Three Christmases

For those of you who have seen the movie "Four Christmases" with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, our three Christmases were nowhere near as crazy. Though we did find ourselves driving to Chele's house in the DC area on Friday, December 18, right at the beginning of the snowstorm that dropped 2 feet on the DC area. Progress was great until we hit Baltimore and the start of the snow, and the final 60 miles took us three hours...imagine our disappointment as we noted that we had 50 miles left to go and were traveling 50 mph, then 40 miles left to go and driving 40 mph, then 30 miles and 30 mph, then 20 miles and 20 mph.....despite making progress, we were stuck in a time warp and remained 1 hour from our destination!!! In the end, we arrived at 1 am, over 11 hours after leaving Boston, and with two very tired kids who found it hard to sleep in the car during this stressful drive.

So below are descriptions of our three Christmases and some photos from them.

Christmas #1 - Arlington, MA

Our first Christmas took place at our home in Arlington, MA in mid-December, before we embarked on our journey to NC for Christmas #2. It was a relatively simple affair, with just Meghan, Jason, Cameron and Isabel. We all opened a few presents and that was it! Below are some photos of the kids (some of you may recognize these from our Christmas card).

Cameron and Isabel in their Christmas outfits in front of the Christmas tree.

Cameron showing off his winning smile.

Not to be outdone, Isabel flashes a smile of her own.

"Yes, I am cute with my little white bow."

Before Christmas, we celebrated Meghan's 32 Birthday on Dec 8. Jason made a cake and everyone enjoyed a little cake and ice cream.

Christmas #2 - Southern Pines, NC

The drive through the snow storm occurred during our drive to Meghan's parents in NC to celebrate with her family. After making it to Chele's house in the early morning of Dec 19, we remained there through the day while the snow continued to fall. We did brave the weather to go out to lunch, and it was fitting that we sang "Jingle Bells" as we went...."dashing through the snow..." On Sunday, Dec 20, we drove the rest of the way to NC and as we went, the snow disappeared. Jason worked Dec 21-23, and then the whole family enjoyed a nice vacation and stayed in NC until after the New Year.

Below are some photos from the Christmas with Meghan's family.

The Bahler-Darling-Tabaretti families on Christmas Eve.

Auntie Chele with all of her nieces and her favorite nephew.

Isabel on Christmas day checking out her new rocking chair.

Little Isabel checking out all of the presents.

Cameron peaking around from behind the Christmas tree...."Are there any more presents?"


Cameron climbing through the kitchen chairs and making his own indoor playground....

...and then going for a ride on Lily, the giant horse-dog.

Jason and Mike took a little time away from the families to shoot some clay pigeons.

Christmas #3 - Littleton, NH

After we returned to Boston on January 2nd, we had one week to unpack from our trip, get settled back into Boston, and then drive to Jason's parents' house in Littleton, NH on January 9 for Christmas #3, with Jason 's family. Allison, Nate, Ethan and Anna came over from Vermont, and of course Jason's mom and dad were there. It was a brief trip, driving up in the morning and back home after dinner, but we all had a chance to open presents and enjoy a nice Christmas meal.

Below are some photos from Christmas in NH.

The entire Darling-Darling-Dean families together for "Christmas" in January.


Isabel enjoying her favorite part of Christmas...standing on the unopened presents.


Cameron learning to play the piano.


"This bottle is a little bigger than mine...how do I drink this?"


"Nono Darling, what is that funny hairy thing on your lip?"