For two weeks over the holidays, we surrounded ourselves with family, and were rewarded with many laughs, special moments and wonderful memories to come.
We spent the first week in New York City, preparing to celebrate Meg and Jason's first Christmas in their new house. The first day we all baked Christmas cookies together, and then proceeded to eat them the rest of the week. Minna and Ollie were never without someone to hold them, play cars or read stories, a nice treat for them but a much more special treat for each of the visitors. During nap time, we all took walks around the neighborhood, enjoying the chilly air and Christmas bustle. And we dined well, eating surprise fresh Nantucket scallops one night, fabulous Italian meatballs and spaghetti another night, going out for a special dinner on Christmas Eve and enjoying perfect rare prime rib and Yorkshire Pudding on Christmas Day, accompanied by the special sparkling Shiraz called 'Chook'. We wanted to move right into our rental loft, it was so perfect for us and an easy walk back and forth to Meg and Jason's.
It was hard to leave NYC and everyone, but once Dee, Mike and Leesee left for the airport, the rest of us eventually all got up to Vermont. We had a short second Christmas celebration when GG, GGPa and the Vogler's came over, and then we got into our daily ski trips to the mountain. Ollie turned out to be a natural on skis, right from the start. Our first day heading up to Mad River, as we pulled out of the driveway the Beatles' song, 'Here Comes the Sun', started playing on the car radio, just like in the 80's when we played that tape every morning as we drove through the Battleground covered bridge on the way to the mountain. It was an auspicious start for our first, next generation Mad River skier.