Episode LXXXVII: Christmastime with the Norrises

Went home for the Christmastime, as per usual, but I had to make this trip shorter, as I was leaving the country for Brazil on the 31^st. Nonetheless I managed to pack quite a bit of things into a brief week-and-a-half:

We had some good family time in which I got to see the entirety of the (local) Norris relatives, including the very well-protected and sporty Logan Sanchez.

I received my traditional biannual shear, thanks to my mother. Probably lost a pound or two, as seen below (also seen below, I turned from a friendly teddy-bear into a startled thug…)

We celebrated Christmas! Day One with the immediate family, which was lots of fun…

…And Day Two at Grandma Shearer’s, which was also lots of fun! Here was one exciting gift of the day (though by no means the most exciting): an afro pick for Kyle!

It was also Brian’s birthday, a mere two days after Christmas.

And finally, the family took a wintry trip up to Yosemite. On the way, we made a stop at Costco and I had my first ever $1.50 jumbo dog / soda deal, under an umbrella, indoors!

While there, we had our first cross-country skiing experience ever. It went pretty well until we made it to our destination, and then my ski binding failed, and I had to hike back the 1.5 miles with my skis and poles in tow.

It snowed quite a bit our second day in Yosemite. Here is the view from the parking lot, with Yosemite Falls in the background. Wishing you a Merry Christmas / Happy New Years from the Norrsises! And now I am off to Brazil!