Redmond home for X-mas

Carlos and I flew home to Redmond, WA to visit my parents over Christmas. We were lucky to be able to stay for a little over two weeks, but time really flew by when we were there! We played with Remlington and hung out with Mom and Dad a lot. We also visited a bunch of cool places in Redmond and Seattle while we were there. Of course, we also ate tooooons of delicious food. Here are some photos of our Christmas break!

We found a cute little tree (a Noble Fir) from the Christmas tree store near Redmond Town Center (this is also where we got our tree last year). This was such a cool tree! It wasn't as fluffy as the tree we had last year, but I really liked seeing the trunk (with needles on it) through the more sparse branches. We all decorated the tree one night (with the dog "helping") and, as is Kuprewicz family tradition, I added the drunk angel on top when we were through.

Mom, Carlos, and I visited the Uwajimaya in Bellevue (I like this space more than the old one near Crossroads -- it seems much bigger now!) where we bought delicious stuff like udon noodles (we made chicken noodle pho later in the week), green tea mochi, and quail eggs (tasty when boiled and dipped in a little pink sauce).

Of course, we spent lots of time playing and relaxing with Remlington.

One morning I made everyone gingerbread waffles.

On Christmas day we had our traditional snack lunch (cheese, crackers, dips, pickles, olives, fruits) -- though it was delayed by a couple of hours because of a wind-induced power outage!

For Christmas dinner we cooked a maple-glazed ham (which we almost didn't get because they had so few available at Fred Meyer -- luckily I harassed a clerk until she brought out more hams...). We also had delicious mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, green top salad, cranberry sauce, and sweet potato casserole.

Though it didn't really snow while we were there, there was one day when there was sleet and the yard became all icy.

For dinner one night, I made a pizza with brie and sweet onion jam -- it was a hit! It was accompanied by a tasty avocado salad.

I also visited my good buddy Molly in Seattle while I was home (I will have a full post on that visit soon) and she gave me this beautiful hand-made penguin card!

Mom, Dad, Carlos, and I also made a trip into Seattle towards the end of our visit and we went to REI. Carlos and I needed to pick up some gear for our upcoming trips to Costa Rica (I bought a snake venom extractor, dry bag, and headlamp). The Seattle REI is HUGE!

We also stopped by the Seattle Uwajimaya (it was crowded!) to get snacks and pick up a half-dozen giant cream puffs from Beard Papa's. We tried chocolate, green tea, and vanilla. I think the vanilla one was my favorite.

One final tradition that must be followed every time I visit my family is that I play Nintendo (usually a Zelda, Mario, or Donkey Kong game) while people watch me. This year, my parents gave me The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Christmas and it is AWESOME!! The one who really likes to watch me play Zelda games is my sister -- she doesn't especially like to play Nintendo games, but she loves to watch someone else play them. Unfortunately, Shannon couldn't come up to WA this Christmas, but maybe we will all be together next year!