Today is St. James Day! More importantly it is Sophia's first St. James Day. For those of you who don't know all about St. James Day, please visit the office web site of St. James Day at www.stjamesday.com. In short, St. James Day is a holiday that Paul and his good friend Derek created in 2001 to celebrate the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Each year, on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament, Paul and Derek (and their children and other invited guests) get together to watch basketball, grill kielbalsa, curse their brackets, and have a great time. This year, Sophia joined in the fun.
This year, we had a great turnout with 13 celebrants at various points in the day (some people have yet to get into the full spirit of the holiday and don't yet take the full day off...we're working on them). At the start of the day, Grandpa John read stories of great basketball games of the past to Sophia, and Derek's kids, Alex and Gabe.
Later in the day, Bryn--who was home recovering from a bad headache--also shared in the St. James Day revelry by reading a story to Sophia and Gabe about the mighty Oregon Ducks basketball team. (Well, at least the book was about ducks, if not the mighty Ducks).
As the day wore on, and as our favorite teams (Kansas for Derek and Oregon for Paul) clinched their first round victories, Sophia and Gabe decided to share an afternoon snack.
All in all, it was a great St. James Day. This is the 7th St. James Day. And, this is the 6th time Derek and Paul have gotten together at one another's houses for the festivities (last year, Derek had to be in Kansas, and Paul and Bryn were nervously awaiting Sophia's arrival, so St. James Day festivities were a bit more subdued). We are looking forward to the rest of the NCAA Tournament, and I will post more St. James Day pictures when I get them from Derek.
Happy St. James Day everyone!
