Good-bye 2009

Unlike the last several years, Tim did not get any holiday time off between Christmas and New Year. It was a different feeling, and he certainly could have used the break. But, life does go on, and so it did in the Lorz house, too.

Ballerina Victoria is not too busy dancing the day away to help around the house. She especially likes to help Mom do the dishes.

I really can't remember what we were going out to do, but Tori was insistent on wearing her Santa hat, her bead necklace, and that Curious George (Monkey George in our house) would have to come with us.

Tim did manage to get New Year's Eve off. Tim loves to prepare our traditional New Year's Eve dinner himself. However, when Daddy is home, Tori is never too far away, and Daddy had to take a break when his little darling needed some "Daddy Time". They sat right on the kitchen floor and laughed and talked and had a great time together. No one minded that dinner was a little late that night.

We enjoyed our traditional fondue meal with our awesome neighbors, Scott and Elisa. Just like us, they love food, love to try new things, and are not afraid of REAL cheeses. So, we had traditional Swiss cheese fondue as an appetizer, meat fondue as a main course, and then chocolate fondue for dessert. It's a perfect meal for New Year's Eve.

Which brings us back to another German food tradition. Tradition has it that if you prepare and eat lots of Sauerkraut and pork chops on New Year's Day, you will have plenty of money all year long. Well, far be it from me to go against tradition. I will eat Sauerkraut approximately one time per year. This is that time. Also, you may remember Tori's exciting first-time encounter with Sauerkraut last year. Here is this year's attempt:

Finally, we were also able to enjoy an afternoon in San Fransisco. This picture is in front of the huge Christmas tree in Union Square. We had a good time walking around, watching the people, and enjoying our time together as a family.