So did Alan.
So did Alan.
Alan puts the Christmas Star on the Advent calendar.
Santa came!
Merry Christmas!
Roger is ready to play Santa.
Alan was very dismayed to realize that we hadn't put up
a stocking for his baby doll. So we quickly made a label
and hung a stocking and Alan put a few items in it: pennies,
a balloon, and a stuffed animal.
Then Alan helped his baby doll go through the stocking.
Lisa gave Alan the game of Guess Who, but Roger is the
one who really enjoyed playing it.
Conversely, her present for Roger was the book,
"Six by Seuss" which Alan really enjoyed hearing.
Sarah gave Alan a Tonka Search & Rescue vehicle
that you put together with Lego-like pieces. Of course,
she then had to immediately assemble it!
Alan was thrilled with his Playdoh tools, a table saw,
a hand saw, a screwdriver, and a hammer.
Jenny made eggrolls to go with the Thai mint triple delight
I was making for Christmas dinner.
We'd had too much pizza earlier in the week, so
traditional Christmas Pizza was postponed to
New Year's Eve.
Mother and Dad arrived late Christmas Day, after a
delayed flight. We got back from LAX with them at
11:54pm, just in time for them to wish the kids
Merry Christmas on the actual day.
We opened presents with them on the 26th.
As is traditional, they agreed to do a coffee dance before
unwrapping the cans.
We tried a game of the new Trivial Pursuit which
is based on the last 20 years. This was my present
from the girls. There were several 'Ah Ha' moments
like when Sarah nailed the literature question naming
an Irish author.
We tried out Lisa's new game of Cranium at the McGreevy's house.
They invited us over for a very elegant spaghetti dinner on the 27th.
Danny was enjoying pushing around Roger. He calls him his
'brother'.
The McGreevys have 3 ride-on cars, just right for each little
boy to have one and then crash into each other. They spent
a lot of time racing in circles through the house.
Anne and parents in front of the McGreevy's Christmas tree.
Granddaddy worked valiantly to finish his
Christmas Card writing.
Roger learned how to play Chinese Checkers over
the Christmas holidays.
Granddaddy took a turn reading to the boys. They love
hearing stories.
Alan and Roger decided to build campfires in the
living room and roast marshmallows. Since they
don't like them toasted anyway, this was cool.
On Monday, we celebrated Christmas with the Sweitzers
at their house. Roger desperately wants to go back
and play some more of the video games on the TV.
This is what they're all focused on, a racing game.
As usual, Deb put out a sumptuous spread for dinner.
Jason and Angela announced their engagement at dinner.
The McGreevys came over for a casual New Year's Eve and
the postponed Christmas Pizza. Glen was just back from
a quick visit in Cleveland, so we didn't try to have
a full-fledged party.
Both Grandmother and Granddaddy enjoyed playing
Apples to Apples with the McGreevys.
Jenny just wanted to read and kibbitz from the
landing. Danny found her there.
Glen brought back presents from Cleveland.
Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!
Glen assembled a Lego helicopter.
While taking down the yard decorations on the 3rd,
Mother also picked ~15 lbs of apples.
Alan enjoyed putting this gingerbread train together
on Monday when everyone else was back in school.
I dropped Mother and Dad at LAX very early on the 6th
and then had a chance to see this sunrise over the ocean on the
way back home via Kanan Dume Rd.