Christmas - Came & Went...but some goodies remain!

Christmas did not disappoint.  How can it when you are surrounded by family.  Our son Deni and his wife to be Courtney, Ginette and her husband Trevor, and Jeanette and I got together to share in great food, good fun, gift exchanges and overall wonderful visiting.  And it's not over yet!

A new ornament hangs on the Christmas tree.

In her second trimester, our daughter Ginette and husband Trevor are expecting a little boy this April, 2012.  So, a new ornament (customary in our household) was placed on our Christmas tree.

Ginette, Trevor's mom, Sandi and Trevor.

A few days before Christmas, Sandi dropped by for a visit and dinner with her son, Ginette and us.  She is pleased to have her son and daughter in law back on the coast too.

Deni and Courtney - in from Edmonton, Alberta.

Ginette and Trevor were off to Christmas Eve dinner with his side of the family while we prepared a dinner for Deni, Courtney and us.

Busy in one of her favourite places in our home.

Jeanette prepared a fantastic meal and all I was responsible for was to fire up the Bar B Q, throw a nice fillet of sockeye salmon on, watch it carefully, remove it and deposit it on the dining room table where all of the other food fare was waiting.

Courtney and Deni brought a little California red to wash down our fare.

Right in front is the customary 'tourtiere' - a French Christmas dish (meat pie with spices).

Long ago Jeanette obtained my mom's recipe for 'tourtiere' and she has perfected it so well that it is an 'in demand' dish to the initiated. What a treat!  I am French Canadian and Jeanette is of Ukrainian Canadian so we mix traditional Ukrainian dishes with French traditional dishes.  It makes for a wonderful meal.

Home made traditional cabbage rolls that Jeanette prepared.

Early on Christmas morning.

With freshly brewed coffee and hot from the oven muffins, we gathered for our traditional gift exchange. I received so many books that I'll put off looking into an Kindle or other e-reader devices for some time. Jeanette received several books too....so we'll be well stocked for our winter snowbirding journey in the US southwest.

Trevor and Ginette having a good look at one  gift.

Deni is laughing about something while Courtney browses through a book she received.

Jeanette sat close by to gauge my reaction to one present.  It was a book on Big Rigs and RV Parks that are set up for them.  Good gift!  That one will quickly move to our dually truck.

I received 8 books in all.  Heavy reading this winter, for sure!

Courtney really surprised Deni and Trevor with identical remote controlled helicopters.  Now that got these early 30 somethings' juices going.  They couldn't wait to test them out....and they did just that!

Really neat models....

This was one big surprise for Ginette.

Our daughter is musically inclined and her husband really surprised her with a sophisticated Yamaha professional keyboard.  WOW!  She'll have plenty of time during her third trimester to entertain her baby in the womb....and possibly lull it to sleep with soft piano sounds after it is born.

Trevor is preparing for his first flight.

Deni - who is a trained commercial pilot - does a thorough pre-flight check before taking flight.

Deni and Trevor had little difficulty flying these birds....while I was hoping they wouldn't crash too hard into the furniture.  They were cautious....and no damage ensued!

Nice landing!

I had a few opportunities to take the controls and I was able to fly them quite well....well being a relative term.  A few hard landings were witnessed but the helicopters have soft undercarriage bumpers for flyers like me!

Other than opening presents, test flights, sharing laughter and banter, good food and general relaxation, we managed to pass Christmas Day away in fine fashion.  Deni and Courtney were off to her side of the family for dinner while the rest of us drove to North Delta for dinner at our long time friends' home.  A nice evening that was too.

We trust your Christmas was joyful and relaxing too.

The next blog will feature this really neat gift Jeanette and I gave ourselves.  It's great for RV'ing  too.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for dropping in.