Here's a brief review... well, not so brief pictorial review of the 2007 Fraser/Farley Christmas in Lethbridge. The drive down was an uneventful 6(ish) hours, with only one rest stop at the halfway point. I was very happy that I bought Amy that portable DVD player for a non-birthday present in November because what could have been a rather unhappily raucous second half of the trip was, instead, a pleasantly glassy-eyed and quite serene cruise into the sunset on Friday afternoon.
I took over 200 pics over the week, just got 69 of them developed on real, live paper, and here are 29 of those. I sure hope you don't have a dialup connection, because you should totally go hand-grind some coffee beans for espresso if you do. It'll take a while for them all to load.
For the rest of you... enjoy. We did. Mostly.
"All the better to see you with, my dear."
Declan found true love this past week in the form of headphones and Grandpa's new 60" flatscreen.
Morning snuggle time.
Drawing in the kitchen with Mom and Grandma.
Obligatory artsy nature shot. From the kitchen window into the backyard.
Well, now that I think about it, we all sort of spent a lot of time in front of the 60" TV.
Can you hear Palpatine's voice too?
"You want this... don't you?"
Cousin Amanda hauling Dex around the cul-de-sac in Grandpa's dingo. I don't why it's called a dingo, it just is. And Dex loved it!
Snowball in mid-air. Can you see it? Amy missed, by the way.
Bow, chicka - WOW - WOW!!
No, we didn't piece Dex's ear. That's snow on the window.
"What!? Santa is coming right now?? Quick... Force Run to hide behind the couch!!"
Mmmm... bosomy.
Best dog toy ever.
I said:
One, two, you can't get enough
Three, four, open up the door
Six, five, alive is the Boy in the BOX!!
It's a cow AND it's a flashlight!
See? Best dog toy ever.
Grandpa helping the boys set up their Batman vs. Superman drag racing set. Grandma and Mom look on anticipating trouble. And yes, there were fights over this toy, let me tell you.
"Santa's gone already?!"
"I'll let you handle the remote for the 60" in a few years Junior. In the mean time, have some nuts."
"What?! I'm wearing the Star Wars shirt and Tav gets to play with Dad's lightsabre?"
Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them. Stretch out with your feelings!
The son-in-law got to carve the turkey. Yes, folks, I've been officially accepted into their clan.
The closest we got to a group shot. Only missing was me (shooting) and Grandpa, snoozing in the living room.
L to R:
Auntie Carie, Amy, and then, uh, Amanda-Declan-Tavish (top to bottom), and Grandma.
"Hee-Hee... I just tickled the Christmas tree!"
Declan has that look of disaffected indignation absolutely mastered.
Repeat this scene about 20 times. My week.
"Daddy you didn't brush this morning!"
Going home tomorrow morning, boys. Drink up.
Wow it looks like we did a lot of sitting around there. And I didn't totally miss with that snowball. I hit the bar behind Amanda.
Posted by: Amy | Friday, 28 December 2007 at 09:52 PM
Don't undersell yourself, Amy. It looks like you did a fair amount of laying around there too.
Posted by: Sarah | Saturday, 29 December 2007 at 09:52 AM
Looks like a wonderful Christmas! Jake loves his "lifesaver".
Posted by: Terri | Saturday, 29 December 2007 at 10:06 AM
Ah yes, laying around too. My big sis got me some new pillows, the memory foam kind. Very nice.
Posted by: Amy | Saturday, 29 December 2007 at 05:50 PM
Either you assess very quickly with your camera, you take a LOT of shots, you're lucky, or you have toddlers that stand still for a suspiciously long while in order to get cool shots like the magnifier and snow-earring ones. I'll bet on the second and third - and maybe some of the first - possibilities.
Fun roundup of Christmas :) I really like the father and son pic, great light - I'm jealous actually... I so would like a nice family pic taken of us.
Happy New Year in advance by a couple of hours :)
Posted by: Émilie B | Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 07:03 PM
Thanks Émy. I think I *can* assess a little with the camera, I most definitely DO take a LOT of shots, and as Obi-Wan would say, "In my experience there's no such thing as luck." I'm glad you didn't give any credence to the possibility that the boys stand still for any length of time. That's patently absurd.
Happy new year to you and your two boys too!
Posted by: Simon | Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 10:15 PM
What great pictures Simon! What a wonderful family you have....
Happy New Years!
Dave
Posted by: Dave | Monday, 31 December 2007 at 05:33 AM
Gorgeous photos, as usual. I don't know about you guys, but I really get tired quickly of all the sitting around and eating. One day, two, maybe okay but after that I'm ready to chew off my own leg.
Posted by: marian | Monday, 31 December 2007 at 07:23 AM
Crap. I don't know how I missed this post. Oh, yes, I do. I've been away from my two usual computers and I've become too reliant on my RSS reader. Sorry, Si. Just late to this party. Here goes.
I wonder how many shots that magnifying glass picture took to get just right. Or was it one lucky shot?
Those shots of Dex on the sled behind the go-kart takes me (fondlY) back to the days of snow in my hometown -- we rode our three-wheeler (yes, they once existed!) more on snowy days than any others. We dragged my cousin around on one of those plastic saucers, and it turned a little scary when her scarf got a) tangled around the "ski" rope, and b) wrapped around her neck. We dragged her, sans saucer, for a good 20 feet before we saw she was in trouble.
It's amazing how a front-on shot with a 2D camera can flatten Amy's heaving bosom. And equally amazing that she let you leave that "bosomy" shot out there.
They have full-size versions of those animal flashlights? Ben's is a tiny hippo whose mouth merely features a glowing red light, not a working flashlight. Hmm...
Are you telling the boys to drink up because that's a treat they don't get at home?
Posted by: Mark | Monday, 31 December 2007 at 08:49 AM
Dave, thank. And a happy new year to you too!
Marian, I too am very tired of eating. It seems sort of strange to me that I'm not snacking all day right now. Phew... thank god that's over for this year.
Mark, the magnifying glass was just one lucky shot. I snapped two quick ones while he had it up to his face and the positioning was just right. Plus, since I shoot in RAW, I can crop all the bad parts out and still have a high-res image. As for my wife's bosom, well, it's just not polite to discuss. Ogle, yes; discuss, no. ;) And the drinks in the last shot, no, it has nothing to do with them not getting juice at home. They drink a lot. They just looked cute squished into the same chair drinking juice at the same time, and it was late at night when I was posting it so I had a hard time coming up with a decent caption. That's all.
Posted by: Simon | Monday, 31 December 2007 at 10:45 AM
I must say, too, that Lethbridge is a very British-sounding place to go.
"Dahling, we are going to the cahstle in Leftbridge for the weekend. Don't tarry. Tea and crumpets at two, daaaahling."
Posted by: Mark | Monday, 31 December 2007 at 07:24 PM
That picture of my heaving bosom was there before I had a chance to say anything. I didn't even know it existed!! Can't do anything about it now, I was hoping no one would notice :P
Posted by: Amy | Tuesday, 01 January 2008 at 08:30 PM
A dingo took your baby!
Posted by: Paul | Tuesday, 01 January 2008 at 10:07 PM
I just showed Mike the wonderful photos and when we got to the one you captioned "Repeat this scene 20 times" he laughed out loud in recognizing sympathy and said "Been there, done that." What is it about kids and using their dads as a jungle gym?
Great post, Si, as usual. Of course pictures always make for the best ones.
Posted by: Elizabeth | Tuesday, 08 January 2008 at 06:30 AM