January 1, 2011

Saturday - Warmer with snow and wind.

Happy New Year!

A good day. I woke up quite early today, but didn't get up until later. I didn't hear anyone upstairs so I thought I'd enjoy sleeping in.

When I got up, I helped Van and Joe prepare for the day's festivities. We had to move some furniture, get out cups and dishes, peel potatoes, all kinds of things.

Joe and I drove into Edmonton to pick up a family relative. I took her a late Christmas present of a basket of goodies. I know with the awful weather we sometimes get it can be hard for her to go out and get groceries, so I got her a few things in tins, with some cracker boxes and tea. She seemed really happy to get it. I tried to get things that I probably wouldn't buy for myself, like salmon, just because it's a little more expensive.

When we got back to Van's, it wasn't long before my brother and sister in law arrived. I helped Van get down cups and I made tea and served it as well.

We had a lovely dinner. Joe had done a lot of the cooking and it was yummy. We had roast beef and ham, plus stuffing, baked yams, salad and mashed potatoes. After we ate, we had dessert courtesy of my brother's wife and sat and chatted for a while. We took a bunch of photos as well, so hopefully they'll turn out okay!

The party broke up just after 6 pm. I went back into Edmonton with Joe to take my relative back. On the way back we drove through a Second Cup for a latte. I was so thirsty. I'm having a terrible time keeping my throat from drying out. The dryness here after the humidity in Japan is hard for me after all this time.

We came back to Beaumont and Van, the kids and Joe's friends were watching a movie. When it was over they went on their way and we all relaxed for a while.

I gave my sister's family their individual New Years Cards that I had made in Japan. I cheated a bit in that I made them on postcards that I didn't use last year. I couldn't mail them from Japan so I just gave them out. I think they liked them. Zach didn't really understand what the point was!

I came downstairs and found an email from my husband so I spent some time answering him before I started blogging. I am watching The Food Network again. I am in serious danger of becoming a Food Network addict! I don't even do that much cooking, but I keep looking for new ideas and all of the reality shows just suck me in. What's wrong with me?

Anyway, that was the first day of the year for me. It was lovely to see my family and spend time with them. Night!