Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve, Graham (who thankfully was feeling much better) and I, along with my Mom, Matt and Rita, went to the Nero’s for appetizers, Caviar and Champagne. Graham and I spent the night at my Mom’s and we all got up super early for Christmas morning stocking and gift extravaganza…Luckily, Rita and Matt made it over before we peeked at our gifts. After tidying up the house again, the whole Hale clan (all nine of them:) came over for the Christmas gift exchange. We had lots of food and drinks – which I snacked on all day long. It was very nice to see everyone and we even had snow! Still, I was very happy to head home and go to bed when it was all over.

Kylie’s 29!

On Sunday, I helped celebrate Kylie’s 29^th birthday – we are getting old. Rita, Matt and I met up with Kylie Sunday morning to start her birthday off with a big brunch at Zell’s – yummy! We all met up again later at her parents’ house for drinks and cheesecake. From there a bunch of us went out to the Lime Light – our local Westmoreland bar. Poor Graham missed the festivities and was at home with the flu.

Graham Cracker Party

Having a job in wine means Christmas season is my busiest time at work. Nevertheless, I was able to fit in some Christmas activities and I got all of my presents purchased and wrapped before Christmas morning - whew! Friday night, Graham and I had a little get together, where we all tried our best at graham cracker house construction. The end result was sugar overload and stickiness everywhere – it was a lot of fun.

The Best!

My little sister Rita, has been having a hard couple of months. She was diagnosed with skin cancer in November and was told she would have to have her entire bellybutton removed along with a lymph node. She underwent surgery last Thursday on the 13^th and spent all weekend sleeping. A lot of us spent time visiting, watching movies and walking Abby over the weekend. She is now alert and somewhat up and about. She is still bandaged and her new bellybutton has not yet made its appearance (she was given a new one after her original was removed). I’m so happy she is now cancer free and in full recovery. She and Matt are still resting and recovering at home and watching lots of movies. My thoughts and all my very best Christmas wishes are for Rita this year. A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I look forward to the new bellybutton revealing. I love you Rita, you are the best!

Go Ducks!

We may have lost the game at this weekend’s Civil War but we put up a good fight, especially considering we were on our fourth string quarterback…Graham and I had a fun time cheering on the Ducks at Kris and Sarah’s super cute new place. With tons of food and an array of drinks we enjoyed the game right up to the second overtime. Sarah and her friend Amber had even more to celebrate, being they were both Beaver fans. After way to much junk food Rita and I, later followed by Kylie, went to Loyly Spa to sit in steam and sauna rooms. I don’t know if I would ever go again but we had a good time. We finished the evening at Savoy with deliciously salty deep fried cheese curds - so much for purifying our bodies.