sugarlove girl: It's a Wonderful Life

It doesn't get any better than this. What a brilliant holiday we've had (and it's not even over yet!!)

Okay, it would actually be better if Paully and Michele and The Mums were with us, and Bob and Merilee too, but other than that, we have truly had a series of beautiful days. I think I'll start with a photo of Mister Man wearing his favourite present: his space helmet.

Of course this is not a real space helmet. It is, in fact, the "wrapper" for the uber-fuzzy blankets that were given to us by his sister Grayce. But of course, when Mister Man saw the blankie-bag cast aside this morning, he felt compelled to claim it and put it on his head. We "decorated" it later, so that he could march around the apartment pretending he was "Spaceman Spiff". Who knew that I was in reality living with a 5 year old? You know - the kid who isn't into the toy as much as he is into the box that came bearing the toy?

But I digress. Our holiday actually REALLY began last week, when we had our Christmas dinner with Annie and Lara. We had a brilliant meal by Chef Annie, and we played a new game. This was clearly the indicator for how amazing the rest of the week would be. Our hosts in festive regalia:

The lovely chef:

The lovely meal (rib eye with an onion and Stilton sauce, garlic mashed and green beans.

The silence descends as we chow down (action shot!)

The post-dinner requisite nap.

The most engaging chef (with the inexplicably curious expression, but it did make me chuckle....)

Christmas day began super early. Mister Man is an early riser, so he rolled out of bed at 5:00. And I was feeling excited, so I kinda followed suit at 5:30. This was all good, because when we skyped Newfoundland, we actually caught them before breakfast!

My favourite moment was opening the gift to us from my brother and Michele. It was a little video camera. And what I loved MOST about this gift was that they had taken the camera to the site of our upcoming September wedding in Newfoundland. They'd arranged to have the venue opened, and they took us on a video tour - and I, of course, started weeping, because it was such a fantastic and loving gesture. There was my brother, waving at the camera, and pointing out the features and possibilities of our wedding venue....

And then we also got to visit with my family via Skype and (bonus!) got to Skype Mariette too and share deets about the venue with her.

And then it was on to the home of Aunt Grayce and Uncle Chuck for my most favourite meal of the year: the turkey dinner with my favourite soon-to-be family.

Here's one of the chefs, carving the roast beast.