The week before Christmas

I can not believe that today is Christmas Eve. So here is a recap of our last week. Last Sunday Marlene was chosen to be part of the St. Lucia Procession in church. (For all who don't know, we attend a Swedish/Scandinavian Lutheran Church. ) Marlene was very proud to be an attendant to St. Lucia. It was very hard for Amelia to see her sister in a white gown and herself not being allowed to be part of it, too. Over all Amelia did very well in church; it was her first time since the baptism. Usually she stays home, when Marlene and I go.

On Monday my mother arrived to spent the holidays with us. We managed to go downtown and see the lights. The city of Seattle is always doing a great job, lighting up downtown. We rode the carousel and we saw the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton. I have to say, that this year the houses were not as nice as other years. Somehow they are getting further and further away from the actual concept of a house.

On Friday we had the singalong at Marlene's school. It was fun to see everyone and sing Christmas and Hanuka songs. Unfortunately it has been raining for several days straight and we were not able to leave the house. That put a strain on the kids and everyone has been going crazy, since the mall was not an option, a couple days before Christmas. We spent the time inside - when we were not trying to kill each other - by making cookies and doing art projects.

The sun was finally shining again today and so we were able to release the caged animals. We had fun on a long walk to Meadowbrook Pond and Annie's Playground.