Christmas in the the tropics

OK so its not the tropics, but it's the first time in forever that I don't remember it being cold or being snowed in. Last year we got stuck in Kodiak and if we had opted to leave we would have had to wait 9 days. That said it was another gorgeous day here and after opening lots of presents (thanks everyone) we took a nice 3 hour frolic to the river then it was home for a FANTASTIC dinner.







Santa was good this year and I surprisingly avoided coal again. The Mrs. was especially happy as Santa left her a three day trip to Manhattan and a stay in a swanky hotel by Times Square. (She must know a senator or two.)

To show how much of a geek I'm turning into, that is my very own copy of DOS for Dummies along with a coffee mug that plugs into a cigarette lighter (Santa must have forgot we don't have a car)













And of course no walk starts out without stick or frisbee throwing down at the dog park

The Mrs. taking a little break and enjoying her grande Oregon Chai latte. Check out those cribs behind her, four story townhouses right on the river.

To put this into perspective the pilings are about a 1/4 mile from us and the Capital is 6 miles away. Pretty cool!!

To round out the festivities we enjoyed a well deserved feast which the Mrs. will describe in the next shot.















From left to right, we have some homemade sundried tomato & olive bread, Shiraz & juniper berry venison medallions with a balsamic reduction, haricots verts dressed with fresh orange juice and zest, and orzo tossed with feta. Yum!