Thank You....

To all......

Here are a select few moments of bliss captured after Santa's passing. A race track, a robot, a really cool pop up book, glow in the dark fun, a wonderfully warm and cozy hat and slippers, perfume, a new shirt, transformers, a super cool superman t-shirt, and last but certainly not least a book of love sent by Sara and Nicholas. Wow, you have all outdone yourselves this year. Santa had his hands full.

Merry Christmas...

For everyone except our crab...who was amazing....
Although we support a non violent holiday season, things started getting a bit out of hand with the appearance of hammers and knives. None of us were harmed, aside from the cake that is.






Starting off with the meal on Christmas Eve...a 2 kilo crab, oysters, smoked salmon, shrimp, foie gras, tarte au citron made by Annick as well as a buche de noel (yum!). We didn't have room to have our cheese. Christmas Day Annick made a roast beef (with lots of love) which was excellent followed by an ice cream cake.

Seb's room...

Proudly displaying his transformers and mega block race track complete with pit stops and room for the crowds.

The button game....

Cute as a button...Zoe, Sebastian's cousin made it in under the header the button game. Go Zoe!


I saw this on line somewhere and I can attest that it does really bring days and days of entertainment. Four buttons, some construction paper and off we go. A bit like skee ball for the space challenged family.

It snowed!

Friday the 18th....Our first snow. A whopping 3 or so inches. No public transportation, no trains, Stephane couldn't get to work, people were stranded in London trying to get on the Eurostar and the airports were blocked. Three inches of white fluff...Sebastian was in heaven.

Seb's Christmas Program

Here he is...singing his little heart out. You can't miss him...look for the only kid with his bangs in his eyes. (2nd row from the back)

Sebastian and the ladies....

Sebastian here with  (little sister) Maddie

Maddie was actually comfortable and all smiles just seconds before the shutter closed 

Sebastian with (big sister) Amelia (and giant water gun of course)...

always glad to be part of the Branson-Braud extended family

also worth noting....

Generally speaking I am pretty lax about the whole cigarette smoking debate. Your house, your car, you do as you please, but this really caught my eye. I was secretly wondering where the hidden camera was, because this looked to gross to be true. So I ask you, is it possible to actually drive in this car and not be blinded by flying ash? Pardon the glare, crappy photo and all but I couldn't resist sharing.

for the love of the birds....

No preference, beach or park...as long as there are hungry birds and stale bread, all parties involved are happy.

merry go round...

After waiting for the highly sought after Spiderman car to be free, Sebastian was ready to go, happy as a clam. 

After grabbing the "pom-pom" resulting in a free ride, Sebastian's smile got even bigger (which I didn't know was humanly possible).

The gang.....

 Yeah! Sebastian invited two of his classmates over for the afternoon and they all had a very good time. The proof is in the picture....

a perfect morning for the beach

Quicksand...

 Well, here he is in action. Even though we brought a change of clothes for the little guy, we still had to go directly home after. When we pulled his boots off there was a sinister suction sound along with a big smile. Sunshine, water and sand..what more could a 4 year old ask for.

                                                                        Future Pope?

Our harvest of hazelnuts and chestnuts....as well as some color from a surrounding field. We fired up the coal stove in  the kitchen and were warm and toasty ...long live October.

training...

Sebastian really wanted me to take a video of his fireman training session. I believe he really just enjoys getting to wave and bow at the end of his performance....

The long awaited coffee table....

After months of waiting, Stephane finally has his coffee table complete with three matching stools. The pics are somewhat rude, but you get the idea. Yes, I am proud of this one. What's 6 months or so of a delay when you get this kind of finsihed product? I ask you.....

Hidden Treasures....

I came across these gems while looking for something else. One of the advantages to moving every few years. You rediscover things you had forgotten about which makes it even more fantastic when you come across them again. The colors on some of the silkscreen prints are really amazing. (You have to love the matching stamps...)