And, finally, the day AFTER Christmas

We didn't have the twelve days of Christmas, but something close.  On Sunday Elizabeth and Chris came over with Anthony and Lucy for brunch and more presents.  They had been to Grandma and Gramps' house on Christmas Eve, had a fun family Christmas Day at home, the trekked to our house on Sunday to visit us and Aunt Barbara.  Everything was a hit - Lucy slept in her shiny shoes from Barbara that night!

Anthony, who is a puzzle prodigy, went straight to work with the Legos Barbara gave him.  He just lays out the instructions and gets to work, usually by himself, but this time Dad consulted on the project. 

Grammie will be happy to hear how much both kids loved the 'Pillow Pets' she sent.  They are both big cuddlers and can play with stuffed animals endlessly, so the lady big and bumble bee were part of the family right away.

Thai on Christmas ~ Perfect!

Well, Ed and I spent a nice Christmas morning just lounging and reading the paper.  Barbara arrived around 2:00 PM and she and I decided to go downtown and see a movie (one of the preferred activities of my family on holidays).  Ed preferred to stay in the house, in his recliner and NOT venture out into the C-O-L-D, windy weather, so we left him there, happy as he could be.

Barbara really wanted to get cold, since she rarely does in New Orleans, and she's actually a Northern type, so we walked up Church Street - cold and windy, as predicted - and landed at Parima for some delicious Thai food before the movie.  Our waiter was great and agreed to be in a photo with us.  The place is lovely, cozy, food wonderful - you should go!

Then we headed to the Roxy to see The King's Speech which we both enjoyed - Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were wonderful.  Then home for wine and munchies.  PERFECT!

Christmas Eve

Emily's back!

Ed's son Will, Rachel, Keely and Emily are moving back to Vermont from California.  Keely has been here since the summer, staying with her grandmother and going to Essex High School.  Rachel and Emily flew back a couple of weeks ago and Will is on the road, pulling a 20 foot trailer with all their stuff.

We visited Rachel's parents Dan and Mary's house last night to deliver some Christmas goodies, but the best part was seeing them all again.  Emily loves her grandpas Dan (Pop Pop) and Ed - she calls him 'Bumps'.  She's a really big hugger, as you can see.  She'll be five in April and headed to kindergarten.  The last time I saw her she was, well, little!

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing her and Keely open their presents.  Thank you, Dan and Mary!

My sister Barbara is flying up today from New Orleans and she's going to be so happy because it's C-O-L-D with plenty of snow on the ground!  We'll head over to see our other Vermont grandchildren on Sunday, spreading out the fun, so to speak.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

THREE!

Princess Lucy turned three!  She has been patiently waiting for this event and it's finally happened.  She was thrilled with her new friend Emily (or Emma, depending on when you ask her name) a beautiful doll whose hair can be combed, washed, styled, you name it.

Lucy looks so much like my sister Barbara who also loved to comb hair on dolls, people, whatever.  When Barbara was little she could hardly sit still when she saw someone whose hair she wanted to comb!

After a birthday dinner on Saturday with mommy, Daddy and Anthony, Lucy invited some friends to tea on Tuesday.  We were requested to be "fancy", which took some doing on my part.  My fancy wardrobe is pretty sparse these days, but we did our best and she was very happy with our efforts.

Elizabeth made a delicious strawberry cake and there was tea, cookies and yummy cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches.  Lucy and Ruby put sprinkles on what turned out to be the pinkest cake I've ever seen!

Gabrielle and Christy helped with the preparations, and little friends Ruby, Hadley and Aunt Judy and cousin Josie helped with opening presents and eating and drinking.  It was all so neat and civilized - a real girl party, no rough housing, I'm just sayin'.

It was a lovey party and I was so happy to be invited.

Christmas is coming!

There's no escaping it - Christmas is right around the corner.  Anthony and Lucy came over to help with the decorations - one was interested in the decorations, the other primarily in the candy canes!  They have both written priceless letters to Santa and are waiting pretty patiently for the big day.  Lucy just loves her Princess Kitty costume and wears it everywhere.  She changes fancy outfits a couple of times a day - it makes me smile since Anthony was (is) also a very imaginative pretender.  Who can forget his Baby Owl, Baby Jaguar and Baby Brontosaurus personas?

Several friends asked, after I posted this, if we have two trees.  Merged photos, not two trees - although one year we decided to get as many trees as we could fill up with ornaments - ended up with THREE!  Since then I have had my head examined and given away a lot of ornaments to people who will cherish them.

After three rounds of UNO with Grandpa, Anthony and I went to see A Christmas Carol at the Flynn Theater in Burlington.  The show was wonderful and filled with really good, primarily English Christmas carols like God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen, Gloucestershire Wassail, Susanni, This Endris Night I Saw a Sight, Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, etc.  I do love good Christmas music and it helps get me past the insane commercialization that starts before Halloween!

It looks like we may have snow this year, if the cold weather holds - hooray!

Whoo-hoo! Christmas Music!

Bonnie, Diane and I went to the North Avenue Alliance Church (yes, I stepped inside a church and wasn't struck by lightning... no, wait, I do it all the time photographing weddings.  I guess I'm protected in some way...).  Anyway, we were attending the state high school madrigal festival.

It was just great to see all these kids singing their hearts out.  One of my guilty not-so-secrets is how much I love Christmas music.  I usually start listening in August, but I'm very particular, I'm just sayin'.

SIX!

I can't believe it!  My little punky boy Anthony is SIX!

I can remember so clearly the day he was born - I had just had surgery for a broken ankle and when Grandpa and I went to see him my son-in-law Chris wheeled me in to see him in a office chair!

You can see techie boy toys were the order of the day, with Buzz Lightyear wings leading the pack.





The place was hopping with friends and family - Grandma and Gramps, G.G. and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, sister Lucy, Uncle John, Aunt Elise with Nick, Marisa and Dom, Uncle Mike with Aunt Judy and baby Josie, then friends Jasmine, Ella, Nick and Dhyana - hope I haven't forgotten anybody.  There was a CROWD!

Mom's cakes and cupcakes were spectacular.

And guess who has a birthday next week?  LUCY!

SNOW!

Well, the ground was white this morning, the first real snow here in Charlotte.

Ed searched for the snow shovels like a true Vermonter - in his bathrobe.

I was out with the dogs to get the newspaper and had my little camera in the car - thank goodness!

I could have missed this shot.

One West Coast Davis Family

Wow!  We got some beautiful new photos of Scott and Lindsay's family in Yuba City, CA.  They have been BUSY!

In November Ellie turned three and twins Axl and Stella had their first birthday.  The joint is jumpin'!  You can see why Ed likes to head out to visit every winter.  These fabulous portraits were taken by Lindsay's friend Aherne DelPero at Moments to Remember studio in Yuba City.  I LOVE them!

ROAD TRIP!

We headed south last week, as far south as seems comfortable for cold-weather types.  I speak for myself, of course, since Ed famously heads to California in the winter to avoid any possibility of snow...  And we took Arlo along.  He's a good traveler and got his hop on a bed (not allowed at home) in a pet-friendly motel in Allentown, PA.  We could not have made the trip at all without help from our friends Dineen, Kathy, Bonnie, Al and Josh who looked after Rufus, Phoebe and Lewis.  Thank you all!

Here's the beautiful park we visited in Allentown.  I love city parks - like an oasis in all the bustle around them.  Arlo had a grand time and we were determined to get out and walk as much as we could on this trip.

We spent Thanksgiving with Kent and Sue, Megan's parents in Lansdale, PA.  This was the third year they have hosted us and we're so happy they will be our 'in-laws'.


Kent's sister Donna was also visiting from Houston as she does every year.  We went for a long walk on Thursday morning and came back drenched with snow!





We all get along so well and four of us (I won't mention names) are Liverpool addicts.  So, we drank wine and played cards (did I mention there was wine?) on and off for three days.

THEN came the actual Thanksgiving dinner!  Ed and Kent minded the bird on the Weber grill while Sue,  Donna and Kent put together fabulous green beans, asparagus, sausage stuffing, oyster stuffing, gravy, yummy rolls, pumpkin pie and shoo-fly pie with ice cream.  I did virtually nothing (my M.O., I know - did I mention the wine?)

Of course we missed Megan and Anthony who were working (???) and too busy to join us.  They do have good excuses, though, but if they try to bail at Christmas, Kent says he's driving to Vermont to kidnap them.

Arlo was a really good guest (not possible, says Elizabeth: "Did he bring a gift?"  Did he take the sheets off the bed?")  But she was not there and he was a GOOD GUEST!

We drove over to visit my cousin Bill in Doylestown, PA on Saturday where his sister Janet and her husband Leon were dropping in for a visit on the way home from THEIR Thanksgiving visit to New York.  It was a nice convergence and Bill's beautiful daughter Kate was also there.  Bill lives in a converted barn a really pretty, serene place.  His cat Gizmo was taking no chances when Arlo arrived and hopped up onto a hutch for the duration of our visit.

Our last stop on the jaunt was to visit Ed's Aunt Joyce and his cousins Debby and Linda in Seven Valleys, PA.  Judy and her husband Pat hosted us for two nights and Judy had gone all out with holiday decorations (not just for us, of course, she LOVES Christmas).  It was great to catch up with everybody.  Aunt Joyce, 82,  is Ed's father's sister and the last of that generation of the family.  She's the history-keeper and always gives Ed some old photos and stories when we visit.  His father dies when Ed was two, so this is very meaningful for him.  At the table are Judy & Pat, Debby & Ed, our Ed and Aunt Joyce.