Anyway, back to my entry about our decoration-less Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve with the Larsen side of the clan, first meeting up at the Golden Corral with Grandpa Larsen, Mely, Jordi, Samy, Aunt Laureen, and Aunt Sylvia (named from Tallis' perspective!). After a hearty meal that we didn't have to clean up after (!) we went to Grandpa Larsen and Mely's new home -- our first time seeing it since they moved in. They did well! It's a very nice space, with a huge deck and storage sheds. I find myself a little jealous of the greenhouse in particular.... (I'm starting to daydream my garden already.)
Here's Tallis with Grandpa Larsen in his new kitchen. He's wearing the Christmas sweater and hat that Grandma Hess bought for him and brought as a gift when she came for his birth. It looked adorable, especially with the red pom-pon on top, which isn't visible in this picture.
Here's Tallis on Christmas morning posed with the gifts in front of our stand-in Christmas tree! It's the ficus that I received as a gift from my co-worker Kathi at the Plant Materials Center a couple of years ago -- it's been growing well! (It was thus very appropriate that Courtney brought me some tropical flowers - birds of paradise - as a Christmas Eve gift. I say we had ourselves a Mele Kalikimaka instead of a Merry Christmas this year, with the tropical touches in both the tree and bouquet. Never mind the fact that it was bitterly cold!) Yes, Tallis is wearing the Christmas sweater for the second day in a row. Since it was also the last day in his life that he would wear it, I decided that fashion faux pas would be forgiveable. :) (Especially if you know me and and my "aversion" to fashion faux pas!)
Note: Tallis wasn't really doing anything the qualified as sitting unassisted in the picture above. Dad was just out of the camera range, ready to catch him, and he was essentially doubled completely over, because he couldn't support himself upright at all. He's now getting more skilled at sitting, and will probably have it down in a week or two, but that's another entry.
Our gifts were simple and appropriate and appreciated! I've been getting good use from my new BPA-free water bottles (yay!) ever since the big day, and the houndstooth scarf is CLASSY! (Both from Aunt Joyce and Grandma Larsen.)
Tallis, of course, was the best present of all, but here he is amongst some of the rest of the booty! Thanks to all of our gift-givers for being so generous!
Just had to put this one in for Grandma and Grandpa Hess' benefit -- Tallis appreciates the Johnny Jump Up, and so do we! He loves being able to stand unassisted by us, but has yet to figure out the bouncing features of this new toy. He'll get it!
On Christmas afternoon we had friends over for dinner and games. Here we are with Sam and Carmin Sponseller, who live just around the corner and are a sweet treasure to have as friends:
We also had the Brians over, Aimee and Brad and their two kids. They weren't planning on being in town for Christmas, but a cancelled flight changed their plans. We were glad we could save them from a last-minute Christmas dinner of frozen pizza, and really enjoyed their company.
We had a quiet Christmas evening with the Sponsellers after the Brians had to leave, playing chess, backgammon, and Apples to Apples. We are so glad they shared their holiday with us!
And Tallis was glad he had company over that he could outdo at games - he's such a card shark! (Notice that we've taught him to read upside-down - he's such a genius!)
We hope you had a Mele Kalikimaka also! 
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