Here are some photos from my Christmas in 2005. Click on the thumbnail to see
the full size photo
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Here is the outside of the house. |
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The entry way. Notice to the right of the door, my
Christmas Cactus is blooming. Does so every year. I guess it thrives on
general neglect, but a bit of watering..... |
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Pre-Christmas preparations. Lisa, Ewa, Joe, and Steve
all get together at my house to make pierogies. Of course, we did have
to try them.... delicious! |
| Here are some scenes from inside.... |
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| Christmas Eve - Wigilia - With the help of Joe and Ewa,
we had a traditional Polish Christmas eve celebration, a many course,
meatless meal, with a bit of Luksusowa (Polish vodka) between courses
for the brave and daring among us.... |
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Here, the table is being set. There were 10 of us
for dinner. |
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Ewa is getting the first course ready. The first course
included many dishes that Ewa and Joe made and brought, including a
traditional potato salad, cucumber salad, two types of herring, and a
nice hearty bread served with butter from Poland. Of course, we started
the meal by sharing the oplatek. |
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Tom and Rick's Mom on the patio. |
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Me and Rick's Mom in front of the fireplace. |
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Creighton and Dave on the patio. |
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Creighton and Rick share a moment. |
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Dave, Tom, Ewa, and Joe perusing the calendar.... |
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Rick's Mom opening a gift. |
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Creighton, Ewa, and Marcelo watching Rick open a gift. |
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Creighton opening his "bartender's set." An inside joke.
Sorry, no pictures of the fire extinguisher he got for Tom and me! |
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Joe and Ewa opening a gift. |
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Just say "no!" Actually, I am quite surprised by this
very precious and memorable gift from Mom and Dad..... |
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How nice, a set of elves that spell out L-E-O-N. Of
course, a few would say they're really meant to say NOEL, but I know
better....! |
| Christmas Day - Celebration and Dinner at
Creighton's house. |
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The "king" in his kitchen... preparing Mimosa's for all! |
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Rick's Mom and Mike, getting ready to eat. There was
food enough for all....and then some. And it was wonderful! |
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Rick and Marcelo. |
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Larry and Mike at dinner. |
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Later that eve, Tom opens one of the gifts from me... a
set of IU boxer shorts!. IU is Indiana University, Tom's alma mater.
He has a wide collection of clothes and other memorabilia that say "IU"
on them.... |
