2014 Begins

January 1st has come and gone. I made the traditional Haitian Soup Joumou (Pumpkin Soup) once again. 

It's nice to have a pumpkin base for the soup instead of a tomato base and I love this tradition altho Peter and Gaëlle would prefer fried chicken. We told them they get to choose the meal on PG Day and that's coming up. I have a feeling they won't be asking for Soup Joumou. 

Carol and Rob came over and brought some crafts for the kids. Emily needed to help Gaëlle with hers. 

But Peter picked up on the concept pretty easily.

After the meal, we had ice cream sundaes again. We still have lots of toppings. 

We played the game "APPLES TO APPLES". It's a fun easy game for all ages to play. I wish I had taken more photos but this is it for the day. 

Friday, January 3rd, we had a bit of a blizzard. Emily spent the night with us before as she was working on grad school admissions. So she pulled out Kaylin's guitar and spent some time learning. 

Another one of the dresses Grammy sent up for Gaëlle that gets washed and then immediately gets worn again. 

Robin and I actually drove into work on Friday morning. The building was fairly empty and as the storm was worsening we decided to leave early. Somehow between the time we decided to leave and getting in the car, Robin put out his back. He is so frustrated but came home and laid down on some heat. 

Peter spent some of the day reading. 

Gaëlle worked on some "THANK YOU" cards. 

Peter played with planes and created his own out of styrofoam. 

I finally got my energy to do some baking. I made white bread, brown bread, banana bread, apple crisp, and double stuffed potatoes. It felt good to be productive.