Wrapping the year up with a bang

We are enjoying the holiday season to the fullest. First of all, Dad has lots of time off, so we've been having fun hanging around with him.

We kicked the week off by eating Freebirds, our Chanukah gift from Amy, Mianna and Gigi. It was yummy. Make sure you check out our photos to see how much I like beans.

Wednesday morning we looked outside to find that we had a visitor - an enormous possum slinking across the fence in our backyard. Dad wanted to send Peepa after it but Mom said she's too old and is no longer a match for a mean possum. Dad sprayed it with a hose while Mom banged pot lids together. Between the water and all the racket, the possum ran away into our neighbors' tree. Hazel said she thought it was kind of like a circus.

Thursday night we didn't have anything to do because Christmas Eve is pretty boring for Jews. Lucky for us, our synagogue had a great game/movie/Chinese food night. It was fantastic! I ran up and down a ramp, threw lots of food on the floor and threw a fit so loud it chased our rabbi away from our table, and made friends with a nice teenage girl. Mom and Dad really liked the food, and Hazel liked all the attention she got. Plus we got to stay up late.

Friday we had some visitors - my friends Clark and Benjamin came over to play. We had a great time. Clark's mom and dad brought an apple pie, so Mom was happy, and it was fun hanging out and sharing my toys with my buddies.

Another exciting surprise this week was every time I woke up from my nap the past two days, something changed downstairs and now we all agree it's like we have a new dining room. For Chanukah, Grandma and Grandpa got us a new hutch and we replaced our old light, which hung down from the ceiling and smacked Dad in the head just about every other day. Between the hutch, which hides lots of clutter, and the light, which makes the room seem much bigger, we all like our house a lot more. And Dad said it's nice to have conquered his nemesis.

Last year, we had so much fun looking at Christmas lights on 37th street that we decided to do it again this year, so that's what we did tonight. It was late, so Hazel and I wore our pajamas, and it was cold, so we really had to bundle up. My favorite part of the lights was a duck that had lots of glowing eggs. Hazel rode in her carrier under Mom's coat and a blanket, so only her little head, which was covered with a hat, stuck out. Hazel loved the lights and kept turning her head around to see them in every direction. See if you can find her in our photos from this week. It's like "Where's Waldo."