Tonight we got together with our neighbors for a round of Christmas caroling.

It was cold out but we had a nice time before dinner -- singing and talking and eating some cookies.

I greatly enjoyed the singing and aside from a little confusion with "Oh Christmas Tree" I think we did a fine job. Nora shook her Christmas bells.

On Sunday we bought our Christmas tree and put the lights up, and Monday night we put the ornaments in.

This is the first year that Nora helped with the decorations. Which means there is a little spot at the bottom of the tree where she many decorations close to each other.

Another change we made compared to last year was that I brought a measurement tape to the place where they sold the trees. Last year we got an 8 foot tree -- not a good fit for our 8 foot ceilings and I had to cut off a chunk to make it fit in the living room. This year we have a 7 foot tree and that obviously worked much better.

Yes, yes, indeed. Дядо Мраз -- the Bulgarian name we use for Santa Claus -- was in Clarendon and he speaks English.

We had brunch at the Boulevard Woodgrill and then we went to the Clarendon Commons where we saw Santa Claus and a Snowman and we met Rado and Maria there also.

Дядо Мраз asked Nora: "What do you want for Christmas?" but she didn't really know what to say.

So Sinterklaas speaks Dutch and English, and Дядо Мраз speaks Bulgarian and English.

Holland's Best, a Dutch grocery store and bakery in San Jose, California, will be closing its doors for good by the end of the 2014.

In a letter posted on the website owner Klaas Mensonides explains that the lease of the building will not be renewed and that the store has to be empty by mid-January.

For 28 years, I felt more like a steward for the bakery keeping to its tradition. I bake all our cookies and pastries from the old and frayed recipe cards handed down decades ago by the original owner. For this Holiday Season, come stroll down memory lane for a final time at the bakery to enjoy our delicious almond cookies and pastries.

We feel rather nostalgic looking back through the years we have been of service to you. For having made us a part of your experience, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts

The business started in the 1940's as the "Holland Pastry and Gift Shop".

A few days ago Nora and I sang a few songs together, in Dutch.

Listen to it here.

Nora: Dat is het liedje.
Guus: Ja gaan we nog zingen.
Nora: Ja!
Nora: Nee nee!

Guus starts to sing.

Nora: Nee, niet nog zingen.
Guus: Nee, niet meer zingen?
Nora: Nee. Niet meer zingen!

Guus: Ken jij bijvoorbeeld het liedje, Sinterklaas Kapoentje?
Nora: Em, ik kan niet Sinterklaas Kapoentje.
Nora: Oh nee. Nora kan dat liedje niet.
Nora: Ik kan wel... 'en we zingen en we springen'.
Guus: Oh ja! Siiinterklaasje kom maar binnen.... etc

Nora: Oh, het is daar donker...

Guus: En kan jij ook wel het liedje 'Zie ginds komt de stoomboot'?

Nora: Eh ja!

Together:

Zie ginds komt de stoomboot
Uit Spanje weer aan.
Het brengt ons St Nicolaas
Ik zie 'm al staan.
Hoe... huppelt zijn paardje het dek op en neer
Hoe waaien de wimpels al heen en al weer.
Zijn knecht staat te lachen en roept reeds toe.
Wie zoet is krijgt lekkers
Wie stout is de roe
Oh lieve Sint Nicolaas kom ook eens bij mij
En rijdt toch niet stilletje ons huisje voorbij.

Today Saint Nicholas arrived at the Dutch Embassy. This year we've been reading Sinterklaas books for a few weeks so Nora knows Sinterklaas and his helpers well.

We arrived a little early so we had plenty of time to look around. The Pieten arrived soon and I guess they liked Nora because they came back every few minutes to make sure she still had pepernoten. The bigger kids would store the pepernoten in their bags -- but Nora took just one at the time.

Like last year, Sinterklaas arrived on the balcony of the central hall of the embassy. It was nice to sing the old songs.

The little kids were then invited in the big room and soon all the two-year olds were called forward. Nora was very brave -- much braver than I think I was at that age -- and comfortably sat next to Sint Nicholas on the sofa. She gave him a big hug too.

Sinterklaas knew "dat Nora heel goed Bulgaars spreekt" and even knew about Meneer Prascho. She got a big present from Piet; a box with play dough.

The event is very well organized and we had a magical time.

Yesterday Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands. We watched a little bit on YouTube. First a small part of the 2013 event but Nora is too little far all that so we switched to Sesamstraat's intocht from the early 2000's and that she liked.

We've been reading Sinterklaas books for a week now, and yesterday evening Nora put her shoe near the fireplace.

Over the past 6 weeks I've been working on our deck. In July I fixed the lower part of the deck by replacing all the boards, but that wasn't really needed for the main deck. Nevertheless, there was a ton of work to do. I flipped over about 20 boards, power washed and sanded everything.

I took a day off on Thursday and applied the stain. It's an oil base stain (Armstrong Clark) and it was easy to apply. I started at 10.00 am and by 2.30 pm I was done.

We unexpectedly got some rain Thursday night but with an oil base stain that isn't as much as a problem and except for one or two minor spots that I'll redo, everything looks great.

I still need to finish the railing and balustrade, but at least the deck itself is ready for the winter now.

Our friend Esteban came to visit us from London, a very nice surprise.

He emailed me on Monday that he'd be in town for a conference, and it was great to have him over for dinner and introduce him and Nora to each other. She was listening intently to him, describing his son Tiago who was born a few months after Nora.

Today was my birthday, the 36th. A great day with a lot of love. We didn't have time in the morning so I there were presents in the evening, and then we went for dinner.

We went to Ray's the Steak, a very nice experience, and Nora enjoyed the New York strip with Black & Blue sauce. Such a richness, going out with two girls like these.

Thank you everybody, for all the phone calls, and emails, and Facebook and WhatsApp messages... it really made my day!