Christmas 2015

Christmas Eve:

Judah decided to go "ni-night":

He decided to make it appear to be more like a bed....

Goodnight!

Who wants to sleep on Christmas Eve? Not Judah!

Smiles in front

Christmas Morning:

Not a creature was stirring. 

Soren was up first again, every year without fail. 

Judah smiling with closed eyes, ready to experience his first Christmas.

Esther helping Dad with the famous family Danish custard

Our first Christmas all together

Grampy came over in the afternoon for a hike and dinner:

Mom with her girls

Dinnertime:

Dad cutting up the turkey....my Mom used the recipe we used at Eeott and Papa's for Thanksgiving. By FAR the best turkey ever (well, I mean, it's got bacon in it) . See how-to here: Gordon Ramsey's Turkey recipe

Grampy and Queen Elsa

Gathered around ready to feast!

Judah and Esther pose with their coloring books from Aunt Julie and Uncle JR. I don't know that crazy guy back there...thanks for the photobomb, Dad! 

I can't believe how big these guys are getting! 

Scandinavian Christmas Party

At this year's annual Scandinavian/Santa Lucia party, we had a full house. We invited a bunch of couples and families who consisted of Scandinavians, those adopted by a Scandinavian, and those married to a Scandinavian, including one full Dutch woman who so graciously shared her Trader Joe's Dutch cookies with everyone.  (We almost didn't let her in the door!)  Surprisingly, they were fairly popular.  I chose not to eat one though. : )  All the guests were given an assigned Scandie name for the evening, courtesy of Mom's great idea.  Everyone, whether they might have been Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, or perhaps Chinese, had a great time fellowshipping together during this "most wonderful time of the year".

  

Some of the guys chat in the living room

Mr. Steve---actually, he said that this was his Ole face.

And this was his Steve face, if I remember right! :)

Annaliese (Gina) and I (Astrid) eat dinner in the kitchen

More kids! Maryn, (back left) Soren, Noah, Kayla, Lucy, Ellie, Lillian, Livy (I'd write their Scandie names but I can't remember them all!)

Bjorn and Anders (aka Mr. Mitch and Dad)

Hilda (Deb), Ole (Steve), Nels (John), and Brian (can't remember his Scandie name!)

The ladies

Anders & Nels

A bounty of Scandie desserts (I don't think the Dutch cookies made it out here)

The Santa Lucia Parade begin as Ingrid (Mom) plays some Christmas tunes on the piano:

Else (Esther), Elisabet (Eva), and Maryn

Annika (Lillian) passes out the famous lefse

Lars having fun at his first introduction to his family's Scandinavian heritage as a Star Boy.

Else leads the way in her Norwegian sweater from Miss Deb who wore it as a child when she performed for the King of Norway at her school.

Lucia girls and Star Boys munch on their lefse after marching around.

Silly Liv pretends to share the flame of her candle with Lucia

My Scandinavian parents Ingrid and Anders

Thanksgiving at the Farm

For Thanksgiving we headed south to Eeott and Papa's house before the worst of the traffic (we had learned our lesson the hard way in years before) for a few days.  It was also Shin Shong's first time at the farm and he loved everyone and everything about it, other than the dogs!  Yeah, we're still working on that...Auntie Sharon and Madi from Eugene stayed on the farm with us for most of our visit.

The following photos are a mix of different times we walked out to see the animals. :)

Piled on the 4 wheeler with Papa---Judah's first time getting to ride!

So excited

Farm girl at heart

Feeding the cows and hopefully not running into a tree....

I took a turn driving

A few of the Shooks took an evening walk:                                                                                          

Cousin Madi and Soren

Mom and Esther

Esther greets Apache

The goats were not very kind to Soren.

Cutting the chord off the hay to feed to the cows

Soren brought his bow and arrow:

Getting ready to aim at the hay bale target

Madi tries her aim

Dad knows how its done

Chatting as they walk back

A one-on-one conversation with Eeott

 More 4 wheeler fun:

Cougar fan and Shin Shong

It is very difficult to ride with your little sister in control.

Every night was very cold (in the teens and lower 20s), and every morning thick fresh frost covered the ground.  One morning was especially beautiful, and Esther and I were the only kids awake, so we bundled up and headed outside with Dad and Papa to feed the cows.  It was a perfect morning.

Jincy leads the way

Esther and her pal Buster

Cheese! And no, Esther did not actually drive the 4-wheeler

Papa's "Shook and Sons" dump truck

More mixed up photos:                                                                                                                                        

Oak leaves edged with frost

Moooo

Eeott drives

Fall colors displayed in apple trees in the orchard

Brothers walk up the hill behind the chicken coop

Having a BLAST

Yikes!!!

She's back at it!

A final photo with Papa and Eeott on the last morning before we headed for WA

Esther chats with two of her farm friends, Buster and Bijou

Apache and Lillian

One day, cousins Phil, Joy, Sarah, and Nargissa  stopped by:

Judah and Sarah. After minutes of playing together, he told me, "she my friend, she my friend."

The Three Amigos and Sarah decide what to play next

Judah and Joy

Preparing for the feast:                                                                                                  

Preparing the pie dough

Posing with some of the finished pies

Thanksgiving Day:                                                                                                                                 

Get out of the whipped cream!!!

Esther on pie patrol

Judah smiles at the table,  patiently waiting for his first Thanksgiving to begin.

Some Shooks...

Some more Shooks...

 Giving thanks with thankful hearts.

                                              

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." -1 Chronicles 16:34