Family Files!

Santa came, evidenced by the half-eaten Kris Kringle cookie and empty glass of milk, and left presents … lots of presents. Santa brought Flora everything she asked for (recap: Princess Polly Pockets, a Belle with Carriage, and a Big Ariel), and hands down her favorite gift was the Princess Polly Pockets. Charley got a fire truck with “guys” and a real working hose. The rest of the loot included a wooden road and rail play set and a giant wooden dollhouse from Mom and Dad, and countless toys, games, movies, gift cards, and more from everyone else. The kids were so excited they wanted to play with everything simultaneously — and they did — it took Marty and I DAYS to clean up the living room. Thanks to everyone who thought of us this holiday season!

View Flora and Charley’s “Christmas 2009″ photos

We had a fun-filled Christmas holiday with visits from Uncle Andrew, Papa, and Amma that included lots and lots of good food. Not to break from our tradition, we had Chinese food for Christmas Eve dinner at Taiwan Cafe in Chinatown (this is Marty’s favorite restaurant in all of Boston!), and started that day with breakfast at Donuts With a Difference in Medford. On another night, we had a seafood feast with fresh fixings from Turner’s in Melrose. And one day we even made a gingerbread house and grazed off of the decorations for days. Not to mention the barrels of cheese and bread from Zingerman’s, the vats of homemade baked ziti, the pizza lunch at the hotel, the prime rib dinner on Christmas night, and Indian food from Rang in Stoneham … we’ll be starting our diets asap!