Christmas at the Oftens 2006


I liked this pick because I used a slow shutter and got the lights on.	This one was a better view of the whole room effect...not bad!	I liked this because it was totally tree-centric...and having paid FIFTY dollars for the darned thing...it had better BE something "centric"....LOL	On the 22nd, there was a special house lighting in Tewksbury to raise money for Travis Roy, who is a young hockey player paralyzed in a freak hockey accident. This was my first glance...so I was instantly smitten.	There must have been one bulb per square inch at this display...it was BLINDING! What a hoot. The weather wasn't great though - wet and drizzly so not a lot of visitors.	Despite the weather, traffic was slow by steady, so I didn't have a ton of time to stop and get a bunch of pictures, so I grabbed what I could from our moving vehicle.

The word was, many cars showed up with donations they'd collected from friends/co-workers/relatives ahead of time.	So despite being snubbed by Mother Nature, what few vehicles did show up amounted to a GREAT outcome for the fundraiser! KUDOS!	The following evening, the 23rd, there was a house lighting in Hudson for a little guy with cancer. :( The theme was, obviously, CIRCUS! WOO!	This was the view as we stepped out of the car. I like this event better because you could actually stop and gawk. Check out that blue lawn globe...LOVE IT!	Nice manger.	Pulled out a bit so you could see it in contrast with the house.

I think I'm due for a new camera. It is VERY hard to capture good night photos with this one. With the flash, you get this and the lights are muted. Without it...it's BLUR city!	The kids liked this...all kinds of neat animals.	This is the entire left hand side of the house. As you can see, there's little room left on the lawn for anything other than the decorations. :)	Left/Front of the house with a wider view of everything. You can see the theme lights coming in.	Here's the donation tent they had set up. Complete with web site AND Low Power AM Transmitter! LOL...that's right...their own radio station. Broadcast range seemed to end at the driveway though...we couldn't hear anything.	Close up of the right side of the house. WHOLE lotta stuff going on here.

I turned off the flash to try and capture the actual brilliance of the display...had trouble synching with the blinking.	Pan over to far left a bit.	And one last close up of the animals and the Ferris wheel (the kids LOVED it) and we were done. A BRILLIANT display for a really courageous kid. Our hearts are all with you Matty...good luck little guy!	Just for giggles, tried out the chrome effect on the front of the house. I was duly impressed. Gonna try that out with an album cover I have in mind.	That brings us to Christmas EVE!! WOO!! The kids were out of control, but we got to leave the house and go see Baba and Nan for Christmas dinner. Naturally, they got presents right away.	Then it was home and time to get ready for bed. Hunter and Andrew put together a plate of treats for Santa and the reindeer.

And Hunter showed how good he could be by choking the cat...lol...no animals were hurt in the making of this picture! Xerxes actually seems to enjoy that pose...which is weird and a story for another day.	I had to stay up late...so I decided to unpack my new phone...a Razr V3m, which I got for free from Verizon for renewing my contract. Thing plays movies, music, EVERYTHING. So cool. The squirt gun was to keep the cats off of Santa's treats!	Which, Santa was endlessly pleased with. In fact, he was so happy with out whole house that he agreed to have his picture taken with me!!! SERIOUSLY! For all you little doubting Thomases out there...here he is...live in the flesh...the REAL SANTA!	The next morning FINALLY came and there were presents EVERYWHERE!!!	WOOOO!! PRESENTS!!! Mom was the last to wake up...I was actually up pretty much all of the night.	It's VERY hard to sleep when you've just met the real SANTA CLAUS!!! Jeez Louise!

There were these goofy candy/plastic/ornaments in the stockings as stuffers. This one seemed to baffle Hunter.	Andrew was a bit "ripe" that morning...as evidenced by Hunter.	I just love getting candid photos of Hunter.	The phone calls started immediately at 8 and continued non-stop throughout the day.	Hunter must have gotten 8 hundred presents...but naturally gravitated to his one true love...his XBox...now loaded with new games.	Andrew, on the other hand, was so overwhelmed he couldn't be convinced to get dressed for the day!!!

Happy, Andrew??? OH yes!!	Happy, Guys?? SURE!!	Happy, Mom?? Err...never mind...we'll come back to you later. LOL. (damned laundry...never stops!)	Andrew got some REALLY cool blocks for Christmas this year.	Here's a close up of the coolest set.	He really like these too.

Happy, Mom?? YES!! (well, now that the laundry is finished. hee hee hee)	And then it was off to uncle Paul's for some Christmas Day Dinner!!	Paul was a bit peckish...almost ate Andrew first! hee hee hee. That's it kids! MERRY CHRISTMAS 2006!!