It was one of those things. You think someone else is taking the pictures, until you realize everyone else thought you were taking the pictures, at which point you figure out no one is taking any pictures. And by then, it's too late. Booh.

 

 

So, instead, we'll have a little diary entry. A few days before Christmas, we zipped up to San Juan Island to take advantage of one of the last easy long weekends we knew we'd have for a while (with me starting work in January). We tucked in with Suzhawk and season two of Boston Legal. We had no idea how funny that show is.

On Christmas Eve, we got in line for the ferry to return to Seattle. While waiting, we went and bought some fresh Dungeness crab down at the Harbor so that we could eat it for dinner that night.

When we arrived in Seattle around 1, Suzy and Hawk were pleasantly surprised with our festive Christmas decorations. We had a tree, a new chandelier they bought us from Ikea (which was essentially Christmas lights), and the crowning achievement was our fireplace. You see, the year my family lived in Goleta (Santa Barbara area), we didn't have a fireplace to hang our stockings by. So Suzy made a fireplace out of construction paper and stuck it to the wall. I always remembered it as one of the coolest things she ever did. So, when we decided to host Christmas this year, we knew we had to have a special place for the stockings. And, when Mike and Jean sent us our Christmas presents they said we should open one early, and the one they wanted us to open held those stocking hangers that are meant for a mantle. It was pretty clear all of a sudden what we needed to do.

Liam did the logs and I did the rest. It was fun! Anyway, Suzhawk loved it when they got here.

But back to Christmas Eve. That day, we did some grocery shopping and then Suzy and I spent the remainder of the day in the kitchen together cooking. Liam and Hawky strung the Christmas lights outside (yeah, better late than never!), and Charlie took a deliciously long nap. Ray's flight got in around 4, so Hawk went to get him while we finished making guac, margaritas and cheese sticks. By the time ray arrived, we were ready to celebrate!

We made Dungeness crabs with butter sauce, some of Suzy's favorite cheeses (Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Little Willie's Aged Cheddar) and crusty Hawky bread. Oh, and Liam scored a couple of bottles of Perrier Jouet for a deal at the store. For dessert, we had meringues with Suzy's homemade caramel and chocolate sauce.

Afterward, we all opened Christmas Eve presents, which were pajamas for everyone but Suzy. I can't remember what she opened. Then, we had a dancing and singing party in the kitchen. Ray gave Suzy her Christmas present early, which enabled us to play music from the computer through the stereo's speakers. And then we crashed.

On Christmas morning, we got up and made crab cakes with the leftover crab, homemade Hollandaise sauce and poached eggs on a slice of bread. It was delicious. We opened the rest of our presents, then Suzhawk took off for Paisley and Peter's house. Ray, Charlie, Liam and I joined them after prepping our side dish (glazed julienned carrots with ginger).

Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure ray took some photos and is going to post them soon. I hope. And when he does, I will link to them here. :) If you're curious about Suzhawk's posting, you can also check it out. They at least got a shot of Christmas dinner.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of darling Charlie playing in the Crate & Barrel box.