A Bloomington-Normal Christmas

When we got to my parents' house on the evening of the 25th, we were greeted with a warm dinner and a giant braided loaf in the shape of a Christmas wreath. We were also greeted by two dogs--my childhood dog Shean and Annie.

Above is Shean on the left and Annie on the right. My parents were dogsitting Annie for the holidays.

Below are some food photos from our stay:

Pumpkin-chocolate pie with ice cream and homemade cranberry sauce

Pancake slice with blueberry jam and blueberries

Another slice of pumpkin-chocolate pie

I also had a chance to visit with some old high school friends while we were in town. Below is me with Brittany Ruch.

Me, Kathy Briggs, Anne Marie Hardy, and Denise Fornoff all used to play in a string quartet together in high school.

It was a wet and rainy weekend, but Sunday cleared up enough to take the dogs for a walk.

Since my dog is 17 years old, he can't do much walking anymore--but he still scampered around for a bit.

My one request for the weekend was to eat some Japanese udon noodles at some point. We enjoyed the warm meal for lunch after returning from our Sunday morning walk.

A Cerro Gordo Christmas

Parry's annual Christmas tree is never intended to be the most elegant of holiday decor--in fact, the sparse branches and awkward shape are precisely what provide its unique charm.

We made pizza for dinner one evening while we were there. Two of the pies we did deep-dish style. The above photograph is posted courtesy of my sister-in-law Maria, who is quite the food photographer. For more detailed shots of the event, see her blog post.

Above is Parry with his new pizza peel. It was supposed to be a Christmas present but we gave it to him a little bit early, thinking it would be useful for the occasion.

Our friend Gavin poses below with a t-shirt we picked out for him. He and Forest have always been huge Abraham Lincoln fans.

Josh, Maria, Parry, me, and Forest on Christmas day

A Forest and Ivy Christmas

We've decorated this miniature tree for our first two Christmases since we got married. It's the perfect size for our little apartment. Next to it is the little puppy Forest got for me . . . he apologized that it wasn't a real one, but like the tree, I think it is also perfect for our current abode. Tall trees and real puppies can perhaps be things to look forward to in our future home.

Our one Christmas tradition so far is to make french toast out of angel food cake and eat it with homemade cinnamon syrup. Here is the breakfast dish in all its sugary splendor.

U of I Symphony Orchestra

At the end of the semester I played in the last orchestra concert I will be playing in for a long time. We got to perform Stravinsky's Scherzo a la Russe, Yoshimatsu's "Cyberbird" saxophone concerto, and Beethoven's third symphony.

My parents came in town and were there to see me through the performance.

Cello Recital

I planned a little recital for my cello students a couple of weeks ago. Here they are performing a trio together.

I-L-L-I-N-I

Forest and I got to see the Illinois basketball team play Clemson at Assembly Hall. We were down on the floor--a couple of people said we popped up on the TV screen.

Bruce Webber in the middle of a timeout huddle

Three Thanksgivings

Thanksgiving Part I

We split Thanksgiving three ways this year. Our first stop: Forest's dad's house in Cerro Gordo.

This is a picture of me BEFORE the Thanksgiving feast. Our little sprout is starting to pop out.

Some last shots of Autumn from a walk around the neighborhood

Forest's sister Crissy with Connor, flipping through a giant Dixon book of family history. She was helping us find girl's names for our baby

Our niece Aubrey loved hanging around the sounds of the cello. Whenever I stopped playing, she would look at me inquisitively and say, "Sing!"

Sometimes she even leaned on the cello while I was playing so she could feel the vibrations

Parry's potato rolls on the rise

Parry carving up some turkey

Thanksgiving dinner: the spread

Thanksgiving Part II: Decatur with Forest's mom

Aubrey getting some grooming

Forest and Aubrey: piano duet

Forest as the chauffeur

Me, Forest, and Carol

Thanksgiving Part III: Bloomington-Normal with my parents
If you ever stay with my parents, you will probably be served giant pancakes at some point. They look something like this:

Sushi we had for dinner on Saturday

We got some snow

Me looking at the tree I planted in 2nd grade

A family photo before church. My dog is also in his Sunday best.