planetdanika

The early release/sneak preview of the Gordon and Danika Christmas Letter is now available on machaggis.net newsletters.

1 week,
6 adults,
3 bedrooms,
2 beds, 1 futon, and a couch,
1 toilet,
2 stomach flues,
1 party,
2 board games,
1 birthday celebration,
3 movies,
and 1 hike makes for a very successful visit. The family left this morning and I feel like I might need an extra week to catch up on sleep. But we had great fun together and it was wonderful for us all to be together again.

Highlights of the week:
Ed- Playing Cranium.
Gordon- Christmas morning and dinner.
Danika- Christmas morning.
Laila- Everything! Good food.
Karima- being with all 3 girls, seeing eagles at Discovery Park, ZigZag Caf.
Tessa- well, it was a string of pleasant events and Thursday was a REALLY good day.

Culinary highlights (my own):
Cioppino on Christmas Eve
Gordons ham
Lailas panko shrimp and citrus couscous
Flying Fish lunch- esp. the raja (skatewing)
Coconut Crme Pie bites from Dahlia
Prawns in Garlic Sauce with Broccoli and DanDan noodles at Seven Stars Pepper
Moms Cuccidate

Our Christmas got off to a lovely start. Santa was extremely generous and it seemed as if we opened presents for hours! I think he was making up for the fact that we didn’t see each other last year (my immediate family, that is). In any case, we relaxed, ate goodies and drank mimosas all morning. Late morning we all bundled up and headed down to Golden Gardens for a blustery, seaside walk.

Sometime after lunch, I started to feel a little queasy and the stomach flu hit me full force in the middle of dinner. It was not pretty and I was basically in bed by about 5 pm (with periodic trips to the toilet). I stayed in bed until 8 am the next morning and although weak, was not in terrible shape. We went on to host a Boxing Day Party and I did my best to play the hostess. 48 hours later I’m more or less 100%. Unfortunately, G has the same bug now. Worst part of all this is that there is only ONE toilet in this house and SIX adults. I don’t imagine I’ll forget this Christmas anytime soon. As G said, at least we know we won’t be sick on New Year’s Eve this year!