The Most Magical Christmas

I have been a bit of a bah humbug about Christmas most of my adult life. But it's true what they say, once you have a child and can see it through their eyes, the holiday really does become magical. At least it did for me...

Stockings hung. Check. Utmost care. Check.

Henry left cookies and milk for Sanny Claus and a carrot for Rudolph.

The next morning...Henry was floored!! Sanny Claus and Rudolph ate everything and even responded to his note! He is still talking about this a week later.

An embarassment of riches.

Santa floored me by leaving us XM Radio!!! (on the mantle)

Stockings are filled with surprises!

Ready for school with his turtle backpack!

Showing Papa how to do a puzzle.

Breaking in Papa's new flask.

Fancy new Elmo vest.


Choo-choo!

Christmas ain't over 'til the fat lady bares her belly!

Henry's Busy Social Calendar

Through Henry J. Higgins, we get invited to a lot of fun shin-digs.

The adorable little girl in the brown jacket is Gabriela Murray, our next door neighbor and one of Henry's best friends. Her birthday party gave these city toddler hooligans the excuse they needed to take over the park ramp for their insidious purposes.

Like monkey impressions...

...and tandem skate-boarding.

Good grub!

Yum!

Of course, what's a party without a little live entertainment?

Enjoying The National Botanic Garden

Living in the nation's capital means we get to enjoy all sorts of museums and neat stuff fer' free. Thanks fellow taxpayers! Case in point, our trip earlier this month to the U.S. Botanic Garden with the Orvetti crew. Beyond the tons of plants you might expect, the museum is also home to super-cool holiday train displays.

Here's Henry enjoying a snowcapped mountain train display.

The wonder of the season...

Phones that discriminate against the very short.

Best buds.

O' Tannenbaum, O' Tannenbaum

As we were scheduled to be in town for Christmas this year, we decided to get ourselves a proper Christmas tree. Our very first! Todd thought it might be fun to start a family tradition of chopping down our own tree, so off we went to a Christmas Tree Farm in Maryland. Our dear friend (and secret Christmas tree fanatic) Ben Shaw joined the fun.

The 60 degree weather didn't make it feel so Christmasy...

"This looks like a good specimen..."

Of course you know who wound up doing all the real work...

"Timbah!!!!!"

All in a day's work for Henry.

Papa's right hand helper.

Don't worry! We made sure to drive real slow on the highway, and Henry was pretty well fastened...

Funny side note: the sweet old farmer who owned the Christmas Tree Farm, said that he had never, EVER, seen a Christmas tree so well secured to the top of a car as ours was.

Go knot nerds, Ben and Todd!

Wedding Bells in Capital City!

Even the hardened criminals were grinning at the DC Courthouse when Greg Campbell and his beautiful fiancee, Jurgita (pronounced Yurgita) happily tied the knot.

Here are the flower boys, Henry and Nicolai.

The very gracious and sweet D.C. court official who married them.

"I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Campbell!"

A bunch of old marrieds.

DAY OF GLUTTONY AND GRATITUDE

We spent ours having a (butter)ball in Philadelphia. Here's a few pix.

Nonno and his girls.

"Nico! Stop lovin' me so much!!"

Four DiFrancos on a couch. Cora, Simona, Nico and Henry.

For many, many more Turkey Day photos, please visit the site of the photographer in the family. http://phatrish.livejournal.com/

Dudestock 2006

Last weekend, Todd and a bunch of dear friends got together for a surprise (to Todd)

guy's weekend near Lake Anna, Virginia. Henry had secretly been planning it for months!

Todd and Dan take in the water view.

Todd is up a creek without a...wait a minute.

Lake Anna sunset as seen from a kayak.

The infamous antler chandelier.

"Nope. I don't have any two's. Go fish."

(Choz, Brad and Rob)

The whole durn crew!

Which one of these is not like the other?

If you guessed Waldo, you guessed right!

Only monosyllabicly named men were actually at the event.

The Master At Work

Look how meticulously he cuts the Play-Doh.

Y'know, it's gotta' be just the right size to properly grind into the carpet

Stand back or I'll cutcha!

INDIAN SUMMER IN DC...

Yes, it was 72 gorgeous degrees in DC last week. All the inspiration needed for me, Henry and the Orvetti boys to hit the Capitol Mall.

A photo snapped when Henry somehow sneaked onto the CLOSED Smithsonian Carousel. "Uh, ma'am. Is this your son? He shouldn't be in here," the carousel workers said.

Wonder how many more times I will hear THOSE WORDS in my life?

After the carousel officially opened, Henry had his most awe-struck, fascinated carousel ride ever. It was really sweet.

Me and my belly enjoying the leaves...

There's a great big sign at the Sculpture Garden that says, "DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE SCULPTURES." The thing is, Henry and Porter can't read.

Miles and Henry on a roll.

Thanks to the talented Peter Orvetti for the pix!

Pfeiffers Make Beltway Pilgrimage

My very sweet, generous in-laws paid us a swell visit last weekend. They made the 10-hour trek fom Kentucky to bring us the Pfeiffer Family Heirloom Changing Table -- a gorgeous changing table that Brett and Todd made together. No more back-breaking, hunched- over diaper changing for us when Humphrey comes, no sir!

We intend to start living the high life with this kid.

Their visit was a quick one, but a blast, here's some pix.

"Cousin Hen-a-ree, I do believe you have horns growing out of your head!" --Slone Pfeiffer

Henry teaches Slone how to sumo wrestle.

Slone picks it up in no time flat.

Vanessa and Brett enjoy Capitol Hill at dusk.