Christmas 2004

Mom and Dad most likely spent Christmas proper with Grandmother and Grandfather at their place, away from the Provo snow.

 Grandfather, keeper of the pre-digital photo archives, would know for certain, and likely have pictures, too. Nevertheless, we did get pictures of our own little apartment decorated. Note also the white computer, which was Mom's big present.

Some of the presents were advance baby gifts for Amanda from Mom's friends at school, and Dad fixed up a tiny stocking for unborn Amanda, too.

Thanksgiving 2004

Dad's folks were still in Russia, and Dad's work schedule plus Mom's school schedule were a little more hectic this year than last year. So, Mother and Father came to Provo to visit us for Thanksgiving. Our little 345 square foot apartment did not seem terribly inviting for a Thanksgiving meal, and so Mom, for the first time in her 5 years at BYU, joined the family for Thanksgiving at the Cannon Center. Yes, the Cannon Center. All four of us there, plus Amanda, if you count her in utero. The other big highlight of Thanksgiving weekend 2004 was the acquisition of Mom's Mac, a refurbished eMac which is still going as of Thanksgiving 2009.

Happy birthday, Dad! (2004)

Here's proof that Mom baked a cake for Dad on at least one occasion. This was Dad's third birthday with Mom, since Meet the Parents weekend back in 2002 included Dad's birthday. Also sometime around then, we got some actual snow. Not that Provo doesn't usually get snow at some point during the winter, but both Mom & Dad grew up in warm climates, so snow is pretty exciting, especially since a garage covered the entrance area to our tiny apartment, so we had no snow to shovel in our immediate vicinity.