Welcome to Winter 2002-2003! 

Well, we made it through the holidays all in one piece. We spent Thanksgiving at Joe's Mom's house ... plenty of great food and fun with the family. Joe was unfortunately too sick to play in the Annual Turkey Bowl football game, but we still had a very nice holiday together as a family. Our Christmas festivities included office Christmas parties, Joe's Christmas Concert at the College, church services and gatherings. Then, we left town for a nice long (10 day!) trip to Heidi's folks' house for Christmas. We had a wonderful time hanging out as a family with Heidi's Mom and Dad, and Chris and Kristin. We played games, ate way too much of Mom's good cooking, went to the movies. Emily even had her first try at ice-skating under the guidance of her Uncle Chris. 

Best now to let the pictures speak for themselves ...

Formal Portrait  We have to get formal portraits done every so often for Christmas cards. Even though this one isn't all that "formal," it fit the bill nicely.	M-I-C-K-E-Y ...  Heidi's Secret Santa from her ParentsPlace June 2002 Playgroup sent these great Mickey Mouse ears for the kids (along with a bunch of other great goodies ... thanks, Amy!).
Let It Snow!  Millville got a rare snowstorm this year. We often get slushy snow or ice, but a nice snowfall like this comes maybe once a year, if that. The kids had a good time, even in the dark.	Yum!  Matthew isn't sure if taking a giant mouthful of snow was a good idea.
Chee-eee-eese!  Nice pajama picture on Grandma and Grandpa's couch.	Ho, ho, ho!
That's the Idea! Matthew dove right in opening his presents. He didn't always realize that he was supposed to play with the stuff *in* the boxes, instead of the boxes, themselves. His favorite toy on Christmas morning was a squeaky rubber frog from the Dollat Store.	Bunny! Emily stops to pose with her favorite Christmas toy -- a brand, new (sparkling clean!) bunny just like her good ol' Bun-bun.
Vrooom! Grandpa, Uncle Chris and Aunt Kristin made two of these steamrollers in no time flat. Matthew vrooomed it (sound effects and all) all over the house.	Sharing? Even though it doesn't look it in this picture, the kids mostly played together well, sharing the toys.
Bye!  Chris and Kristin stop for a picture right before they hit the road for her parents' house in Maine.	Wheeee! The kids had a great time sledding down the little hill by the house -- maybe almost as much fun as Grampo had!
Sunny Day I just couldn't resist a picture of Emily in the sunshine.	It's Buckethead! For some reason, Matthew delights in wearing this bucket on his head and running (full-tilt) all around the house.
Future Olympians?  Emily and a friend pose right before their weekly gymnastics class.	Ta-dah!  Emily is learning to tumble and how to move on the various gymnastics apparatus. Miss Chrissie offers a few pointers on the uneven bars.
What a Toy!  See what I mean about Matthew preferring the boxes to the toys inside them? He and Emily ran around all day inside this box, until it finally tore from the abuse.

We'd love to hear from you at alleghator@yahoo.com.

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