{"id":646,"date":"2014-01-01T02:53:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T02:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eaumaison.wordpress.com\/2014\/01\/01\/christmas-2013"},"modified":"2014-01-01T02:53:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-01T02:53:00","slug":"christmas-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/2014\/01\/01\/christmas-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>All my pictures went into flickr, like usual.\u00a0 This is the highlights.<\/p>\n<p>We arrived in GJ the afternoon of the 23rd.\u00a0 My other siblings were already there.\u00a0 The next day Grandma Cook flew into town.\u00a0 She got to meet her second great-grandson!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11657002535\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5498\/11657002535_24189b1dac_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Brian came over to visit briefly.\u00a0 <br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11657375314\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7352\/11657375314_d1b508a270_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jack entertained us with a Christmas carol.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1TJl_uQx2y0?version=3&#038;rel=0&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span> <br \/>Then the middle generation went to see The Hobbit Part Deux.\u00a0 It was fun, but wacky, and even less like the book than the first one.<\/p>\n<p>We came back from the movie to the traditional Christmas Even dinner &#8211; Chinese food! <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11657029885\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3739\/11657029885_4d7a259cbb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sam photo-bombed me and Ben.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11657392894\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3826\/11657392894_b44bdfd392_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Then we introduced Jack to the other Christmas Eve traditions: reading scriptures, reading Santa Mouse, setting out stockings and cookies and milk.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11658976495\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3707\/11658976495_7ac4b7f925_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Surprisingly, we didn&#8217;t get going Christmas morning until after 7 AM.\u00a0 Sam and I were up for the usual feeding, and Ben was up with his usual Christmas antsy-ness.\u00a0 We roused Jack (easily) and sent him to gather the family.<\/p>\n<p>Jack was most keen on Skylanders Swapforce this year.\u00a0 So we fired it up before opening much else.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673025703\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3733\/11673025703_f80630b105_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sam got a soft monkey and it&#8217;s perfect for his latest craze: putting fabric in his mouth.\u00a0 Om nom nom.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11672862575\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3756\/11672862575_3792f812bd_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Andy and Amanda amazed us with their homemade presents.\u00a0 I got some beautiful art from both of them.\u00a0 Andy won most elaborate by making this vertical chess set for my Dad.\u00a0 The characters are all based on The Big Lebowski.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673541384\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3765\/11673541384_f7e72da415_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Jack ate a croissant while playing his video game with one hand.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673547884\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5512\/11673547884_350c3cfe18_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sam got this play mat from Santa.\u00a0 He was immediately entranced:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673183365\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7371\/11673183365_48bed2a6d8_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lucy got cuddles \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673429763\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3752\/11673429763_b4332686eb_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mom mulling spices with her laboratory spinner from Dad.\u00a0 Checking the temperatures with the laser gun I gave Andy. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673555734\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2870\/11673555734_99e1c117f2_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We played games and puzzles.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673557974\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3743\/11673557974_7857317617_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Went sledding.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673994556\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7334\/11673994556_990ea1ea39_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673991126\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3816\/11673991126_2576a0e677_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uQke_sxdVUs?version=3&#038;rel=0&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span> <br \/>The next day we opened presents from the Mason family.\u00a0 Sadly, they were without power due to the ice storm, so we waited until they were able to facetime to celebrate together.\u00a0 The boys got matching outfits. <br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673442943\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7359\/11673442943_7325daa30e_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the runaway surprise winner was the pirate dagger and eyepatch.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673437623\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5497\/11673437623_4e00c355b9_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Indulgent food, visiting, movies, games.\u00a0 That&#8217;s pretty much the week.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673987706\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7304\/11673987706_04f73018bb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11673994556\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><br \/><\/a><br \/>And baths.\u00a0 Baths are fun.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachelsmason\/11677705746\/\" title=\"Untitled by rachelsmason, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Untitled\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5492\/11677705746_e2af1e31cb_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ben and Jack went home Saturday as planned.\u00a0 I stayed with Sam a couple more days to wear out the sinus congestion.\u00a0 Even still, the drive home over the mountains was head-pounding.\u00a0 But the extra days meant more relaxing and baby helping.\u00a0 Amanda and I even went to see another movie &#8211; Saving Mr. Banks (meh.\u00a0 entertaining but not a real winner).<\/p>\n<p>I was also glad to watch the Nutcracker one last time.\u00a0 I really love that ballet.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2Kr0zntESTo?version=3&#038;rel=0&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span> <br \/>The dancing led to this.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AuoBThC0Y14?version=3&#038;rel=0&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All my pictures went into flickr, like usual.\u00a0 This is the highlights. We arrived in GJ the afternoon of the 23rd.\u00a0 My other siblings were already there.\u00a0 The next day Grandma Cook flew into town.\u00a0 She got to meet her second great-grandson! Brian came over to visit briefly.\u00a0 Jack entertained us with a Christmas carol. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}