Christmas in Newport and Philadelphia
 Our pathetic Christmas tree
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 Ice in our backyard, a few days before Christmas
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 Closeup of the ice that coated everything
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 Eidan in his Iron Man costume
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 Kai on Christmas Eve
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 Mike and Eidan at Terry’s house on Christmas Eve
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 The next generation, at their finest
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 Eidan and Kai wrestling with Uncle Paul
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 Eidan passed out on a chair after all the Christmas excitement
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Christmas started early for the boys, as they opened their presents on the Sunday before Christmas. Our decorations were even more pathetic than usual this year. Maria is always overwhelmed with grading work for all her students at the end of the semester, and I was preoccupied with the repair work in the wake of our plumbing disaster. But of course the boys still made out like bandits.
They got their presents early from us because a few days later, we went to Newport to spend Christmas with my family. Holiday trips to Newport are always a whirlwind experience for us, as I have a ridiculous number of relatives to visit in such a short time. It’s complicated – I’ve got half-siblings, steps, ex-steps – but to me they’re all simply family (and the boys may not have figured out exactly who everyone is yet, but they do know that they get plenty of presents). The standing joke in the family is that my half-brother and half-sister – who are not related to each other in any way – should get married, so that we can all become each others in-laws too. It would be like that old song, I’m My Own Grandpa.
