Holiday Update

Another holiday season is behind us and I think Abbie enjoyed it. In particular, it was good to have time away from school. I think she enjoyed plenty of rest and relaxation. She decided to try her hand at making a Yule Log this year. She tried it twice. The first time, it went great; the second time, the flavor was good but the cake wouldn't behave so the presentation struggled a little bit. At least now she has an appreciation for how fickle it can be.

Skating in a trench coat??

We did the usual activities - ice skating, light looking, making gingerbread cookies, etc. Abbie was good about using her camera to document everything. I haven't looked to see whether she got any good photos or not, but my hope would be that her photos are better than the photos taken on my phone!

Christmas Eve Dinner on the Patio

Christmas Day in her cozy new robe

I think that Christmas worked out pretty well for Abbie. She got many of the items on her list, lots of Hamilton-related gifts, a book on beekeeping, and last but not least, her own phone. Her reaction to the phone was priceless. She was in total shock and sat speechless for a long time. She got a tear in her eye and I think it took her a few hours to process that it was actually her phone. It was really sweet to see and I think that it will make it much easier to get in touch with her at school, etc.

As I may have mentioned, we went to New Orleans for a few days between Christmas and New Years. We had some rain at first, but all in all, the weather wasn't too bad. We struck out when it came to touring cemeteries, but we did get to tour the National World War II museum, which was very well done. Perhaps needless to say, we had a number of fancy meals and enjoyed some great food.

In the last few days before going back to school, Abbie has been doing some gardening - re-potting plants, planting potatoes, and making plans for where to plant lavender. The idea behind the lavender is that it will make good food for her bees if she is actually able to get a hive going at some point. That may be a little way down the road, but she already has an idea as to where she can put it when the time comes.