Isn’t it what it’s all about?

I though I’d do a quick run through the reunions during our trip to Canada, otherwise, I’ll never get done! I’m trying to keep it short. Really!

The day after Colette’s staff party, my Mom, Orange-X and I went to my cousin’s, Rachel, for a pre-Christmas get together. By the time we got there, the party had already started. It was really great to see her and many other members of the family again. Especially as she’d be leaving for a backpacking trip with a few girlfriends a few days later to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia (I think), then back to Thailand for a few days of rest on the beach. Lucky her!

Besides chatting with everybody about this and that, enjoying the company, food and drinks, we played a few games with the children. Don't you just love family reunions??


I was even able to get a shot of my Mom (in pink) closely following the activities.


At about 10:30 pm the kids got really impatient and wanted to start unwrapping their presents. Instead of the regular Christmas tree, Rachel had a giant stocking sewn and filled it with the presents. Here she is with boyfriend Michael and his three children.
Shortly after midnight, we said our goodbyes, but we know that we’ll be seeing them all again soon.

The day after was Christmas Eve and we spent with my Dad and Colette (a.k.a. Coco). We had a quiet dinner. Coco prepared everything except for the beef (Daddy’s job). HA! And she says she can’t cook! Then at midnight, we started unwrapping gifts.

I won’t go through all the presents, but both of us are not the proud new owners of iPods (80GB!) and I have two beautiful new pairs of earrings. Next year, I’ll have to remember to ask Santa to get a few extra holes punched into my ears to fit them all in!

On Christmas day, we went to my Mom’s for dinner. The plan was to have my mother’s (and our) very dear friend, Yves Michel, join us. Unfortunately, he caught a bad case of gastroenteritis (that soon became an epidemic in our region) a day earlier and couldn’t make it. We did meet up with him at a later date, though. For the time being, however, we had our own little party just the four of us (let’s not forget Charlotte, my Mom’s crazy cat). It was going to be a Swiss evening. We started with some Bündnerfleisch (a paper-thinly cut air-dried beef speciality from the Grisons) while we unwrapped the gifts. As you can see, in the meantime, Chalotte made sure we were kept busy.



Since my Mom had been complaining about her knives not cutting well enough, we decided to get her two good sized knives for Christmas. Of course, it is said that you must pay a symbolic fee when you receive instruments with blades, otherwise, it’s bad luck/lost of friendship. So I got a tooney (2 dollar piece) from her. She also got some “Kirschstängeli” (chocolates filled with Kirsch) and a nice, warm sweater. We received a voucher for a dinner at a restaurant that opened about 2 years ago: The Elephant. We haven’t had the time to go during our stay, but we will, as soon as we are halfway settled in Canada.

We then made our way over to the dining table and I made an awesome (almost) authentic cheese fondue (I had to replace one of the cheeses!). Not to mention a few drops of the delicious Kirsch we had “imported” passed the watchful eye of the Canadian customs' officer. We spent a fine evening there and happily feel into bed.

Of all the Christmas gifts I received, however, the most beautiful and greatest one was to spend the Holidays with my family and friends. Isn’t it what it’s all about, anyway?

More to come soon. Have a great week!