Merry Christmas!

I'm sitting in an uncomfortable airport chair at Schiphol International, babysitting piles of backpacks and coats while the girls are off finding sandwiches and real European milk. European milk, for the record, rocks our world. We have no idea how they do it but European cows are happy cows. We needed a dose of happy cow after spending three hours sitting on a plane with not one but three under four year-olds screaming within a two row vicinity for what, 1/2 the plane ride? KLM has civilized food (couscous salad, Greek style), Russians are the worst airplane passengers I think I have ever seen and I am grateful for new Christmas headphones. Wanted to wish you all Happy Christmas (the British way) and hope that you aren't stranded in an airport somewhere or waiting for lost luggage, that you are with family or people you love and can enjoy the gift of the season. Tomorrow we will be in the land of yodeling, crepes and Gruyere cheese with the Swiss branch of our family. We love and miss our friends around the world--from our beloved Kangs, Brimhalls, Densleys, Benners, Packhams, Chelsea, Laurel and Bridget in Portland, the Clayton and Jarman clans scattered around the Western US, friends along the Wasatch front--too many to list--and friends from the Moscow branch who are scattered to the winds until the Russian holidays are over. We are thinking of you and remembering you fondly!