Second Christmas...

A Christmas tree and a feast in the middle of January? Why? Why?!

Well, I'd call it a new family tradition, But I don't know if we'll ever do it again.

You see, Paul and Lauren got married (here at The Hotel Yorba!) back in August. Paul had some visa issues, and had to go back to England shortly after their wedding. It was really hard on Lauren, and it sucked for us to have this great new member of our family have to leave so soon after joining. In mid-December, we got word that his final interview would be happening in January, and that he would be able to return soon after. So we decided that we would leave up all of our Christmas stuff and have a second Christmas to welcome him home.

I'm sure that we looked like low class white trash losers to some of our neighbors because we still had Christmas decorations up until January 21. But when I apologized and explained to the neighbors I talked to, they all thought it was a pretty cool idea. It was kind of nice to stretch out the holiday season an extra few weeks, and it was fun to cook another holiday meal.

Here's a picture of Lauren and Paul (the reason for the season).


Here's the bird and purple mashed potatoes. Thanks to Anna M-B for the purple potatoes idea. Those weren't really Grimace Steaks, just purple potatoes.















Here's a few more pics...




It was a great day. Jeff went home, but everyone else stayed overnight and we hung out on Sunday. And Jeff brough th emost delicious cheese log and loaned us a bunch of great new music. And I got a grill light (jealous?).

Most of all, it was great to see Paul again, to have him back home, and to see Paul and Lauren starting their life together again. Cheers to Mr. and Mrs. Elliot.