Emma and Otis on Boxing Day

Al, Joyce, and Emma visited on December 26 on their way back to Waco from the Valley.  Otis was sooo shy at first.

Playing trains, of course

Checking out the goodies

Otis and Emma

Christmas Day 2012

Otis and Papa Tom blew leaves off the patio so we could eat Christmas dinner outside, but it ended up being too windy

Otis and his Christmas train and puzzle

Papa Tom likes to jog at night.  This vest will keep him visible for sure!

Grandma Evelyn with a new sweater for the cruise she and Papa Tom will take in January

And what would Christmas be without Mardi Gras beads?  Otis buried Tamyra in beads.

Christmas Eve 2012

Okay, so it's our Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  But the shefflera lost too many leaves this fall to  survive lights and decorations, so we brought the Norfolk pine inside.  And we had no mantel for the stockings.  Santa found them on the couch just fine.  He's a very smart man.

Tom's gift to Roy:  Handypants, good for playing the piano in cold weather, etc., etc.

Roy and Camille came over

Otis and Papa Tom left carrots for Santa's reindeer

LaWanda lighted the luminarias, so Santa's reindeer could see where to land

Hmm.  Will Santa like these cookies?  We did!

Waiting for Santa (well, except for Baba.  She was more interested in finding out when Santa Claws would arrive!)

Cousins

We rode Capital MetroRail into East Austin on Saturday, December 22, to feast at  food trailers. 

After bison burger, fries, a Philly cheesesteak, and quinoa salad, it was time for  orange liqueur/chocolate ice cream for some of us and good old chocolate ice cream for others of us.

Peek-a-boo on the train ride home

Playing the face grab game

Duet

Chasing each other around the kitchen on Blue Dog

Train ride!

Sophie the Train pulls into the station in the Southwest Williamson County Regional Park on Saturday, December 22.  Otis showed the engineer his flyer from the IMAX film about the Northwest Express that steams through the Canadian Rockies.

LaWanda and Otis, ready to leave the station

Headin' round the bend

Trail of Lights at Zilker Park: December 19

The Trail of Lights was back for the first time in several years.  And what a warm, beautiful night it was!

Otis and LaWanda with the merry armadillos.

Austin hippie house of light and joy.

The Zilker Christmas tree across the park. 

This is how Santa makes it around the world in one night.

The rock of lost items, at the end of the pedestrian bridge across Lady Bird Lake into Zilker Park.  Shoes, keys...I took the letter addressed simply to "Kevin Wade Gardner," Googled the name, and hope I sent it to the right person.  The address was in Round Rock, but there are several Kevin Wade Gardners on Google.

Otis is in town!

Papa Tom put new batteries in the train engines in preparation for Otis' visit.

Otis went right to work while we waited for a newly retired Papa Tom to get home from DPS.

Otis at the front door, making Skeleton-claus talk:  "Hey!  Where you goin'?"  and "I see you!"

Papa Tom is retired!

12:01 a.m. December 19, Papa Tom's last day ever in his whole life to work at the Texas Department of Public Safety.  In just 11 hours and 59 minutes, he would be done, done, done, as noon Wednesday, December 19, was his official quittin' time.  (We were in the Zoomer on our way to the airport to pick up LaWanda and Otis.)

The last day ever he would need his DPS badge.

Heading off to DPS...for the last time!

A relaxed, happy Papa Tom is back home, a few minutes after noon on December 19, with a box full of memories from his days at DPS.

Can a house leave home?

On our way home from Emma's Christmas concert, we saw a house being moved down Lamar Blvd.   This is the second house we've seen moved out of the neighborhood in the past couple of years.  Jay's house was simply bulldozed down to make way for the contemporary house across the street from us.

After Emma's Christmas concert

The Midway Middle School choirs and chorales Christmas concert was December 11.  Afterwards, to  the Chinese buffet to celebrate.  See the beautiful scarf Emma made for me?

After much prompting, Al made a face for us.

Christmas Emma!

Not a blanket of snow....

but too cold for tomatoes and bell peppers!  They survived our first freeze thanks to  Papa Tom's  tarp, Mexican blankets, and space heater.  Sunshine shone through the tarp.  The tomato plants were taller and greener than ever after Papa Tom's special treatment.

Mmmm-elting Pot

What could be better than dipping crusty bread and apples in a pot of melted cheese?

Or strawberries in a pot of chocolate?

Baby Jim!

Beka and Sadie were in town from Chicago the weekend of December 7.  We all met at Sarah's.  Somebody was sleepy!

Girl? Boy?

In a much anticipated Skype call on December 5, we watched Mya cut the mystery cake.
Would the inside be pink?  Would it be blue?  Never mind sonograms!  Cake technology rules!
Pink!  It's a girl! Piper Lewis is expected to join us around May 7, 2013.

Hey! Where you goin'?

This Santa needs extra milk and cookies!

Learning about beekeeping

We took a beekeeping class in Round Rock on December 1 with the idea that we might set up beehives at Cornerstone.

Taking the lid off a beehive

Looking down at the frames inside the beehive

Using smoke from burning leaves to calm the bees

This is why you wear protective suits!

Honeycombs.  In a good year, one hive can produce 150 pounds of honey!  When we had our drought in 2011, the bees were working too hard to stay alive to produce any extra honey.

One way to keep a beehive off the ground, away from one of their natural predators: skunks!