Monday, December 26, 2005

A "Leisurely" Time with Family

Christmas with the fam turned out to be pretty laid back this year, which after a typically whirlwind December was rather welcome. We sprung Grandpa from the nursing home on Christmas Eve (thus avoiding another round with "the entertainment--see previous post) and enjoyed a meal in the back room of a restaurant down the road, where we could yell to Grandpa without too much fear of grieving the other patrons. We returned him to his room later where he pretended to be upset that we'd gotten him gifts, though underneath I think he was really quite pleased with his new slippers and eager to show them off to his wrinkled community. I think I also caught him smirking with satisfaction upon learning that my brother's attempt to replicate my Grandpa's family famous Swedish limpa bread (up until last year a staple at the family smorgasbord) was, basically, a disaster, producing bricks, er, loaves more suited to masonry than digestion. Grandpa's not ready to give up his baking champion title just yet.

The rest of the relatives then retired to my aunt's house for dessert, where the highlight of the evening was sifting through a shoebox of old photographs. Turns out my brother was quite the cutie as a kid. My favorite photographic find is below--taken a few years before my arrival on the planet, here's my bro and Dad show off their stylin' leisure suits.


Nice.

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