I love that line in Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas where Judy Garland sings, "Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more..." And that is exactly what's been happening this Christmas! I've been out to tea with my old friend Jeff, am looking forward to shopping and chatting and eating cookies with Kelly in the next few days, and Em came home! I haven't seen her since my long weekend in France (!) in August, and was thrilled to see how happy and healthy she is these days...
Em and Francois arrived in Vancouver late Sunday night (after some major snow-related delays in France and Germany) and made the trip to Victoria to see us on Tuesday morning. We headed straight to Pagliacci's for lunch and some serious catching up. 
Have I ever mentioned that Em and I write a lot of letters to one another? It seemed only fitting that I take her photo with a fancy Canadian post box!
The boys were so excited to have house guests, especially ones who were willing to make gingerbread men with them. 
We had fun rolling out the dough, cutting out the shapes
...and then slathering gooey icing and smarties all over everything!
Wednesday morning we had a festive breakfast, complete with Christmas crackers, followed by a trip to Starbucks and an afternoon of chatting and relaxing. It was a short, but oh-so-sweet, visit. And I didn't even cry when it came time to say good-bye, because Dylan and I had a post-Christmas trip to Maple Ridge planned for visit #2! (photos of that to come...)
Yay...so happy that you were surrounded by your dear friends over the holidays! i had more time with my dearest torontonian friends this year and feel so blessed for the extra visits we were able to squeeze in!
ReplyDeletewarm wishes for a happy new year!
k