Gobble, Gobble, Ho, Ho

Thanksgiving came and went without much ado. We had a traditional dinner with a full bird but minimized fixings; leaving minimal leftovers and the need to relive that day for the next week. Vanessa put the ol' plastic tree up no later than the day after. She actually got our tree up before her Mom had hers up. Of course it helps being 13 hours ahead.

We were mostly finished with our holiday shopping before Black Friday. Fortunately, the Japanese don't suffer from the affliction that Americans seem to when it comes to a need to trample Walmart employees after a day of gluttony and thankfullness. Of course that could be due to the dearth of the ubiquitous retail giant here.

We've sent out our Christmas cards earlier than normal. We got all dressed up in kimonos because, well, we're in Japan. If you didn't get one, you probably haven't given us an updated mailing address. Try to rectify that by next year, will ya!

It's also time to use the threat of Santa not visiting to get the kids in order. While we don't make Santa a huge part of Christmas normally, we have found that Aiden has become more susceptible to the ruse. I know, we're mean parents.

We attended my office holiday party last night. It was held at the club and was open to the whole family. Santa was there and supplied the kiddies with candy canes and gifts (of course pre-provided by parents--what does he use all those elves for anyway if they're not making the presents anymore?).

You may notice a member of the family not present in the above photo. We tried many times, but Ethan didn't want anything to do with the guy with the unruly facial hair and a penchant for red.

As you can see, he would rather use his Jedi abilities to obtain a gift. When those didn't pan out, he ran over for his present and split again before the fat guy could stuff him into that red bag. Ultimately, Ethan did open up a line of communication and said bye; this was probably some innate behavior to get on the jolly fellow's good side before the 25th.

We are now looking forward to our definite white Christmas, and of course hearing from all of you.

Getting ready for the yuki,

Marty