Christmas 2020 - with COVID raging we stayed home in SoCal for the entire week. Lots of decorating, baking, and presents. Darcy and I are enjoying the week off and spending time with the girls.
Some pre-Christmas baking.
Lots of good gifts so thanks to everyone and Santa.
In 2020 anything can happen - including a once in a lifetime alignment of Jupiter and Saturn! For the past month and half we have been observing Saturn and Jupiter from our front porch get closer and closer to each other in the early evening sky (~5:30 to 6:15pm).
On the 21st, which also happens to be the Winter Solstice, they were very, very closely aligned. I guess it’s been nearly 400 years (1623) since these two planets appeared this close to each other in the sky, and nearly 800 years (1226) since the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter occurred at night when visible to the naked eye.
Here are some pictures from my nice camera capturing these two. The brighter one is Jupiter.
Saturday Dec. 19, 2020
Sunday Dec. 20, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Snapped a picture of this plane moving at a very high speed across the sky just before the sun set on Saturday.
And here are some pictures over the past few evenings from just my cell phone.
Pretty cool to be able to watch this once in a lifetime celestial event with the naked eye just from the front porch!
Last night we enjoyed the last night of Chanukah. The girls had fun celebrating and lighting the menorah candles on each of the 8 nights and virtually joining GJ and Bobpa for a couple of the nights. Didn't get a ton of pictures but here are a few from some of the different nights. The girls enjoyed the various gifts and books they received. Berenstain Bear books for Em and a book on manners and drama/rumors/secrets that Ellie seems really into.
On Sunday, J^2 came up and took Ellie out for dinner for her B-day. Afterward they came back here to light the candles and play some trombone! Sadly I don't have any pictures of the trombone playing....
And just like that Ellie is 10! Ten year old Ellie is doing really well - smart, fun, beautiful inside and out, and a decent short stop to boot. She is really social these days and doesn't like to be by herself much. We love spending time with her and watching her grow (even if she is a bit moody at times).
As in years past - here is a look back at her previous birthdays!
Newborn:
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
This year we made the most of the her birthday given Covid. We decorated her door and desk space and the downstairs the night before so that she had a big surprise when she sprung out of bed at 6:30.
Instead of having a few friends over for a sleepover (which we have postponed) we had an impromptu get together with some of the neighbor girls for cake and birthday singing. I think Ellie really enjoyed that.
After the neighbor get together she opened presents and we went and got dinner - takeout from her favorite restaurant - In-and-Out (she LOVES the cheeseburgers).
Thank you everyone for the cards, presents, gift cards, and birthday wishes. She was very thankful for it all.
I think she is going to really enjoy being 10, especially once Covid is behind us.
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