It is Friday, January 1, 2010 as I write this. Unlike last year which was a snowy Christmas, this year has been a very green one.

We have had Susan's parents staying with us since mid November, from just after Melissa came home. They will be with us until mid or late January at which time they will be going back to their home in Calgary. We got a tree from Ikea, which we set up two weekends before Christmas. My parents had told me to open a gift they had left on about the 10th, 11th, or 12th of December, so at that time we opened a box and found an inflatable Santa for the yard. Already having a few inflatables for the yard, and some lights in the bush out front in our ever expanding light show (we acquire more lights each year just after Christmas), we traded in the Santa for a yard timer, with 6 outlets, so this holiday season each night just as it gets dark our yard lights up. Very nice!

Just like last year, in order to avoid an overload of toys on Christmas morning, we had Kayla open a gift each day for a few days before Christmas. It gives her time to spend more time with each gift rather than trying to cram too much into Christmas morning proper.

I (Glen) worked until noon on Christmas Eve, and then came home in time for a late lunch. Christmas morning Kayla got up a few minutes after seven, and I got up to be around to guide her in her entertainment. She opened her stocking finding that Santa had brought her various good things, including a finger painting set. So before anyone else was up, Kayla had finger painted two sheets worth of art. Once the others were up, we opened one other present from Santa, then had breakfast, then opened most all of the gifts. Santa's theme this year was music, and had brought several musical instruments for Kayla. Santa had brought me an N Scale model train, which helps me keep balance now that I live in a household overwhelmingly filled with girls. A while later Jim, Ellen, and family came over and we opened a few more things. We had a great Christmas lunch, before Jim, Ellen, and family left in the late afternoon. After Kayla's nap, we headed over to Nancy and Simon's for Christmas dinner. Turning into a tradition, post dinner there is always some fun in playing a few video games, playing some ping-pong, and some games of Bingo!

Boxing day was a quiet day spent at home. The day after boxing day, we went down to Stanley Park and hiked a ways around the seawall. For lunch, we tried to go to the new Burnaby Fatburger, but the parking lot was totally full, so we instead went down the street to the Cactus Club. Later in the afternoon I took a trip out to On Track Hobbies, the closest good hobby store with trains to get a few more feet of track to expand on the oval that was included in the set. On Monday we took advantage of Auntie Shirley's gift to us, our year pass to Science World, and we went to Science world. We also saw Eddy and Pauline and family as we were going in.

The rest of the week we had a relatively quiet time at home getting to know Melissa. Just like last year, for New Years eve, we had Richard and Grace and family over, and rung in the New Year with them. This year we were minutely more organized and managed to toast (with Sparkling Apple Juice in champagne glasses) as the year came in. On the second, Kayla and I went to swimming lessons in the morning, and the evening of the second we are celebrating Melissa's arrival with a dinner we are holding at Burnaby Palace Restaurant, and about 60 close friends and family :-)

I'm sure it will be a good year!



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