THURSDAY - Christmas Eve

I got up eventually to find James watching the TEEN TITANS cartoon. Steve and Sophia were reviewing the best and worst NEW YORK TIMES' photos of 2015 on Steve's laptop in the kitchen. John and Marc appeared a little later, followed finally by Jackie. Last of all was Ursula, who originally planned to leave around 09:00AM but changed her plans to make it 11:00AM. Or maybe her parents changed their plans… who knows, but it all worked out just fine :-)

Steve helping James out of the car, while Sophia and John smile for the camera, outside the Brazilian restaurant FOGO DE CHAO.	Sophia, John, and James walking into FOGO DE CHAO.	Jackie, John, and Steve placing their drink order with our server at our table in FOGO DE CHAO.

I practiced Yoga and got a shower and felt plenty hungry for lunch at FOGO DE CHAO, the delicious Brazilian restaurant. I loved the food as usual and felt absolutely rejuvenated after my meal. John and Marc ate a little less than usual. John actually felt stuffed and miserable for most of the meal. And Marc chose to walk back to the house from the restaurant; I think that he wanted to do some shopping. James and Sophia sang beautifully together after they finished their meal. The rest of us piled into the mini-van and returned home. I curiously felt cold on this trip. Or I noticed the cold weather this trip. Either way, I was not up for walking home with Marc or Steve or anybody else.

After getting back to the house, James sat in front of the TV and watched. John and Sophia disappeared into parts unknown. Marc and Steve surfed the InterNet in the kitchen their laptops. Jackie worked out on her elliptical machine. And I edited my photos from my Summer trip to Japan.

Jackie cooked a delicious gumbo all day. James found Steve's missing wallet on their bed (missing since this morning). However, James' Nintendo DS is still missing. Steve called his Mum and Dad and sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas" with the kids to them. Then we played an exciting game of DIXIT, minus Marc. John won; I came in 2nd place. Good enough for me :-)

I then returned to editing my Japan photos. Later, Jackie and Steve allowed the kids to open their gifts from the Rudy family. After opening these gifts, the kids went to bed. Steve then gave us a review of several Science Fiction authors, including the latest books by Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and 2 more authors that I can no longer recall. Meanwhile, Marc found and enjoyed reading WHAT IF?, a humorous book about a scientist answering some truly absurd questions in an entertaining way.

We later discovered that James and John stayed up until about 08:30AM watching TV. I played a game of MAH JONGG, read a little AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI, and practiced some Yoga before finally going to bed after 10:00PM.