Keara

Beautiful Baby K came over for a visit the other night. We believe she has cornered the market on "adorable." She's an easy baby to photograph since her eye contact is so intentional. Looking forward to going through the rest of the shots I took.

Christmas in Williamsburg

There is hardly a more lovely or quaint place to be at Christmas time than Williamsburg. We decided to spend a weekend there together as a family as we've done in years past. (Most of the pictures on this post are mine, but Janelle had my camera more often than I did. Watch her blog for an upcoming post titled "Perry Goes to Williamsburg.")

Unbeknownst to us, the Ricucci's also had made plans months ago to be in Williamsburg the same weekend! We made lots of fun memories together. We walked around the historic district Friday night and stopped in at the Inn to warm up and admire the lights.




One of the many things I love about my husband is his playfulness and spontaneity. We were walking along Duke of Gloucester Street when he challenged the girls to a race: "First one to that tree and back wins - Elise is base!" Off they went....

He won.
The obligatory shackles photo. :)

Garrett warming up with a cup of coffee.
Of course, the most adorable baby there was Keara, or as I call her "Beautiful Baby K."

Bob and Alicia S. told us about Aromas, a cozy wonderful coffee shop on Prince George Street. Stop in for soup and a sandwich on your next trip!

Visiting with Tom.
Our original dinner reservations at King's Arms Tavern for our family of 5 changed to a table for 12 when we found out the Ricucci's would be there.
Yes, I know it's blurry but both Janelle and I have an aversion to using a flash. King's Arm was very dark so we went for the "artsy" look instead. Our server was changing out the candles so she caught him while he was lifting up the glass hurricane.
It was a rich time in a beautiful place at the best time of the year. Many happy memories were made!

Snow!

These pictures are dedicated to my 2 sisters on the West Coast. Wish you could be here with us. Interesting fact about today: it has snowed in D.C. 4 out of the last 6 years on Dec. 5th.
Another interesting fact: Christmas Carols definitely sound better when it's snowing outside.

Traditions - old and new

Tradition: Thanksgiving dinner at Rayford's Crossing.

19 gathered around the dining room table for turkey. There was food, football, and....Sophia! She made our day. Some photos from the weekend....






Tradition: football on Thanksgiving.





The following is for Sophia and Danny:
"We're going to see Uncle Ed!"

"We're going to see UNCLE ED!"
"WE'RE GOING TO SEE UNCLE ED!!!"






We love you, Sophia!Tradition:
When the Mays cousins get together, nuttiness ensues.
Crazy cousins heading to the horse farm for a "photo shoot."

The angry model look. Ha!



Tradition:

The day after Thanksgiving we get our Christmas tree. No, we don't go to the forest to chop one down - been there before - many times. Johnson's is our spot.

New tradition:

Pumpkin bowling/smashing. Bowl the now mushy pumpkins down the hill...

and smash them against the trees. Apparently Janelle and Evelyn have done this in years past.

Back to the Christmas tree.

Ummm, I don't really know what's going on here.

We met the Ricucci's at the theater and saw "Enchanted" - great movie - and came back to the house for pizza and games.

The decorations are all up. Now all we need is snow!

: photographers for this post - Jean, Janelle, Elise, Garrett :