The first gifts for our nephews were opened on Christmas Eve morning, thanks to Grandma:
We had a fantastic traditional dinner after Christmas Eve Mass:
Then we opened the rest of the family gifts. Grandma and Grandpa loved their gifts from the kids:
And the boys liked their England football jerseys:
Little D trying out his new sleeping bag -- perfect for those Cub Scout camping trips:
And he was awfully excited about getting great coins for his collection:
Even the adults got gifts:
On Christmas day, the party moved to my Mom & Dad's house in Baltimore. This was the sunrise from their living room window -- wow!
Mom & Dad's tree is always gorgeous:
D's family joined us in Baltimore for Christmas dinner. They arrived in time to see the beautiful Christmas day sunset over the Ravens' stadium:
Mom's lovely Christmas dinner table:
Her meal was fantastic --even the ham!
Early in the morning on the day after Christmas, D and I flew to South Carolina to spend time with Jeff & Carol and the girls. We had Christmas all over again!
Clothes and accessories were popular with all three girls this year:
Our youngest niece loved her new throne. She asked us to call her "Your Majesty"!
We had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone for a few days:
Just a little family resemblance...!
We played a lot of games, including bingo, charades, Cadoo, and even Twister:
And I got reacquainted with Silas the Wonder Dog!
We had a big send-off at the airport, too:
And we were back in Baltimore in time to go to the Ravens game on Sunday evening -- their win clinched a spot in the playoffs! Woohoo!
I just liked this billboard, located between the Orioles stadium and the Ravens stadium:
On Monday we had lunch with Bob & Marie at the waterfront in Annapolis. It was fun to catch up with them and also share memories from our fall trip to Italy:
And we had dinner in DC with my friends from work. Here we are with Linda & Hank, Michael, Wilson, Alice, and Laura. It was a great meal with friends:
The next morning we had breakfast with Chris, Laura, and Aaron at their new house in Maryland, then we rang in the New Year with Steve, Maria, and the boys:
We headed north to Pennsylvania on New Years Day to see Cathy, Ray, and Tommy. Tommy the second grader was teaching me how to construct Star Wars heros out of Legos -- but as you can see, his was largely a supervisory role. Cathy and I were left to do the bulk of the construction! (This might have been a tough scene to imagine back when we were in high school!)
We enjoyed seeing Cathy's parents too. Here is Bill with Tommy and Ray:
The next day was our final one in the US. We had a festive lunch in Annapolis with Randy, Lisa, Kyle & Danica (in town from Singapore) and Steve & Maryanne:
then we joined my parents and Steve, Maria and their boys for an early dinner at TGIFridays near the airport before our flight:
We packed a lot into this trip home, and loved it! We had an uneventful trip back to the UK, but when we arrived home we discovered that our boiler had stopped working while we were away -- no heat -- and the temperature inside the house was 40 degrees F! Brrrr. Here I am, patiently waiting for the heat to come back on....
Happy New Year to all!
Mom & Dad's tree is always gorgeous:
Our youngest niece loved her new throne. She asked us to call her "Your Majesty"!
I just liked this billboard, located between the Orioles stadium and the Ravens stadium:
Happy New Year to all!
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