December 23, 2005
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Whoosh! What a terrific Christmas gathering we had this evening, thanks to Kirstin and Matt's hospitality.
This afternoon Don, Dmitry, Charles, Jonathan and I loaded the van with presents, brownie trifle and digital cameras and set out for Keller, with a stop by Albertson's to collect a half dozen roast chickens. Once we got the gifts in the house and in front of the tree, it looked quite, well, either merry or consumer-driven, depending upon one's POV.The children unanimously voted for "merry".
To start with we all visited and conversed; here are Jessica and Beth getting to schmooze after not seeing each other for several months:
Don getting in some time with Bryson:
Tell you what, little Hannah is doing her level best to get the hang of this walking stuff:
Beth and Bryson, looking at Kirstin's Christmas scrapbook:
Charles being, well, Charles, and apparently amusing his niece:
What's bizarre is Hannah seems to enjoy this sort of thing:
Finally, dinner was over and it was time for The Main Event.....the presents! Here's Bethie opening one of her's:
Alex showing off his Mike Tyson's Punch-Out for his Nintendo NES:
Look what Benjamin got! And do you like the chapeau? He wore it all evening.
Jonathan checking out Dmitry's Nintendo DS, while the latter opens another of his gifts:
It takes a father of three to get excited by an intercom system:
Brianna and her daddy examining one of the presents:
Charles is a constant source of fascination to his nieces and nephews:
Alex, Beth, and Hannah:
What a lovely time we all had! And the best part is knowing it's not over yet....tomorrow evening some of us are going out to dinner, and on Christmas day is the big family party at Elaine's.
Comments (5)
Does Jessica ever not have that huge grin on her face? Her smile always makes me smile!
Thanks Anne, I really enjoyed that! My favorite is Charles surrounded by the little ones! I love to see young men interested in little kids, gives me hope!
Merry Christmas, Dear!
[beaming] Doesn't my Jessica have a gorgeous, infectious smile? And unless something specific has gone wrong, she's usually upbeat and cheerful and optimistic.
And Margaret, Charles is a most devoted, fond uncle, bless his heart, who spent a goodly chunk of the evening upstairs in the playroom with the kids.
Of course, there was the point when Kirstin had to shout up at him that one of the house rules is to NEVER drop anything over the side of the upstairs railing. (It was either Jonathan or Alex who helpfully added, "Especially children! Do NOT drop the children over the side, Charles!")
And a very merry Christmas to y'all!
Lovely, lovely photos!
Jason has that same fascination for the young ones in our family. They climb, they chatter, they tell secrets. He loves it. Sighs from his cousins and aunts and the comments: "He'll make SUCH a great father someday!" Yes, he will, as the Lord wills.
However, he does need some practice in vital areas. He got Kagaly a HUGE stuffed Elmo for Christmas and took it over the other night. He'd arrived there before Maggie and her daddy did, and put it on the top step coming up from the basement entrance of the house. Maggie rounded the corner and started up, saw it and yelled, "Elmo! Elmo!! Elmo! DAD! UP!" She knew she'd get up faster if Mel carried her. But Jason didn't have a single photo! And he's a PHOTOGRAPHER! Dumb guy. She slept with Elmo that night.
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Magaly. No excuse for the K other than that I was in a hurry to chat with Lois, I guess.
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