A little bit of Christmas

Around the house on our Christmas Eve.



Violet crowned by the Christmas tree. Finally got rid of it yesterday. Whew.....




Bea gets the camera again and I discover this photo. Amazing!! She will be a great talent.




And of course, she works so well with human subjects.....well.....almost human.




The view from the front porch at night. Looks a lot better than it feels!!



Bit of a storm going through our area these days. Made quite a mess of the wreath!! Cold too!



Here they are......all laid out for the kids. Santa is always so creative!!




Kami and Annie trying on all kinds of knitted gear. She finally gets a Green Thumb!!




Girls with Cabbage Patches. Violet is grazing for anything she can find. Usually Mum-Mum crumbs.



Bug seemed very pleased with his new camera. Just don't lose it, Bug!!



Violet gets up from her big beauty nap!! Face still shows the imprint of the blanket. Still has a much better complexion than Bug!! And she smells heavenly!
The next day, the McIntosh Clan all went off to spend the rest of the holiday next to the pool in Palm Springs!! While we shovel the snow and feed the fire!!!

Oh, what a dreamer am I

Just browsing through Paris pictures and had to show you a few more. I am dreaming of being there again someday.



This is an Easter Island head on spectacular display in the Louvre.
Amazing!!!

I ran across this little shop that displayed and sold copies of old maps. This is one of old Paris from.....I dunno.....1300 or so. Once I learn to read French maybe I can decipher this.

I sure wish I had bought some now!!

Ice Cream shop. The displays were honestly works of art!! This photo hardly gives any idea of the amazing colors. What is the matter with us that we can't do this?

Finally, a Drug Store. They all have this carnival green display.......I guess so you can find them easily. I thought they were just delightful.

Enough for now. Preparing to do a jam session here with Alex, Foucachon son-in-law from France. Supposed to be an amazing bass player. Guess we'll find out.

Joyeux Noel!!

Holidays!!!

Some pictures from the activities around the house at this time of year. Dominated of course by granddaughters!!


Vi-Vi sporting Nana's latest knitting invention: leg warmers!! Giant sized and stretchable.



Papa reads to the girls.........in French of course!! They are picking it up faster than we!!




Emma showing off one of the nice placemarkers she made for Thanksgiving....."action des grace"!





Christine with the latest knitted hat......."fair isle" technique! Isn't she pretty??



Beatrice gets the camera and does two grandmas at once. From her eye level!!



Then it's Grandpa......up close and personal.




Bea catches Emma and Grandpa in a tender moment.......how....decisive!!



Uncle Jon checks the fit of Vi's new helmet. Maybe we can stuff some newspaper in with her.



Vi shows off her one and only tooth!! Very, very sharp!! Purt near purfic!!


Decorating the tree. Spread out all of the old decorations and glue together all the broken ones.
Tree is all done with lots of Frosties!! Bet we beat you!!



Capped off with a very holy angel!
Tree smells great and cost a fortune. Very X-mas-y and we can still see around it to the new giant screen TV!! One more Christmas almost over!

McIntosh time..........

Beatrice............with feet growing out of her tummy!!!




The excuse this time is: Emma McIntosh has turned 5 years old!!
Never mind that she looks 21!!

Of course Violet must now have a share. Her first photo shoot! Cute......like mother, like daughter.

A little fun with boxes......... Bea's idea.

Mom spends a little time pulling hair!!

Jonathan keeps an eye on Violet while the girls change. I love this one. And of course, no retouching necessary!!

Flying???

She really did jump that high!! Young people nowdays have so much more energy than we had in our day!!

Ahhhh......the ballet!!

John and Melissa's little girl, Anne!!! Amazing how the time has flown by. She is preparing for college......on a ballet scholarship! Soccer??? Who needs it??

Moscow in October

Sunday, Annie and I went on a walk to the UI Arboretum. The colors were breathtaking. I know, everyone is posting photos of the fall trees now but I couldn't help but join in.

We love a parade!

Free football


Free pom pom


Free smiles


Sisters...
How could the day be more perfect??

Gunn Wilson is levitated!!

This kind of thing can only be accomplished with great amounts of concentration. He's thinking about the circus after high school.

Time to catch up...

La cooka rotcha! Annie turns 30!


Le lapin et Bea...


Basic fair shot


The three lovelies

Do I have the best job in the world??

Paula Nadreau.........Has a French name, right?? She looks it too!!

Tourists??

Remember I told you that I had mistaken some tourists from Minnisota for local Parisians?
I think it was their clothes. So here they are.........taking a picture, or pointing at the locals, or making secret hand signals. They looked so interesting, I had to take their picture myself.





But when I heard them speak, it was definite midwest average.

Then when I turned around, I saw the mother posing........probably with her hand on top of the pyramid!! All makes good sense to me.

So cute!! Dad probably had spent a small fortune buying them the outfits.

Guess it worked!!