Christmasnooch part 1

Last Christmas, in a fit of madness no doubt brought on by too much turkey, Mark and/or I (we can't remember who is to blame) declared "next year, in Ottawa!" It seems people were paying attention and actually took us seriously. As Gabrielle likes to say, "we have a job to do," and so as December arrived, we hurriedly unpacked our boxes, hid the ones we couldn't unpack, bought a wall bed, and crossed our fingers, hoping we could pull off hosting Christmas for the Draper clan.

Luckily, the family appeared in waves, and so we were lulled in, gently, into the festive season. The first arrivals were Pat, Jane, and Aunt Kitty. They arrived on Christmas Eve, had a short visit, then returned to the nearby hotel where they were staying. They returned on Christmas morning for the customary opening of the Christmas bags.

For those faithful readers of this blog who do not have the last name of Draper, the Christmas bags are my own name for what the Drapers call "stockings." They don't look like stockings - they look like laundry bags, or perhaps pillowcases for those nice Queen- or even King-size pillows. The bags or "stockings" are huge, and often filled to the top with goodies. Anyways, this is how Christmas morning traditionally begins - with the stockings/bags/cases. I thought it would be cute to get a picture of G and Isaac in their red pyjamas in front of the bags but Isaac wouldn't cooperate. By the time we were ready to open these, it was time for his morning nap, and so off to bed he went so that we could open presents in peace.



Here are Kitty and G comparing foot sizes. This is not a Draper tradition, it's just something they were doing.



Pat and Jane showed up on Christmas morning all gussied up, dressed to the nines. Whereas Mark, the kids and I were all in our pyjamas for the entire day. Next time, we'll agree on the dress code ahead of time. Pat showing off his profound tea towel.



G was great at opening gifts. She squeaked and squealed after every one, although she moved pretty quickly to the next one. Here she is pleasing me by modelling her new slippers, but you can tell she just wants to get it over with so that she can open more presents.



Finally Isaac woke up, much happier, and ready to open his big red bag presents. The first present was this plush soccer ball, which he absolutely adored and killed his interest in going any further. Luckily, G was there to assist, basically opening all his presents for him. I can't tell you how many times we said "Gabrielle, remember, those are Isaac's presents," as she squeaked and squealed with every one.



Isaac got a bit shy when Mark's friend Jim came for his bi-yearly visit to drop off the "ding a ling" card Mark and he have been passing back and forth for over 25 years. Isaac does the cutest things when he feels threatened.



Christmas dinner. It all came together in the end but it was a bit harried in the last half hour. How could I have forgotten to boil the potatoes??



After dinner is traditionally the opening of the "tree" gifts, so-called because they are put under the tree. So much for a Jewish girl to learn. Because Katharine and her family weren't here yet, we only opened a few gifts, saving the rest until the Draper-Quinns arrived in a couple of days. G got the Weebles she'd been pining for and here are the kids, unknown to me, chomping down on Belgian chocolates sent by Mark's Uncle Mike and Aunt Heather. Sweet sweet Christmas...



Next up: The Draper Quinns and Christmasnooch part 2.