Cats with bows Christmas 2012 was Sophie and Jack's first Christmas. Bertie gave them pointers on various Christmas techniques, such as Trying to Topple the Tree, Knocking down Tiny Fragile Ornaments, and Eating Ribbons off Gifts.They developed many innovations of their own, and eventually managed to completely denude the lower branches of the tree, which gave it an odd top heavy look. But still FESTIVE.
party table Our Christmas Eve party was graced by a surprise guest appearance: none other than Allan's splendid Celebratory Flashing PickelHaube as modeled by the genial inventor himself! We were all transfixed by the elegance of this festive headgear.
The Surprise Hit of the Yankee Christmas Gift Exchange was the Horsehead Mask. Jacob was the lucky winner of this desireable gift. There was also a certain amount of energetic but friendly competition for the Garden Gnomes, eventually won by Arabella.
Horse Mask, side Garden Gnome in the snow Horse Mask, front view Garden Gnome in the snow Horse Mask, side
Dinner with babbies We were so very happy to be able to celebrate Christmas at Daniel and Claire's new house, now that they have moved to Virginia! The Christmas cracker jokes were especially hilarious this year, especially with TWENTY FOUR of us at the table! Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this lovely event possible. Claire took many wonderful pictures, available here.
And thanks also to Anna, who initiated The Cousin Game, in which the cousins exchanged gifts with an elaborate guessing procedure to figure out who was the benefactor.
Also, Joy and Dave took a bunch of pictures of their Christmas trip to the USA, shared here. 		Seth,Beatrice, Aaron, Joy

The Cats Carouse*

Cats carousing by Christmas Tree Cats carousing by Christmas Tree Cats carousing by Christmas Tree
Our cats celebrate the season.OF COURSE, as Sophie and Jack are underage, that is non alcoholic cider they are drinking. But what is this? The poor Starving Workhouse Cats (AKA visiting cats) are left out? God Bless us every one!
*Note that this is an artist's conceptualization of the scene. As it happened, Lalo didn't actually come but stayed in NY, and Astro, far from starving, took on himself the business of eating all the cat food in the house
Father Christmas w sleigh Our Christmas Wish List page (the swell Advent calendar) is here.
Hope and Lawrence Our Christmas newsletter is here
Christmas Go back to Main Christmas Page