Another year has come and gone, though it’s hard to believe. In fact, it seems like only yesterday we were huddled around our keyboards worried about Y2K, and now here we are at the dawn of a new decade, the “Twenty-Tens”. As everyone knows, Christmas is my favorite time of year, and it is made all the more special when sharing it with my wonderful family.
Riley and Veronica really enjoyed the Christmas season, and would wait with great anticipation for the outside lights to come on every night. They rushed from window to window oooh-ing and aah-ing, and clapping for the lights. Each morning while they were waiting for breakfast we’d do a countdown to turn on the tree in the living room, and each day they applauded like it was the best thing ever.
December packed an early winter’s punch for Northern VA, with a minor snowstorm on December 5th followed by the unprecedented “Snowpocalypse” from December 18-20. When it was all over we’d gotten about two feet of snow, and I was very thankful for the snowblower Dad gave us as a housewarming gift six years ago.
Candy’s parents flew up from GA on the 23rd to spend Christmas with us, and in spite of a cooking faux pas (I accidentally turned off the oven when I meant to only turn off the timer), our Christmas Eve dinner was very well received (if a little late). On Christmas morning, the twins could not have been more excited to see all the gifts under the tree, including a rocking giraffe! They had a wonderful time and we were glad Candy’s parents could share it with us. There wasn’t much time before we put them on a plane back to GA and we loaded up the car to drive to NY for Murphy Christmas!
Murphy Christmas was tons of fun as always, and it was great to see all the cousins together. They are going to be great friends as they get older being so close in age. The highlight was a party at Aunt Ann’s where most of the US-based Murphy cousins gathered to resurrect one of our favorite traditions. There were 16 second-generation cousins under the age of nine, and everyone was excited by a visit from Saint Nick himself.
While in NY, I also enjoyed a reunion of my 8th grade class from Sacred Heart School, and Candy and I spent a frigid but fun day in the city, visiting the tree in Rockefeller Center, having a nice dinner, and seeing The Lion King on Broadway (highly recommended to everyone!).
Things have been very busy, with work and otherwise, which is why we haven’t posted in a while. Here are some photos from August and September, including the last days of summer, a trip to the Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum, Grandparents’ Day with Nannie & Da, and the first day of Babygarten.
Riley took his first steps the afternoon of their first birthday, and was walking very well by the end of August. Veronica took her first steps in late August, and by the end of September is just starting to have the confidence to walk without assistance or prompting. Riley’s already started running.
There’s also a video of Riley and Veronica jamming to the demo track on my old Casio.
Although their actual birthday is not until Tuesday, this weekend we celebrated the babies’ first birthday party on Saturday with family and a few close friends. Candy made special applesauce cakes for each of the babies since they aren’t quite ready for real cake. The kids made out like bandits with lots of toys and some new clothes. They had lots of help from their friends opening their gifts. It was a great day and the kickoff of a great week of birthday festivities…
