Monday, January 5, 2009

The first Noel (in France)







Well, it was a pretty typical Christmas. Except we were in France, and there was no family to visit with and, did I mention we live in FRANCE lately??? (still blows my mind) Kids slept until about 7am and then we got up. Santa brought them some sleds for the Alps and accessories for their bikes. Callie got a Strawberry Shortcake playdoh set, Griffin some blocks and a yellow car and Zander a fountain. Santa also wrote letters to each of the kids, saying he was suprised they had moved to france and that he was proud of all of them. He said he was going to hang Zander's picture in his workshop. Also he mentioned some things they could work on - Griffin, potty, Callie, whining and Zander, choking and hurting.
We got TONS of other cool stuff from our friends and family in the US - Callie loved her princess coloring book (and anything else with a princess on it) and her rainbow scarf (from Aunt Melodie). Griffin loved his pink and yellow papers, markers and googly eyes to do art with and Zander loved his pirate ship book and sewing pins and patterns. They all looked adorable in their new bath towels (Uncle Dave and Aunt Marge) and played Mr. Mouth (from Aunt Tina) together right away. We wrote thank you notes as we went along so it took a long time to open up the gifts (of course, I still have to mail those cards, that is definitely waiting until after vacation! So, for those of you still waiting - thank you all so much!) The kids spent the afternoon playing with their new things - they all enjoyed the cardboard castles/creatures that Aunt Melodie found - Zander even mixed some paint for his castle and started painting the walls after he put it together. Noemi (one of Zanders friends) stopped by to visit with some gifts for the kids - very nice - and I (determined to have a special dinner, even if no one cares but me) made a leg of lamb with "Grandpa's mashed potatoes" for dinner (OK, Zander says to say they weren't as good as Grandpa's - but at least I peeled the potatoes and whipped them with the beaters - give me a little bit of credit). For dessert we had winter fun cookies, chocolate chip cookies, super-brownies and crème chocolate - all yummy! In the afternoon we went for a family bike ride; unfortunately Callie wiped out at the bottom of a hill and cut her hand on a piece of glass - poor thing! Of course we talked to family on the phone - I was glad to be able to talk to my niece Lina - I wish I could have seen her and Livvie for the holidays.
Merry Christmas to all of you!

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