Nana hosted Christmas Eve and made a great dinner -- salmon, ham, salad, a great cheese platter, four desserts, etc. We didn't end up with a picture of everyone at the table (I'm not sure it would have been possible to get everyone in the frame), but here is Auntie Emma, Cousin Joseph, Auntie Georgina, Uncle Mike, Grandad and Nana:
After dinner (and apparently before we had a chance to wipe her face), Ellie put on her Santa costume. Thomas and Joseph were SO excited to see a little miniature Santa crawling around!
It looks like Santa has been hitting the mincemeat pies a little too hard -- check out that belly!
The boys trying their hardest to impress Santa:
It's not a good idea to strangle Santa on Christmas Eve, Joseph!
On Christmas, we went over to Emma and Brian's for another amazing meal! Turkey, ham, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrot and swede mash, bacon wrapped sausage, etc. Ellie tried some carrot and swede mash, but I don't think she like the texture:
Those lips were sealed tight -- no more mash for me, thanks!
The chef and Joseph:
Me, Georgina, Mike, Sarah, Lesley, Sue, and Peter:
The traditional Christmas pudding was set on fire after dinner -- I was tipsy just from the fumes coming off the cake (so I think that means it was really good)! The pudding is made far in advance (often a year in advance, frozen and then defrosted several weeks before Christmas), then it's given 'drinks' of brandy periodically to make sure that it's thoroughly saturated on Christmas. It's then steamed for about six hours, set on fire with more brandy, and then covered in brandy butter and brandy sauce. Delicious...if you like brandy!
After everyone ate, the cousins had a bath together! You can tell from Ellie's face that she wasn't thrilled about having a bath with the boys -- I think it's the lingering PTSD from her bath with Alex.
But she warmed up to the idea pretty quickly:
The boys are SO sweet with Ellie. They seem to understand that she's younger than they are and that she's a girl. They both like hugging her and touching her head. SO cute!
They're not always so sweet to each other:
Some post-bath peek-a-boo fun:
6 comments:
Looks like a LOT of fun - and so good to see everyone's smiling faces. Somehow there is an extra cachet attached to the idea of a British Christmas, maybe it's all those Dickens scenes we carry with us through life.
Joseph and Thomas are great, aren't they? Like big and little Thomases from the wedding trip...
The Christmas pudding sounds fantastic AND exciting. Damian, we're thinking that you should bring this tradition to the US. Thomas and Joseph look so much alike and are such cherubs. We love that Ellie is part of two cultures.
What a fun couple days! It is so neat to see Ellie with the boys... she's lucky to have such nice cousins. My favorite pictures were the belly hanging out of the Santa suit, Joseph gagging Santa, and the bath pictures. We didn't have anything set on fire around here... not nearly as exciting as the pudding!
And now you need to come home because I miss you! :)
How fun and I love the pictures, the 3 cousins are just adorable!!! Tell everyone we said hello!
Adrienne - that Santa suit is so darn cute. And I love Ellie's little belly peeking through. Merry Christmas to you and your family and best wishes for a happy 2009! - Carolyn
The eyebrows! What a trademark!
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