"I've been swedding since I was 2"

Jess tackles the creation of her first Ham Roll using the "Russian fridge", under the watchful gaze of Frosty.

Location: Barriere & Clearwater; 2ºC in the sunshine.

Daily Goal: While Jess tackles Ham Roll with me, Tessa is being whisked off to Clearwater with her daddy, to go snowmobiling.

Trials & Tribulations: Decorating the tree is only the excuse to keep grandchildren (and children) near and dear all weekend long. We're putting our time to good use - getting two ham rolls prepped for the freezer today is a big strike off the Christmas Eve to-do list.

"You know, Mom. I've never cooked a turkey either, and Brett and I were given one this year, which is way too big for us to eat. How's about I bring it over and you can teach me how to cook it up for Christmas Day dinner?"

"Christmas DAY dinner?" My inside voice was screaming, "Head for the hills! You collapse on Christmas day... Christmas EVE is the dinner you cook!"

My outside voice said,

"Sure, turkey's easy to do. It's just a matter of timing."

"Well, we'll be eating here Christmas Eve. . . then going home so Santa can deliver presents to our tree. . . then we'll head back to your place on Christmas morning."

"You really think you'll have gifts opened, babies fed, and be back here in time to put a turkey in the oven?"

"Why not?"

My inside voice said, "Relax. What's wrong with eating at midnight?"

Successes: Lissa will love the new arrangement. Turkey dinner is her favourite, and forms no part of our Christmas celebrations. She was raised with turkey served up only at Thanksgiving. Schnitzel is served up at Christmas in this house.

In the big scheme of things, adding a(nother) dinner into the mix means more leftover schnitzel for me and Mike! Leftover turkey can go home with Jess and the starving university sister who loves it so.

Failures: For me to realize taking Tessa sledding meant she would be learning to do it herself. In the middle of our baking session, we recieved the first of four video clips from Brett. Imagine our surprise when we realized we were watching her within moments of this accomplishment!

With a little help from IMovie editing, this Grammie is proud to present:

"The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree"

Our adrenaline junky can truly say, "I've been sledding since I was two-years-old."