Sundays In My City: Advent Days 1-9
10 December 2017
On December 4th, Team Odette visited "Winter aGlow" at Idaho Botanical Gardens. OMGosh, you guys! It was so beautiful, with the plants and flowers so intricately lit and designed. We loved it. There were free cookies, along with free cocoa and hot cider, which really helped control the chill of the evening. (Because holy heck, Idaho is cold in December!) Totally worth every moment we spent there!
On December 5th, we had a Day of Remembrance for the loved ones we have lost. Individually, Rob, Chloë, Jack, Sophia, and I each lit candles for our son Robby (Jack's identical twin), Rob's mom, my mom, and others whom we are missing this year. It was a solemn evening, but definitely necessary and cherished by all of us, I think.
On that evening, I let Jack open a gift that I knew he really wanted and would enjoy. He hadn't received much other than tons of SOCKS and a few other small things on the 3rd, when the girls had a lot to open, so I knew he was feeling a bit disappointed. I gave him the Xbox One version of the game "Halo 5," which had been on his wishlist. I think you can tell that this is a genuine Jack smile.
On December 6th, we had options: there was going to be a Basque Christmas concert at the capitol building's rotunda, but that clashed with the timing for the kids' youth church. Instead of the concert, all of the kids opted to go to church instead. So that's what they did!
On December 7th, we went to Downtown Boise (just a hop, skip, and a jump from home) for their First Thursdays event. There were goodies galore, some shopping, and plenty of eats. We went to The Stil Ice Cream Shop and had a beer-and-ice cream flight. The kids and Rob each had a different ice cream, while Hubs and I shared the beers. Pretty damn good, I must say. We'll have to go back there. We had delicious chocolates from a truffle shop, and Hubs gave me an "Idahome" decal that I wanted for the car. Fun night!
On Friday, December 9th, we were supposed to go out to Eagle, Idaho, for a Christmas event, but that's when I started feeling like absolute crud. Instead, we decided to stay in and have fun playing games on the XBox. Chloë really wants to use her Just Dance game, but I guess you need your cell phone to use it, and she has killed three phones in just as many months, so I was in no hurry to loan her mine! You know? Understandable, I hope. So she and Sophie played Minecraft, and Jack played his Halo 5 game. I think I... slept. Probably.
You know? Understandable, I hope. So she and Sophie played Minecraft, and Jack played his Halo 5 game. I think I... slept. Probably.Last night, December 9th, we were invited to our neighbor Gladys' LDS (Mormon) Church's Christmas party! It was a ton of fun, if not a bit unusual for us, since we are not LDS. There was SO much food - yummy stuff (have y'all ever heard of Funeral Potatoes? Gladys made those, and it is essential that I get her recipe!), and even picky Jack got his fill. As we were leaving for the night, the girls even grabbed a second plate of cheesecake each. Ha! There were two women who played the Japanese harp, the koto, which was absolutely beautiful, and several people sang. Santa came, and since my children have long since believing, they refused to go up and partake of that. Darn, I wanted pictures! ;) We had a great time, and despite my being sick, I'm so glad we went.
SO that's it for our area this past week and change in Boise, Idaho. Looking forward to "visiting" some of you also posting on Claudya's blog! Thanks for hosting, Claudya!