Christmas Morning Scene on Islandshire

It's been fun and busy around here, so there are a lot of photos to catch up on. We had a very quiet and relaxing Christmas day. Four adults in the house means that we don't need a lot of stuff, so Mom and I had cooked up this fun idea months and months ago. We would set up the "Islandshire" group in the family room with the Christmas tree, and wrap nothing. Everything we bought for my sister was for her dolls, so we set things up like a scene and just had the new items and outfits incorporated. Dad had been working on building doll stuff for all three of us (secrets, but we knew it had to do with dolls), so we incorporated that right in. I knew what he made for Mom and Elizabeth, so he only had to keep mine covered.

Mom and I were upstairs almost all of Christmas Eve setting things up! But it made a really cool thing to walk into the next day. Plus, we got to just sit and enjoy "playing" and setting things up all afternoon on Christmas.

Eydie (above right, customized #47) is a big fan of Julia Child, so she got a new kitchen counter and a lot of new food (this was my sister's present, and Mom and I have been collecting food pieces for this for months!). She had been wishing and wishing for some trays of cinnamon rolls, so she couldn't have been happier. She served everybody all day, with Hallie's help behind the counter.

The Boys' "Merry Men Club" got a Campus Snack cart, which they really needed for all the burgers and french fries that they have been serving out of a box up to now.

Audie (a new arrival and soon to be introduced here) set up the Snack Stand with all of his Tex-Mex food. The tacos and pinata were cool new additions.

Connie and Amabel sat in the comfy chair with some friendly pets. These girls got new pajamas for Christmas. Connie was dressed like a reindeer, and Amabel was dressed like a black kitty.

Of course, Benny and Nanea's house had to be out for the occasion, and you can see their present from Dad under the gift wrap . . . more on that in a later entry.

Bunty (another new custom who will be introduced soon) and Harriet got a beautiful cart to use for their Charity Bazaar. Right now, they're selling fancy refreshments --- lemon squash, lemon tarts and biscuits.

George was really thrilled. He got a Corgi and named him "Prince". Eliot got a sheep dog and named it "Earl". Harold got an Army dog and named it "Alton".

Penny and Janie ate the new breakfast in Nanea's house. I think the strawberry French Toast was one of the biggest hits of the day! The little French Bull Dog on the right was Violet's special present, but she hasn't decided on a name for her yet.

More photos of the stuff that Dad made for the dolls coming soon!