.jpg)
Clay and I were hosting at the Eugene Community Creche when Neil & Mandi showed up with Anna. I have a new portrait lens for my camera that can take photos in fairly dim lighting, and I was pleased with how this one turned out.
Clay and I were lazy this year and didn't want to put up our big Christmas tree (since we weren't having any company for Christmas). So we got this little tree and set it up on the end table. We don't plan on un-decorating it -- we'll just stick it in a big bag and set it upstairs or in the attic.
Clay won second prize at the ward's "Ugly Christmas Sweater - International Cuisine Potlock". We were somewhat confused because he is wearing a cute Charlie Brown t-shirt, not an ugly Christmas sweater. He graciously allowed me to take a photo of him in his winner's finery. We then used the tiara for a Christmas tree topper, since we hadn't yet found one we liked.
We were invited to Christmas dinner at Neil & Mandi's that afternoon. For some reason, I only took a few photos of Anna "opening" the Christmas present we gave her, a Fisher Price Little People dollhouse. As soon as the wrapping came off to reveal the people figures, Anna pounced on them. But since they were behind the plastic, she was frustrated that she couldn't actually get her hands on them.
Here is a photo of the toy from the FP website -- since I didn't take a picture of Anna actually playing with it when Neil got it put together. (I was enjoying watching her play with it so much that I didn't think about getting my camera out again).
They had gotten a wooden "toy" Nativity set so Anna could play with it, but I guess Neil got tired of it always being scattered around the house. So with his usual offbeat humor, he put up a "No Babies Allowed" sign, which Anna ignored, of course! They said she carried Baby Jesus around with her a lot, and they would find him in all sorts of odd places around their house.
Clay enjoyed playing with one of Anna's new Christmas toys -- he was proud of himself when he finally got them to stay stacked on top of each other.
Anna came over to our house a couple of days later to play with our Fisher Price nativity set, which she enjoyed. She spent a lot of time carrying Baby Jesus around, and her other favorite was the "hay" that came with the set.
I got a photo of Arlene and I together a few weeks ago. I had worked for her for over 32 years before her retirement in December. I wish I had a photo of us together from 1982 when I first started. That would have been an interesting comparison!
