Christmas Surprises

Salut mes amis!

Joyeux Noël!  Merry Christmas! Hodel and I had a fabulous holiday together. On Christmas Eve, we decided to write letters to Père Noël asking for donations to charities instead of toys. Per usual, Hodel asked for a donation to an animal rescue. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to ask for in my letter, eventually deciding on donations for needy children in France.

When we finished our letters, we cuddled with our Uglydolls underneath the sapin de Noël and looked for a Christmas movie to watch.

We were able to watch the first of many A Christmas Story viewings on TNT - hooray! Somehow it doesn't quite seem like Christmas unless you share it with Ralphie.

Hodel's parents made us go to bed when the movie finished, but shhh! We actually ended up giggling for hours. I don't think we got much sleep at all. We were much too excited about the day ahead of us!

Sleep or no sleep, we still managed to wake up early on Christmas morning. We showered and dressed quickly, anxious to open our presents. Even though we'd asked Santa not to give us presents, Hodel's parents had given us a few things to open.

Don't we look nice? We tried to look pretty and cool, considering it was 60 degrees outside! I think Hodel was smart not to wear stockings.

Since Hodel and I got all of the same presents, we decided to unwrap everything at the same time. What did we get?

We received mystery Playmobil figurines (I got a cute old lady, while Hodel got a smart-looking flight attendant) and Disney squinkies . . .

. . . but our favorite presents by far were the baby dinosaur toys nestled in plastic eggs! We pretended to be world-famous paleontologists for hours! In a few days, we are going to see The Good Dinosaur, which we are both so excited for.

Did you have a nice holiday season? What did you do? Who did you celebrate with? What presents did you receive?

Ton amie,
Sophie 

Opening Christmas Presents!

Salut mes amis, 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it was time to open the rest of the presents! We started with our stockings filled by Père Noël, Father Christmas. I hugged my furry blue stocking with anticipation over the goodies that I'd soon find inside.

First, I handed Juliette her own pink stocking. It's always nice to be considerate of others before thinking of yourself, after all.

Reaching deep into the depths of her stocking, Juliette first pulled out a can of lemon-lime soda. Laughing hard, we both knew that this soda can was the inside joke of our own Oncle Bernard - only our Uncle Bernard would stick a can of soda in a stocking!

Next, she pulled out a pretty pink hair clip . . .

. . . and then even more hair clips tumbled out! Juliette will have fun accessorizing her hair this year.

Finally, Juliette pulled out a cross bracelet made with the loveliest of lavender beads. This will be perfect to wear to church!

Then it was my turn. Not surprisingly, I pulled out a can of grape soda first. This time, I managed to keep a straight face . . . at least for a minute anyway! I opened the can, took a swig, and immediately burst out laughing, soda bursting out my nostrils all the while.

After recovering myself, I reached in and pulled out this pair of hairbows in metallic silver. These will go great with outfits in my color scheme, oh yes!

I think Père Noël must know that we Moreau girls like to accessorize because the last thing I pulled out was a bag of jewelry. I now have a new pearl necklace . . .

. . . and a beaded heart charm bracelet perfect for Valentine's Day parties!

Next, we had two large gift bags to open from our parents.

Juliette reached into her bag and pulled out a grey sweatshirt with a genuine The Fault in Our Stars graphic on the front. "Cet sweat-shirt sera parfait à porter avec mes vêtements de danse!" Juliette was excited at finally finding the perfect sweatshirt to wear over her dance clothes.

What did nos parents find for me? I eagerly reached into my gift bag, pulling out . . .

. . . a grey and black-striped sweater, such a wardrobe staple! This will be perfect for school and Science Club meetings. I think my dad picked this one out; he has one just like it in his closet, haha!

Next, it was time to open presents sent to me by friends. This one, I was told, is from my friend Katherine.

Katherine sent me a red fleece poncho that she made herself. Merci beaucoup, Katherine! I love it. Red is certainly my color and one I definitely love to wear.

She also sent me a matching red fleece scarf, which is awesome! I'm so going to layer this over my winter coat this year.

My best friend Nathalie sent me this next one. Of course there's a bonhomme de neige, snowman, on the bag; Nathalie loves snow so much!

I can't believe my eyes! Nathalie sent me a my very own copy of my absolute favorite Harry Potter book - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! She must have seen my blog pal Charlie's post about getting her own Harry Potter book.

I can't wait to reread this treasure. Nathalie knows me so well!

Juliette handed me a silver gift box with a tag that said it was from my friend Sadie. Hmm, I didn't know Sadie was sending me a gift. Quelle surprise! 
 

Inside, I found a zodiac bracelet made for me by Sadie herself. It has all of the colors of the Leo spectrum in it; how pretty!

Here is a close-up of the bracelet. Thank you so much, Sadie! I absolutely love it and will think of you every time I wear it.

The last present was from my friend Susie! I was really reluctant to unwrap this one, not because I wasn't anticipating what was inside (because I was!). I just didn't want to tear up the wrapping paper - it had Princess Anna of Arendelle on it!

I very carefully unwrapped it, in order to save the special gift wrap for my scrapbook. Don't laugh; Frozen is the best movie ever! Queen Elsa is far superior to Princess Anna, though.

Susie sent me a holiday-themed activity book to amuse myself during these cold wintry months.

There are mazes and connect-the-dots, lots of things to keep me busy! Thank you, Susie! I will have fun with this for sure.

We received a lot of nice presents this year; I absolutely love everything! I think I'm going to go put on my new sweater, read some Harry Potter, and drink some grape soda now, hehe. Before I go, have a couple of shots of Juliette and me in front of our silvery Christmas tree.

I hope everyone who celebrated Christmas had a nice one (or had a nice whatever it is you celebrate!). Thanks for letting us share our presents with you!

What was your favorite holiday gift this past year?

Ton amie,
Sophie 

Noël 2013

Salut mes amis,

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! I'm getting off to a late start posting my holiday photos because life has been pretty tough for my family lately. My parents and my sister were supposed to fly over to spend Christmas in America with me, but something put a damper on their plans. Juliette flew over solo, and Maman and Papa were going to follow her. Before they could, Maman's father - my beloved Grandpère - suffered a sudden heart attack and had to undergo emergency surgery. Of course, Maman really couldn't leave her father's side, and Juliette and I wanted to fly home to join her right away. Maman wouldn't have that. She insisted that we celebrate the holiday with our friends first, and then we could come home. 

Nathalie, Chiara, and Jessa were all too happy to celebrate Christmas with not only me but also Juliette. We scheduled our party for December 21st, the day after classes let out. We got gussied up, had dinner at a fancy Italian place, and munched on cookies and holiday coffee for dessert. Juliette spent much of the night telling us how her ballet rehearsals were going and how pretty Paris looks at Christmas. She tried not to let the news about Grandpère get her spirits down, although I know she is even closer to him than I am. She does get to see him much more than I do. 

Finally, it was present time. Our friends Aimee and Olive had sent us a bag full of presents, but since I had another present to open, I let Juliette open this one.

The first item that Juliette pulled out of the gift bag was a pretty princess wand. She waved it back and forth gleefully, pretending to conjure up some magic. "It'll be perfect for when I play the Sugar Plum Fairy!" she kept saying over and over. Juliette's brain is completely wired for ballet; she never completely stops thinking of tulle costumes and going en pointe!

Next, Juliette unrolled a hand-knit pink scarf. "Oh my, this is lovely! It's sure to keep my neck warm as I'm walking to and from ballet practice!"

"Ooh, this is lovely. It's the Star of Bethlehem that guided the shepherds and the kings to see Baby Jesus! It'll look perfect on our tree this year," Juliette said, gushing over a sparkly ornament.

The last gift Juliette pulled out of the bag changed her spirits completely. "Extra Math practice, oh no! I guess Christmas can't be too happy," Juliette frowned, placing the worksheets out of sight. Though she'd gotten better at the subject since having a tutor, she still did not like Math very much at all.

Next, it was my turn to open presents. The purple dress that I'm wearing is what I received from my parents; isn't it pretty? The gift on my lap is from Juliette; what could it be?

I pulled out a white tank and red shorts edged in lace, the perfect summer outfit! I can't wait to wear this as the weather gets warmer. The shorts have tiny white polka dots on them and real, working pockets - I love them!

Nathalie had a gift from Rowena, a friend in Star Valley. She'd been shaking this gift for the past few days, anxious about what could be inside.

Inside, she found a rag doll with red braided hair who only reminded her of her favorite fictional heroine, Anne Shirley. Isn't she cute?

Chiara and Jessa had some small goodies in their stockings. Chiara got a new notebook that she'll probably use for school, nerd that she is. Jessa got a Yahtzee game! She's already challenged me to a game. (She'll probably win. I suck at games, but whatever.)

And that concluded our holiday party. We took a group photo and promptly headed to bed, as Juliette and I had to catch a flight home. The rest of the holiday pretty much sucked for us, as we spent it in the hospital hoping and praying that Grandpère would make a full recovery. He did make it through surgery, but he's still recovering in the hospital as I speak. I hope he is able to go home soon!

 

I hope you had a better holiday season than we did!  In the comments, please tell me about your favorite Christmas or Hanukkah tradition of the year (or whatever you celebrate). What presents did you get? 

Ton amie,

Sophie