Christmas in Michigan

Maybe I should write about Christmas before another big holiday is upon us! This year my trip to the Midwest was quite short - only three days. I was blessed with good flying weather (left Grand Rapids a few hours before they were hit with some sleet and ice!), and with on-time flights. Flying is a true blessing when it functions smoothly.

As opposed to last year's huge family gathering, this Christmas was smaller and quieter, but also very enjoyable. 

One of the cats keeping watch over the tree.

When my sister and I were young, our most important job to help prepare for Christmas dinner was to make name cards for all of the guests. This year my six-year old nephew, with help from Oma, continued this tradition - with a tasty twist, as each name card was in a plastic baggie with piparkukas!

In addition to celebrating Christmas, we did have time for a few outings, a couple of which I will write about separately. A couple of us even found time to see a movie; if you've not caught "Brooklyn" yet, all three of us highly recommend it! The film has been Oscar-nominated for Best Picture, as well as Best Actress -- Saoirse Ronan did an incredible job acting the part of an Irish immigrant in New York City in 1952.

We also had plenty of time for reading and for playing. My niece loved the floor puzzle I gave her as a gift, but I found it surprisingly difficult to assemble--too many pastelly colors and too many curvy lines.

Although my nephew was excited about his Kristaps Porzinigis jersey he received from Santa (judging from post-Christmas photos chatter, the Porzingis jersey and shirt were the most popular Christmas gifts among Latvian-Americans), when I asked what his favorite gift was, he answered, "The fact that you are here!"