Holiday Snapshots

 Happy Holidays from River Song!

 Daisy doesn't understand about looking at the camera.

 December 21, and the river was up and rolling.  This year we had 79.2 inches of rain from January 1st to December 31.  The town of Yachats had 50.4 inches, the second lowest rainfall of the decade.

 I went to Colorado for my annual Christmas visit.  Gail took care of things at home and enjoyed her time to do projects.

Susanna, Smokey, and I had a lot of playtime.  Smokey was helping me to draw.

 Smokey is not even a year old, and has the energy to prove it.

 Uncle Nick and Susanna made the mandatory maple logs.

 Christmas dinner was a somber affair. 

 Andria, Susanna, Elaine, and Dave partying down.

 Yours truly, just landed from another planet.

 Nick, holiday stylin'.

 The annual Christmas Eve talent show just keeps getting more talent!  Soren did very well on the glockenspiel.

Andria and Nora on trombones.

Susanna did a rock steady and restrained drum backup for Andria.

Nick, Susanna, and Elaine acted out a classic Christmas story about a train.

Dave shared an excerpt from John Muir's writing, and I hammed up an altered version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

On Thursday, Dave led Nora, Nick, Yukon, and me on a hike on the west side of Pike's Peak.  It was clear, but cold, in the teens at the top with a breeze.

We started at about 9,700 feet and climbed to The Crags at about 10,800 feet.

Yukon just loves to burrow into the snow!

The scenery was well worth it!

We ate our lunch at the overlook at The Crags, freezing our fingers in the process. 

Yukon might have run 30 miles to our 6!

We had a fun game of Herd Your Horses.  Gail found this in a San Diego thrift shop, and it has been a big hit.

Back home, I gave Daisy her present from the Johansons, a stuffed llama.  We tell her it's a squirrel, though.

Gail made us an elegant place setting and meal for New Year's Eve dinner.  At the end of the table, Yummy approves.

Well, that's all I have - just random shots.  The last two days we have cleared up all the fallen trees and branches below the house, just in time for tonight's storm.  I got to break out my welder this afternoon after breaking off a wheel from the tractor mowing deck.  The fix is strong, if not pretty.