Christmas Day During a Recession

Today we celebrated the birthday of our Lord and Savior. My 41st such celebration, Ronnie’s 44th, Reese’s third and Finn’s second. Finn and I were a smidge under the weather and weren’t in much of a celebrating mood, but that didn’t keep us from a full day. We spent Christmas morning under the tree, me playing with our just-dusted-off camcorder, Ronnie snapping a pic any time someone moved. A few of them:

I thought we were in a recession ...

Opening literally dozens of presents ain't easy.

Here, something else you can't live without ...

I can get used to this ...

There's a reason this is an elephant and not a donkey.

It is RAINING stuff ...

Now baby No No has a penguin with whom to hang.

Very. Hard. Work.

Later we trekked over to the Otterlees for a fantastic din din courtesy of Jayne and her mom Lynn. Again, the camera was out and often:

The hostesses.

Big Otter, Little Otter.

A pre-dinner chill session.

Is he SALUTING her?

The Santa Train

Today the Otterlee and Jenkins fams rode the Santa Train in North Bend. It wasn’t the longest of journeys — the brochure said three miles but it felt like three hundred yards. Nevertheless it was a fun way for us to spend a Friday afternoon. A few pics:

The train arriving at the station.

Mom and Finn standing in the queue.

A view from inside.

Brother and sister.

Sidekick Grant makes an appearance.

About as close as we can get to them posing.

Uh ... if only we could have a caption contest.

This part didn't go so well ...

Jayne, Otter and Grant Otterlee.

Our fam -- and if we're not careful, our Christmas family photo for 2009.

Thanksgiving 2009

Today the Lippmanns and then the Otterlees joined us to celebrate Thanksgiving 2009. No drama, no episodes, just great food and friends. A few pics:

Ronnie did a great job on the table.

Sophia may be Finn's biggest fan.

The family Lippmann.

There's a device I could have lived without.

Finn with his momma.

Reese and me.

Jayne, Grant and Mark Otterlee.

Reese with Grant and Auntie Jayne.

The host and hostess.

Reese, pondering the meaning of life in Ollie's daybed.

Very, very full.

Still wondering if Otter has teeth.

Finn’s First Birthday Party

Last night we officially celebrated Finn’s first birthday. We had lots of family friends over to the house. Night went off without incident. Eli Moeller snapped some great pics with Ronnie’s camera. Among them:

Norman doing my job better than me.

Betty, Finn, Ann, Logan and Eric.

Ronnie and Veronica Moeller.

The Richardson fam.

These balloons would soon be in the sky ...

and Reese and the other kids got quite the chuckle.

A rare site -- me lifting a finger in the kitchen.

The Jenkins and Otterlee fams.

Modest appearing, this cake was quite tasty.

Gettin' ready to blow out the candle.

Finn checking out his cake.

Kimberly, Sophia and Alan Lippmann.

Tamir, Finn and Reese enjoying the cake.

A rarity at house parties -- everyone out of the kitchen.

Closin’ Down the LBC

Last night we joined the Prices for a Clamless Clambake at Laurelhurst Beach Club. There, too, were Sam and Hwashing Heyworth, old friends of the Prices and (now) new friends of ours. We ended up closing down the place — not such a mighty feat, I admit, when it closes at 8 pm. Sam confirmed for me that Ben Roethlisberger only three one touchdown on Thursday, not three, which only reconfirms my worst fear that I’m goin’ winless this year in fantasy. (More.)

Anyway, a few pics:

Me, Finn, Ronnie and Reese.

Sam H. and Grace P.

A finnicky eater.

Hwashing and Sam Heyworth.

Reese in timeout.

Grace and Roy Price.

Ronnie and I Meet Another Captain from The Deadliest Catch

Two summers ago, Ronnie and I met Sig Hansen of The Deadliest Catch walking down the aisle at the Ballard Safeway. A chance happening. Sig was a talkative fellow.

Today we met our second Deadliest Catch captain. Phil Harris and his boys were at the UVillage QFC signing autographs and promoting Phil’s new coffee.

We chatted with Phil for a few minutes and he was really a very nice fella.

Us with Phil and his boys.

I'm sure I'm dishing out some pearl of wisdom...

The Fam Hits Forks for Surfing and the Twilight Tour

Yesterday Ronnie, Jon, Danielle, Sara, Reese, Finn and I headed northwest to Forks to do the Twilight tour. We left the house at 5:02 am, caught the 5:40 ferry to Kingston, then drove three hours to the far west of the United States. We snapped a few pics along the way:

Reese and me on the Kingston ferry, 5:40 am.

The Hood Canal Bridge: no connection to Twilight.

Ronnie, Reese and me in front of Lake Crescent. (Finn was sleeping, and he wouldn't have looked at the camera in any case.)

Danielle, Ronnie, Reese and Sara at Lake Crescent.

Sisters.

Once we got there we stopped first at La Push so Jonathan and I could surf for a few hours:

Ronnie and me at First Beach, La Push.

Sister and brother.

Ronnie and Finn at First Beach.

Reese, leaving her shoes behind.

Finn and Sara.

Jon and me -- after the beating.

Very, very hungry.

La Push is where the guys in Twilight allegedly surfed. Then we went to Forks:

Sara and Danielle in front of the one thing that was actually in the movie.

We snapped a few pics in front of the “Bella truck,” but Jon thought it was strange that this was neither the color nor the model of Bella’s actual truck.

Jon in front of a red truck that sorta looks like Bella's.

Ditto.

Come to find out — Twilight wasn’t actually filmed in Forks! It turns out it was filmed in Kalama, Oregon.

Me at Dr. Cullen's alleged parking spot.

Home of the Swans? Not really.

I suppose I should have known this, but I didn’t think to research whether the Twilight tour was a sham.

Why the movie wasn’t filmed in Forks is an interesting question. According to a local we spoke with, the folks at Summit Entertainment bowed out when, two days before filming was scheduled to begin, Governor Chris Gregoire’s office demanded that the production company cough up more fees and taxes. They declined and went to Oregon. The news stories that addressed the question leave that part out. They say the fees were just too high in the first place, that Forks was just too far from anywhere, and the company decided to go to Oregon from the get go. Where the truth lies? I wouldn’t count on the government telling us.

The next Twilight is supposedly being filmed in Vancouver, BC — this after the state legislature passed a bill to attract Twilight to the Evergreen State. That Twilight’s producers would skip over the story’s actual setting state but film in the areas right around it instead (Oregon, British Columbia) suggests to me that something bad happened between the production company and state government, and that Twilight won’t be coming to Washington anytime soon.

A great family day out, no doubt, but it would have been nice to know that the Twilight tour was a sham before we ferried and drove across the state to see it. I know we’re not the only ones who fell for it — we met a gal in the hardware store who said the same thing. I’m glad I didn’t come all the way from France to see Bella’s (Kristen Stewart’s) truck. Then again, if I came all the way from France to see a one-stoplight town, it would serve me right.

The Jenkins Fam Discovers ZooTunes

Yesterday the Jenkins Fam hooked up with Team Tamir (aka the Richardsons) for a ZooTunes concert at Woodland Park. Ladysmith Black Mambazo was the band (more). Tom’s parents and sisters were there — so were Alan, Kimberly and Sophia (I think Sophia likes Finn.) Me thinks there can’t be anything much better than having a large and loving family around.

Good times (and great Ethiopian food) were had by all. Unfortunately the iPhone camera sat mostly in my pocket. My pics:

Waiting for Ethiopian food.

Apparently this ZooTunes is quite the big deal. Earlier this summer they had the B-52’s, and the Indigo Girls are supposed to be there next months. (Hot chicks, anyone? Not.) Yesterday was the first I’d heard of it.

Perhaps I need to get out more.

Another Independence Day in the Books

Yesterday was another great day to celebrate America’s birthday. Like last year, we went to the Edmonds Independence Day parade with the Otterlees (nee the “Smiths”). This year we had a new addition to the Jenkins clan:

Mom and Finn.

Unfortunately Reese is just old enough to know not to look at the camera, and Finn is just young enough not to know he’s supposed to look at the camera. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but try as we might, we couldn’t get both kids to look at the camera:

No matter the angle, one or both of them kept looking the other way.

I can assure you there was nothing going on over there.

Among the parade participants was a group of scooter riders clad in the white version of my July 4 shirt:

After the parade we had a great barbecue lunch at the Otterlee’s. Later that day I did a 1200-yard open water swim down at the LBC, where we closed the day off watching fireworks with the Cheuks.

Not a bad way to spend a life.

Reese Turns the Big T-W-O

Reese celebrated her 2nd birthday today. And it was not uneventful:

It started with all the gals doing tea . . .

followed by an afternoon snack . . .

followed by a trip to the outlet mall, where dad picked up a cool pair of yellow shorts for $15 . . .

followed by an evening barbecue at the Cheuk's, where Sofia fed Finn like a prince . . .

Reese received great presents from her wonderful friends and family . . .

and the camera recorded the birthday girl's every move.