Greek Dinner 2012: OPA!

Every year it's always good, but this year's Greek dinner was the best ever! The menu is pretty well set: Philly was responsible for the souvlaki, Will and Jamie made the Greek salad, Maren made the pilafi, I made the spanokopita, Katy and Daniel made tzatziki, Emily brought the pita and hummus, Stephen and Ann made the dolmades, Millie made her famous rice pudding, Tiffany made some killer Greek cookies, and Anna furnished the plates, cups, and flatware. We normally have this meal New Years night, but did it early for Will and Jamie who flew home today.

 Everyone did a great job

Beyond delicious!

 Pippy working his magic

 The binkers eating the bits they like: mostly 

meat and pita

 That's a bunch of kids

 Millie, Anna, Jamie and Achilles

 The Taylors

 If they wait patiently, the kids will finish and 

the adults can sit at the table

Ready for New Years Eve

There will be more, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

The Days After Christmas 2012

The days following Christmas have been spent shoveling snow, shopping, eating, making and burning DVDs, incomplete puzzles, sledding, eating, shoveling, and shoveling and eating. Anna and her troops arrived on Friday and we went to Steve and Tiffany's to celebrate Tiffany's birthday.

 Lunchtime

 Ready to burn a DVD

 Excellent help!

 Gavin created nice clear parking spots

 Shoveling is an extended-family/neighborhood affair 

 Gavin and Beck headed south

 Maren launching Meg

 Pippy and Meags

 The sledders all

 Janet made our supper

 Happily expectant

 Janet is back, in her new Center-Street location

 Did I mention we shoveled snow?

 Freshly coated Timp at dusk

 These piles of snow will likely not melt until spring

 Emily, Tiffany, and Anna

Phillip, Will, and Steve

There is still more, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas morning was filled with gifts, Christmas brunch at the Ringers, and visiting the kids and their families. When the sun went down and the old folks were in bed, things got crazy! That's what happens when you leave your camera unattended with youngsters who have stayed up way too late and imbibed a lot of bubbly.

 The boys checking out the stockings

 He's a lumberjack and he's OK

 Kris's amethyst pendant

 A Hobbitish map and a new axe

 Brunch at the Ringers

 Greg, Jeff, and Joyce

 Jams were the order of the day

 Beck and Auntie Em at the Colvers

 The Taylors enjoying their new fireplace

 This could be the start of something great

 It's getting better all the time

 Fun with fruit

Beard accessories

More to come, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve, the family gathered for dinner, an unplanned and unexpected fun-with-napkins event,  nativity, talent show, and a viewing of my 2012 DVD. The aunts and uncles opened their gifts to each other before heading home. Before bed, in keeping with long-standing tradition, Grammy read The Polar Express and The Story of Christmas. The Youngs opened their new PJs, the boys went to bed, and Santa arrived without a hitch.

 The boys were very pleased with a 

Christmas-Eve snow storm

 The 3rd-generation table (someone

doesn't like to sit at a "kids' table")

 Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, rotkohl, sprouts, 

spuds, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry salad

 North-west corner of the table

 The south-west corner

 The south-east corner

 Gavin likes Maren's bikini

 This is something they used to do with the Boynton cousins 

 A large doobie

 A kilt

 Nativity scene (you probably didn't know that

one wise man gave an iPhone)

The whole cast

Piano solo

 A vocal duet

 A father-son collaboration

 A vocal solo

 A piano solo

 Auntie Katy shares some poetry

 Beckham busts a move

 Bing bong bing bong...

 The Christmas pudding

 The second generation opens gifts

 Grammy reads some stories

Christmas jams

Good times with more to follow, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.