Anna Grows

Christmas 2020 is in the books.  Like every other holiday and tradition this year, Christmas was spent at home.  While we could focus on the things we did not get to do this year, we will instead focus on what we did do.  Here are the memorable Christmas moments from 2020: Massive rain storm on Christmas Eve and 60 degree weather.  For a moment, it seemed that the neighbors would be unable to put out the luminaries.  Fortunately the rain stopped around 8 PM and the lights came out. Christmas Eve Mass - virtually (Anna noted this was the only time her mother would ever let her go to church in sweats).  The added bonus was that Storm was able to join the family (he promptly fell asleep). Seafood Christmas Eve dinner of halibut, shrimp, and this year a smoked trout appetizer (there was much consultation going on with the Fagella family members about how to cook halibut). A blustery cold Christmas Day (it was a holiday of extreme weather), which provided a great opportunity to build a fire

 Anna is happy to at last be on holiday break!  After a flurry of activity finishing up a wide array of assignments (at the constant prodding of her mother), she declared herself finished Friday night (Theresa was very excited as well).   We spent the weekend making holiday cookies, albeit a scaled-down version this year.  Since most neighbors are not trading baked goods (although a few are) and Theresa cannot taking any to the office as she continues to work from home, she decided to try some different variations and smaller batches.  Since Cook's Illustrated  had their top 5 holiday cookies, Theresa opted to make those (along with some pizzellas).  The results were good (although it took a couple of tries to get the Florentine lace cookies right).  Anna helped decorate the gingerbread men & women and some cookie plates were delivered to a few neighbors. Other highlights of the week included: The first snow of the season.  It was only 1.5 inches....and some ice, but it was som

Visiting the Capitol tree  It was a balmy December weekend with temperatures in the mid-60s.  Normally the family heads downtown DC to enjoy the Christmas sites.  Stops usually include the train display at the National Botanical Garden, the Capitol Christmas tree, the White House tree and maybe a stop at the National Gallery of Art (which also happens to have an ice rink during the winter).   This year, most things are closed (including the train display - a big disappointment to Theresa).  Instead, the family headed to take a look at the Capitol Christmas tree and the construction of the viewing stands for the Presidential inauguration.  It was an urban hike day around Capitol Hill to admire the old row houses, Eastern Market, the Supreme Court (there were a handful of protestors), and the Library of Congress.  We even managed to pick up some lunch and find a socially distance place to enjoy it outside the Library of Congress.  It was like spring! Following the Sunday trip to Capitol

Petra, Anna & Anna  Anna attended her first pandemic birthday gathering on Saturday.    Petra has a December birthday, so each year she gathering friends to decorate gingerbread houses and just hang out.  Clearly things needed to change this year.  Anna and her friend Anna R. were invited to join Petra on the back deck for a socially distant gingerbread decorating.  The girls wore masks and braved the cold wind to hang out for a couple of hours.  Petra and Anna always sing when they get together and at one point were standing at opposite ends of the backyard singing through their masks. Theresa got to catch up with her friends Joy and Edna while the girls hung out.  It is always a big challenge to chat through a mask, but they made it work.  Edna is a science teacher and was relaying the challenges of teaching in a lockdown (not fun).  Everyone made the most of the outing and was happy to see each other! The other events for the weekend were shopping for the St. Mark giving tree (w