Guentzel.Org

2005 had a truckload of holiday memories

I don’t know where to start; we’ve done so much. I’ll try.

Ren and Flo’s Party

The Holiday Players take a quick break to talk about the music

We had a great time at Ren and Flo’s holiday party this year. Ren and Flo always have great food and drinks and lots of people. Our kids always have a great time too. It certainly says something about their party planning when both the adults and the kids have a great time.

As usual, Susan got out her horn and play a few songs with the other musicians.

It was a pleasure to catch up with some old friends and meeting a few new ones.

The Trail of Lights and 37th Street

The entrance to the Trail of Lights

On December 23rd, we decided to venture down to Zilker Park and go through the Trail of Lights. The Trail of Lights is an Austin tradition where the city and various corporate sponsors decorate parts of the park with a lot of lights and other decoration.

Kayla posed in front of the neighborhood lights

Because we went on the last night, the line to get into the park was long. We sat in the car and sang with the sunroof open. It wasn’t really cold at all.

Erik was excited but finally gave out

It was packed, but we still had a great time. We even got a chance to stand under the big Zilker Christmas Tree.

It was packed under the tree too

After the Trail of lights, we went down to another Austin tradition: 37th street. 37th street is a neighborhood that always goes crazy with the lights around Christmas. The residents always try to outdo what they did last year. As you can expect, there was a line to turn on to the street and the pedestrian traffic was pretty heavy as well.

Someone got corporate sponsorship for his lights

Christmas Eve Morning

As you might know, it’s been a long standing Christmas tradition (at least as long as I’ve been standing) to have gift opening on Christmas Eve. Well, I’ve amended that tradition to have a subset of gift opening on Christmas Eve Morning. And pancakes…there must be pancakes.

Erik likes pancakes

We opened a few presents and it felt like Christmas Day for awhile. I got Emma and Kayla some remote control cars. These were a hit…at least with me. I’ll probably play with them more than the girls will.

I’m sure the cat will not be impressed.

Christmas Eve

Mom and Dad’s old tree barely fits in the new house

It’s certainly not a German tradition that you eat tamales and chili on Christmas Eve, but it’s something we have been doing for as long as I can remember. Maybe it’s a German-tex-mex tradition? I don’t know. I just know it is satisfying and good to eat on a cold night. Yes, it did get a little chilly (finally).

Cora sleeps on Pa’s big chest

Jennifer and Richard brought baby Cora along for her first Christmas. She slept through most of the time we were awake. Can you guess when she decided to wake up and party? I’m sure Jen can tell you.

Everyone was anxiously awaiting Santa Claus. Emma and I talked about it most of the day and she was really excited to see what he would bring. Even though we barely missed him, Emma wasn’t disappointed in what he left behind.

Emma was excited about Santa Claus

I won’t go into the gift list, but I think everyone did pretty well. I got watches, DVDs and a few geek related items.

This is another Guentzel tradition — try to take a picture with squirmy kids

Christmas Day
For the first time in recent memory, Christmas Day was at my house. That must mean I’m really good at mooching off of family members on this holiday.

Ken holds a semi-naked Erik during the gift opening

My in-laws came bearing gifts (isn’t there a proverb about that?) and to eat lunch. We had a good time opening the presents and drinking coffee. Susan whipped up a dandy ham dinner (complete with asparagus and potatoes).

We were stuffed.

That night, we went to mom and dad’s and watched Madagascar. It was pretty good movie (better than what I heard) but the best part was the closing credits. For some strange reason, Erik was possessed by the music and danced. I truly regret not having the camera with me to record the event.

I’ll be ready next time.

The Rest

The University is closed the week between Christmas and New Years, so Susan and I have been thankful for the time to sit and rest.

We’ve sufficiently recharged our batteries to do a couple of things around the house (like reorganize the kitchen cabinet contents) but I think we’ll need more time before we’re ready to go back.