houston--this week.  It has been a delight to have them nearby over Christmas.
 

More fake photos of Dave and Sophia!

Christmas Morning (12/25/2023)

On Christmas Eve we read the Christmas story and sang hymns.  On Christmas morning we ate and partied.  The adults were coveted guests, but their little ones, including Audrey and Eliza, were the best!  Audrey is holding her new doll, with a curly head of black hair, from West Africa!

We shared breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, hot chocolate, juice, and fresh fruit.  Heidi wore sequined pants for the occasion.  "These were actually part of a costume," she confided.  "The whole outfit just seemed too much!"

 

We then began the three "Christmas tables."  For the children's table, each child (or parent who assisted) chose a number, and the children chose gifts from the table in the order of their numbers.  Naomi and Spencer gave Eliza free rein to pick what she wanted.  With princess castles and rainbow-colored fleece blankets on the table, Eliza chose a small bag of marbles!

Heidi received choices over the telephone from Jonny and his family, who were in Fiji for Christmas with Jenny's family.

Naomi and Spencer supervised the gifts for the Young Adults table, for grandchildren who had graduated from high school.  When I asked Naomi if she would take on that job next year, she said, "Of course!"  Naomi said it was satisfying to see how much everyone enjoyed the gifts she helped to pick.  Spencer set up an Amazon wish list so all the young adults could suggest items for the table.

There was lots of excitement for the adult table, where my children and their spouses chose from among gifts.  Everyone makes suggestions, so there is lots of variety!

One of the gifts from the Christmas table was Lisa's photograph book about our family reunion last summer.  

The Flindts had their own family Christmas at our house.  Since they are spread across the country, Lisa's family often uses our house in Salt Lake for their own family get-togethers.

Finally, it was time to pack up, give last hugs, and go home.

Christmas Eve (12/24/23)

On Christmas Eve each year, my brother, Scott, brings his family for dinner and a Christmas program.  We sing "Holy Night" and "Away in a Manger," we listen to the Christmas story, read by me from Luke 2, Scott reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and the males in Scott's family sing "Santa Claus will Come Tonight", with Elizabeth chiming in to sing "Beep, beep" when they reach the part that says, "and a doll that says...".  This Christmas, Scott's son, Grant, and his grandson, Truman, joined the song, as did Jonny and Mike, to make a quorum.

Liz was in town from her first year as a Ph.D student at Harvard.  In this photo she is holding the family history gift that I give out each year.  This year the booklet is called, "Who Converted the Calders?" It contains the stories of how each of my great grandparents--the Calders, the Hamiltons, the Eyrings, and the Romneys--was converted to the LDS Church.  I obtained the names and profiles of the missionaries who converted them, which included two of the original apostles, Orson Pratt and Orson Hyde.

We eat a traditional dinner of ham, sweet potato casserole, consomme rice, and Scott's expertly prepared fresh fruit.

I love how my children's families intermingle--Steve and Jono are in Camille's family, Grant is in Lisa's family, and baby Calder is in Michael's family.

Audrey sang a song for the Christmas program, as her mother accompanied her on the recorder.

Flindt Fest (12/18 and 12/22/23)

Salt Lake City is the Christmas gathering place for the Flindts.  Lisa planned a festive list of activities for her family while they visited from Houston (Naomi and Spencer) and Dallas (Grant and Meg).  The activities included making gingerbread houses, putting together care packages for homeless people, seeing the movie "Boys in the Boat" which was filmed in their home city of Seattle, and the ice cream sundae party on December 18, 2023 pictured here.

Eliza, Spencer and Naomi's daughter, is a three-year-old cutie.  She is a queen bee now, but may have culture shock when her baby brother is born next February!

Lisa invited Dave and me to come along to a Kurt Bestor concert with her family on December 22, 2023.  The concert was at the intimate Egyptian Theater in Park City, which was sold out for the event.

We began the evening with dinner at the Bombay House, a favorite Indian restaurant on the route to Park City.

Park City is beautiful at night--a bright jewel in the dark mountains.

We wandered through the exclusive stores along Park City's Main Street as we waited for the concert to begin.  High end electronics stores are an eternal draw!