total eclipse of the...moon

I arrived home for Christmas yesterday around 2 pm. That night we celebrated the Christmas season with our annual Shepherds' Dinner (we sit on a blanket in our living room by the fire and eat foods with think the shepherds may have eaten when the angels announced to them the birth of the Christ child—pita bread, lamb, yogurt, cheese, figs...) then stayed up until 3 am to watch the lunar eclipse (apparently on visible from the western-hemisphere—sorry, Sydney!). Word on the street is that the last time the lunar eclipse happened on the winter solstice was in 1632, no big deal. The next one? Predictions are it won't be until 2190-something. What? Craziness.

Lucky for us in New Jersey the skies were clear, and, although the air was a bit brisk out, it wasn't snowing so we could sit out and watch as long as we could feel our fingers (and even a little bit longer than that...). Carter and our friend Minni made some delicious hot chocolate that helped warm us up (albeit, momentarily) and despite all the huddling and blankets after about an hour Garrett and I were out-spig-out (as Ade would say). We guilted the dad into staying a little longer than he wanted to as well because how could he leave when for the first time in hundreds of years the whole frickin moon was orange?! Come on, man.

Here are some amazing, super in-focus, and close-up, professional looking pictures of the event:

Right when the eclipse was starting. This is the view from our front porch.

When there's just a tiny sliver left of the moon...

It's all red/orange/eclipsed! Exciting.

 All in all it was a pretty fun experience. It's been a while since the whole family's all been together and participated in an activity like this. I'd forgotten how loud Brinden is and how he gets shushed more than anyone else in the family combined; how helpful Carter can be when things need to get done; how mom's "super-power" can be overwhelming in close quarters; how much dad likes to take pictures and blind everyone with the flash so we all loose our night vision; and how hilarious Garrett is, especially when his legs are numb from the cold.

Speaking of cold, before we left for our respective home states for the holidays, Braeden and I exchanged parts of our Christmas gifts. I gave him a copy of Daniel Pinkwater's Big 5 (one of my favorite—and therefore greatest—books of all time) and a small graph paper notebook that I stitched together for him (he uses small notebooks like nobody's business—he fills them up at an incredible rate and I knew that he was almost done with his present notebook and would be needing a new one soon). What did he get me? A beard. To keep my face warm in the terribly cold Iowan winters. No big deal. I am so in love with him...

Now we are twinners with our matching beards. What could be cuter? Ooh! I know! TWO yarn beards!!!

 The best part was right after he gave it to me and I put it on, there was a knock at my door. I went to answer it and it was my amazing neighbors Debbie Hartley and her daughter Kara. As soon as they saw me with the beard on they started laughing and laughing and almost couldn't stop. (It was obvious that they were just insanely jealous and that was the only way they could express it.) They were bringing over some wassil mix which was super cute and I can't wait to try when I get back to the great Corn State in January.

I just love my life...