Our Christmas traditions have morphed with the age of our children and the absence of anyone under the age of 25. We decorate the artificial tree together, with Ron and Ben lacing the lights around and everyone placing the ornaments around the tree. We probably have at least 100 ornaments, varying from a bell made from an egg carton and covered with glitter (Erin) to can lids with nail holes covered with glitter (Ben) to Lenox and hand-blown glass. The kids lose interest way earlier than the completion of the tree. This year we listened to Elvis' Blue Christmas while we were working.
On Christmas Day, we get up fairly early (by 8:30 am) to allow phone calls to the east coast. After opening presents, we eat Dutch Babies and have sausages (including vegetarian ones) and good coffee.
Then we usually retire for our Christmas Day naps interspersed with reading our new books, or assimilating our new gifts into our previously acquired possessions. Yes, Santa continues to fill Christmas stockings as long as participants have been good.
Our dinners have varied, but Ben requested turkey this year, probably because he missed an American Thanksgiving. We had turkey and Quorn (vegetarian), dressing, cranberry sauce, bread, corn, jello made in a brain mold, gravy and mashed potatoes (from our garden). (Don't be fooled by En Xi's coat and Ben's hat- it's not that cold in here!- their blood is thin from tropical living).
During the week, we've been participating in our 4th Annual Mercer/McDonald/Crouch/Yeh Film Festival. We each picked a film to show to everyone else and we all talk about which one is the best. Please vote on this year's selections on our poll. Previous winners have been "Enlightenment Guaranteed" and "The Power of One". We've decided that in future years, we'll pick a theme or genre to limit our choices, such as film names that contain a number (like the Secaucus 7 or 1984) or parodies or satire (like Blazing Saddles) or westerns (like Shane). I'm not going to tell you my choice because I haven't seen the last one yet and I don't want to influence your own choice.
About gifts, we prefer quality over quantity. Erin always gets me a donation to a cause that I support. This year, she got me a gift to Kiva, a micro-loan program. We will be selecting a worthy cause to loan money. The entrepreneurs repay the money with interest and we can loan it out again. Erin will help me find a donor we both like. For some of my previous gifts, she has donated in my name for a costume for a play at London's Shakespearean Theater, probability materials for a middle school math class who submitted a request- Donors Choose, books for New Orleans school libraries, adopt-an-author at the public library.
She is also a dedicated environmentalist which is reflected in our gifts. Gifts that she's given that I still use include a plastic bag rack for the dishwasher, cloth grocery bags, and plastic eggs to preserve vegetables in hydrators.
This year, En Xi and Ben brought us some wonderful gifts from Taipei. They brought me a tea set with High Mountain Oolong tea. She showed us how to fix the tea, washing it and serving it with the set. They also brought some interesting food and herbs.
Here's a shout out thank you to friends and family who have helped us show EnXi the unique fun of Alaska! You're the best and you're the main reason we love Alaska- because of the wonderful people.
Joel for the caribou meat, Wendy and Larry for dog mushing, Gary and Bev for loaning out snowmachines, and Leah and John for loaning the hybrid Highlander.
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