Christmas 2007

Christmas Eve dinner

The men at work in the kitchen -- what great guys!

The Christmas Eve puppet nativity re-enactment. We just had to laugh because the only doll we had for expectant parents Em and Ike, who were Mary and Joseph, was Millie's bright blue baby doll which she has dubbed Diamond. Abby was a sweet, earnest star.

Christmas morning -- the girls are wearing nightgowns Mrs. Claus made for them and left them the night before. Fortunately, the picture doesn't show the details since Mrs. Claus was desperately trying to finish them the night before she and Santa left on their cruise. The girls loved them, though, and they are comfy, warm, and snugly.

Millie's favorite gifts: A puppy that grows (from Grandma McLaughlin and named after cousin Emma -- a huge honor in Millie's book), a play mobile magic castle (Mrs. Claus just has to briefly sing the praises of Ebay!), her Dalmatian Webkinz puppy named Spot (Millie adores anything to do with animals!)

Abby's favorites: her webkinz tiger (originally named Stripey, but then had to be changed to Spot when we accidentally used Abby's tag to register Millie's animal), the play mobile Magic Castle, her Dora puzzle (she is the puzzle master!)

Jane's favorites: Her musical cell phone and keys, her piggy bank, whatever toys her sisters are currently playing with

Jane in her, rather voluminous nightgown (in Mrs. Claus's defence, it was rather hard to do any fitting while the children were sleeping) -- either eager to help out with the cooking or enjoying a spatula as a teething toy.

Uncle Dave with Baby Jane

Puzzle Time! How I love to see kids on Christmas morning!


We returned home to Virginia to three extremely happy, well-cared for little girls (thanks McLaughlins, Wards, and Hawkins!) just in time for Christmas and we had a wonderful week with my family in Alexandria. We had such a fun time together and are currently going through withdrawals. It was amazing that all of my siblings except for my youngest sister Miffy -- who is on a mission in upstate New York -- could be there. Even Jennifer was able to fly in for a few days after Christmas with her daughter Emma (we missed Matt and the boys) and it was so good to see her. Our highlights were the Christmas Eve puppet nativity re-enactment, many dinners around the table full of mom's delectable food and fun conversation, seeing the girls' excitement on Christmas morning, touring the White House (the girls especially liked the perfect replica of the White House made by the chief pastry chef out of gingerbread and white chocolate), playing Guesstures (a family favorite), watching movies, getting to know Matt's wife, Sara, better (couldn't be more wonderful!), shopping, and just hanging out. It was such a precious time especially given the fact that everyone is now becoming more scattered all over the country!