Godparents in town!

We had the great pleasure of welcoming our boys' godparents and god-siblings (word?) to town last week, their first visit back after moving to Pennsylvania last April. Brandon and Corene, with Jude, Abigail and baby Ezra in tow made the trip for the occasion of Manny's baptism into the Church, and we were so happy to see them! To celebrate, our friend Katie (a.k.a. James's mom, and Laura's life-saver of a neighbor) hosted a large number of people at her apartment, firstly as a welcome-back party; secondly; for her annual Christmas-but-never-actually-held-on-Christmas breakfast; and finally, because she likes having her apartment overrun (at least, that's what I'm beginning to think). She's very nice, and I'm pretty sure she would never do anything terrible, like moving to Texas, for example. Anyway, here are some highlights from our Saturday o' fun:

Miriam, a.k.a. Jonah's favorite Latina helps Abigail unpack her St Nicholas stocking. Jonah got in on that action, biting into chocolate coins, foil and all.

Jonah rides the pony, one of his favorite things to do at James's house. We sing a pony song at home, but we're not quite awesome enough to have a pony ourselves. Sad. It's every little boy's dream, isn't it? (Please don't flood our house with ponies, though.)

Here's Madrina Corene with baby Manny. Look at this woman. She has three kids under age 4, a husband who works full time and is in law school, and she still manages to glow with beauty and maternal goodwill. I'm going to figure out her secret, patent it, and sell it. Private island, here I come!

Finally, the kids had their own little party crowding around James's door to kiss the "icons" and the cross there, effectively shaming us adults with their religious fervor. From left to right, Josie, Jonah, and James. In all seriousness, this is one of my favorite pictures. I think that for an Orthodox parent, there may hardly be a sweeter sight than this.

On Monday, the fun continued when the Swisher clan came over to our house for brunch. Jonah learned how to play Ring Around the Rosy with Abigail and Padrino Brandon. This isn't a bad picture of Brandon. He pretty much always looks this crazy/enthusiastic.

Jonah also had a LOT of fun playing a peek-a-boo game with Jude and the tunnel. Maybe I should try it with him sometime, assuming that I can squeeze myself into the tunnel. I'll try it when no one else is around to avoid extreme embarrassment.

Jonah also got his first (I think) kiss from a girl. Here you can see Abigail tackling Jonah and insisting that he let her kiss him, as he'd done earlier, though Jonah is busy trying to kiss baby Ezra, who's been rescued by Madrina Corene (see top right corner). What a tease, that Jonah. I think that at this point things were starting to get a little crazy for our sleep-deprived children. There was, however, no escape from the fun...

...as Abigail can attest. She tried. No. Escape.

Anyway, it was wonderful to see our dear friends; we just wish that they were closer so that our boys could get to know them better. The Swishers have always been so wonderful to our young family, and we miss them greatly. I guess now we have an excuse to travel to State College, Pennsylvania, that destination of (somebody's?) dreams. Look out!