Holidays with Matthew, Carrie and Celia

December 31, 2016 to January 3, 2017                                                              Most Recent Posts:
Saturday to Tuesday                                                                     Flying to Maryland to Visit Carrie and her Family
Severn, Maryland                                                                                        Time Out………. David’s Sick

 

SATURDAY

The scene looked serene early Saturday morning.

 

But soon Carrie is showing Celia her stocking and passing around the gifts

 

 

After opening a few stocking stuffers, we move directly to those pastries.  This is all traditional for the Boyd family and this is the first time we’ve had our celebration in the Iwanowski home.   Father and daughter enjoy their sweets.

 

 

Then it’s back to opening presents.

 

 

It’s Give me Stout or Give me Death (what would Virginian Patrick Henry think?)  for David from a home state brewery in Richmond Virginia.  He’s very pleased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stout is David’s favorite kind of beer and the growler of Rogue Rolling Thunder is his very favorite of the ones Carrie and Matthew picked for him.

 

 

Another tradition is a Sierra Club desk calendar for Carrie.  She always asks for it and always gets it and is always thrilled that it happened again.  She looks up what gorgeous photograph is on the page for each of our birthdays.  Life’s simple pleasures!

 

Matthew has opened one of his gifts, a hummingbird feeder but amazingly there seem to be no pictures of that in our dual collection.  Right after that however he takes Celia over to the window where he shows her the birds in the backyard that Sidney, the tuxedo cat, is watching too.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

 

 

Celia gets a banana toothbrush about which she seems to be totally uninterested.  But later in the day she discovers that she can chew on it with those new teeth and she likes that.

 

 

When I put Leonard Cohen’s lastest CD on my Santa list, I had no idea it would be his last CD and that his death would happen so soon.  He is one of my absolutely favorite poets and had I been in charge of the Nobel prize, it might well have gone to him rather than Bob whom I also like.  Thanks Carrie and Matthew!

 

 

 

The gift exchange takes place pretty much all day long – also a tradition.  We move from the lovely living room into the carpeted family room so Celia can roll on the floor and Matthew can make a comfy spot for Sidney to relax while he opens gifts.

 

I love these pictures of Celia in her Santa Dress considering one of her gifts.  The outfit is just too cute!

 

The camera distracts her.

 

Finally Carrie helps her out and a very different Santa suit is in the box.  Celia looks wonderful in them both and of course I am not the least bit biased.

 

 

 

A few more gifts are opened and a story read and then it’s play time for Celia and her friend Sidney while the grown ups make the mid day meal.

 

 

 

 

The dinner of course has way too much food and provides wonderful left overs for the next few days.

 

 

After the food, it’s time to finish the gifts.  We return to the stockings and the tree.
Celia is as interested in the wrapping and ribbons as in the gifts.

 

 

Carrie takes a look at my favorite picture of Carrie and Celia which we had framed and gave to Matthew for his office or wherever he wants to have it.  I posted the picture previously when I first took it and it is one of my very favorites.

 

 

Celia seems to have serious drummer talents as she displays with a rattle gift from her stocking.

 

Signs she will follow in her Gramma and Mama’s footsteps as an avid reader?

 

Speaking of reading, another of my favorite artists, Mary Oliver’s new book is now mine thanks to Carrie and Matthew.   Can’t wait to get started.

 

Santa thinks you can always use new sheets

 

Sidney was very interested in Matthew’s gift of a guide to the birds of Maryland and Delaware.  Hope he’ll find some local spots around his new house to go out and see which ones he can identify.  With his great memory he’ll be a star birder in no time.

 

 

David gets a couple more medalions for his hiking stick from parks where he’s done some serious hiking.  The infamous Delaware Water Gap with it’s rugged Buttermilk Falls trail and Acadia where he did a great deal of  hiking over 6 weeks a few years ago.  We hope to figure out how to go back there this summer and see what kind of hiking he can do now with this new heart condition.

 

After the presents are finished it’s time to play a game.  Carrie choose a new and different version of Clue which she borrowed from the Iwanowski home in West Virginia. Clue is probably her favorite game and she reads on the box that they seem to have made an industry out of it with spin off games, a movie and I think she said a TV series in the UK.  

 

 

David is checking his clues and Celia is checking the camera.

 

 

She’s a happy camper watching the action and actually has quite a bit to say about it.

 

 

 

She’s making some serious proclamations.  Wish we knew what they were about.

 

While they are all playing the game, I am in the kitchen making the traditional Solstice Cake.  Yummmy chocolate with serious butter cream icing.  Usually with a big golden sun on it.  Some of you have seen it on previous years.   It’s too late by the time it is baked to allow it to cool and ice and eat it so we’ll consider cake for breakfast tomorrow.

 

 

SUNDAY  JANUARY ! 2017

On this Happy New Year Morning, Miss Sunshine wakes up bright and cheery.  We do have cake for breakfast and of course I take pictures of our sunshine but forget to take them of the cake.  Oh well…..it is totally delicious.

 

 

In the afternoon Carrie takes us to a nearby preserve where we really enjoy their trails.  The temperatures have moved up to a balmy 50 degrees from a low of 36.   This area is a reclaimed wetlands and has a couple of ponds and numerous trails.

 

 

 

 

This great blue heron puts on quite a show.

 

 

 

Later at home Celia plays with her Daddy, rolls on the floor with her velvety Pooh Bear and takes some turns in what is probably her very best Christmas gift, a cadillac jumper from her Grandmother Joan and Grandfather Bob.  It literally has bells and whistles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MONDAY

Monday I get some bath time pictures.  We gave Celia a Pooh bath towel when she was born but she’s out grown it so a new one was a gift to her and she looks so darling.

 

 

 

 

 

TUESDAY

We’re up early Tuesday morning to make it to the airport so that Carrie can go back to work and the family can have their house and their life back.  Our first Christmas with Celia is a wrap.  Pretty sure this is about how we all feel!

 

On Wednesday we moved from Wellborn to Hillsborough River until January 15. 
Next post will be what we have done there.  I’m going to try to do one post per place as my New New Year’s resolution.  We’ll see how well I do.  Maybe I can keep from getting behind.