Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Blissful Kwanza and all the rest. First Christmas for me down here in Chile and el Viejito Pascuero, a.k.a. Santa Claus, arrived in all his glory with some well-timed gifts to stimulate my sensory overload. We kicked off the 24th early with Mom and Abuelita prepping the turkey.
Abuelita’s special recipe calls for fruit chunks inside the turkey to ensure maximum moistness. Verdict … it worked.
As the ladies cooked, Pops and Abuelito and I waited patiently while watching “Bad Santa.” Billy Bob had some foul lines that Dad had to apply the earmuffs on me so I missed out a lot on the plot, but it appeared everyone else was having a good time. Abuelita hooked me up with some reindeer horns to get me in the mood.
Come 7 or so we were ready for the meal. We decked out the porch as it is 90+ degrees here every day now.
While everyone else ate I had my eyes fixed on the tree eagerly awaiting Santa’s arrival.
Come midnight I was unfortunately getting changed in the bathroom when Santa made his appearance. Bad timing. In any event, he left some cool stuffed animal gear for me that I was quite pleased with.
Worked out in the end eventhough I never caught a glimpse of the fat man. Although according to the movie my Dad and Abuelito were watching Santa is a skinny middle-age guy with a 2 pints of vodka a day drinking habit and a proclivity for chubby cocktail waitresses. In stark contrast to everything I’ve heard but there you have it.
A fond farewell from the family table and a safe and happy new year to all!
Obligatory parting male model pose …
Michael Frerichs 
he’s getting quite good at the modeling thing!
Very cute
He´s also a cardinals fan (billy bob, that is (and el viejito pascuero(and big mike?)))
Felices Fiestas
Big Mike runs with the Bruins, Trojans, Lakers, and possibly the Raiders for now. He gave up on baseball while in the womb unfortunately.
Wow. That last picture melted my heart.