After having returned home for Christmas in 2009 Marguerite and Jude decided that this year they would break with tradition a little by staying in Boston and experiencing the Christmas period there. Here they are in the Boston Public Garden on Christmas day.
Rewind one day and it's Christmas Eve.
Today a trip to the Opera House was in order to see 'The Nutcracker'. Here is Jude throwing his 'two-arms-the-one-length' pose inside the Opera House just before the show. Of course Jude had the camera incorrectly set up today so the xmas eve pics are a little.......eh.......dark on it like.
And here is Marguerite with her nutty 'Nutcracker' hat on just before the show.
After the show a wee dander was called for and off they marched through the Boston Common and Public Garden.
Marguerite got brave and decided to go walking on ice in the Public Garden duck pond. But don't fear folks - even if her high heels had have went through the ice it was only about 6 inches deep anyway.
The Public Garden remains one of Jude and Marguerite's favourite places, no matter what time of the year it is it is always beautifully maintained.
Aye yer ear muffs!!!!
A pic at arms length on Commonwealth Avenue. One would wonder just how those ear muffs would go down walking down Royal Avenue in Belfast. Wha?
Marguerite looking cool.
'Come on like folks, it is a cracker tree, it's magic', Jude keeps saying again, and again, and..........
Now it's Christmas morning and thankfully Jude has the auld camera fixed again.
Here are Marguerite and Jude making their way back from Mass at St Clement's Church in Fenway.
What's that in Marguerite's hand? It's only a roll of Christmas wrapping paper that what! But on Christmas morning? Shouldn't all the presents be wrapped by now? Well Marguerite and Jude's wee tradition is to open most of their presents on Christmas Eve night and keep one or two for opening after Mass the next morning. But a shortage of paper led to a wee visit to the local shop to nab a new roll just in case.
The Irish sausages are in the frying pan so Jude decides that's just about the right time to make a quick call home.
'Here Jude, aye dead on, come here hey, that's some tree like, it's smashing altogether, it's full of this-that-and-the-other hey, super altogether', said Max as he surveyed the tree for sweets.
Marguerite gets on the phone too and is busy tee-heeing away with her Mum, Dad and Emma.
After breakfast the remaining presents were opened. Marguerite had been ranting and raving about this particular ring for ages so Jude figured that rather than having to listen to Marguerite going on about it for another year it made more sense to just go and buy the blighter.
'Aye here, it's a cracker Marguerite, it's a real clinker like, you're spoilt rotten wee girl and whada I ever get?' 'Nathin that's what I get, nathin.'
But as you can see Max finally got his wish and got some new Boston Celtics gear to replace his old Red Sox outfit.
'Wow, bloody hell, is that a Celtics peppermint cane I see hanging there Jude, holy Mo it is too, bloody hell, pass me that quick, this is just magic, it's the best day ever', said a clearly excited Max.
After a wee while Max had to take a lay down as he had scoffed all the Celtics peppermints with a couple of glasses of Southern Comfort and so he was feeling a little worse-for-wear.
Meanwhile Marguerite has another gift to open, I wonder what it could be.
It's only a super cool ladies Boston Celtics track top.
Marguerite is really pleased with her ring, don't ye think? Nice settees, wha?
There are some weird noises coming from Max as Jude proceeds to open his final gift. What could it be?
Jude was speechless when he opened this class picture of the Public Garden. He literally could not speak at all for a moment for fear of choaking up and making an edjit out of himself by getting all emotional and all that lark. This picture means a lot to him because when passing this spot every day walking to and from work he always thinks about how fortunate he and Marguerite are to have had this wonderful experience in the last 2 years.
Before long Max had come around again and was asking, 'Here Jude, who's yer man over there in our windy, aye him there with the funny hat on and the red breeks?' 'Here......my new Celtics outfit totally rocks, it's totally sick like, wha?' 'Here, can I go to the Beacon Hill Bistro for dinner with you two?'
So it's Christmas day, it's 2.39 pm - the turkey dinner is booked for 3.30 pm - snow is all over the place - this is Copley 'T' station - and there's copious amounts of red wine to be had - hit it!!!!!!
One stop later and Jude and Marguerite are making their way to their 3.30 pm dinner reservation by taking a short-cut through the Public Gahhhden.
Actually some folk reckon they might even name a bench after Jude in here, you know, just like they did for Arthur Fowler in Eastenders. Wha?
Being a tad on the early side is always a good thing, it means you can relax, sit at the log fire, have a wee glass of wine, chill out like. Marguerite never needs coaxing to do any of the above, so she makes the most of the short wait at the Beacon Hill Bistro on Charles Street.
'Yum, yum, fill yer tum', says Jude as he munches on his turkey. Jude is displaying his 'looking-hung-over-when-not-actually-hung-over' look here folks. Was it the camera angle or just that cheesy grim he has on his coupon? Answers on a postcard to 111 Park Drive , Apt 52, Fenway, Boston, 02215.
Marguerite has scoffed her delicious dinner. For weeks before Christmas Marguerite and Jude had tried to decide the best approach to this part of the day - like should they go to a hotel, stay local, try an up-market type of place or accept one of the many offers from friends (and family in New Jersey) to have dinner with them. The decision made was a last minute one and it turned out to a great one, as this meal was simply first class. Nice call. The two hours flew in and before long it was 5.30 pm and time to go.
So then after scooting back to 111 Park Drive and cracking open a few beers/Captain Morgan's, Marguerite hooked up Skype for a live Webcam Skype family get-together with the others who were all huddled up like sardines in the Kitchen of 56 brooke Drive. Here are Aunt Paula, Kevin, Rhiannon, Michael Snr and Emma.
The craic was great as the call/converstaions/slagging/banter went on for about 2 1/2 hours. Here Emma brings Max Crossan up to the webcam to say hello. Uncle Fra was also there along with Mary and Marguerite Snr too of course. The pic here does not really do the moment justice, but on this call it seemed as if everyone was in fact in the same room!!!! At one point Jude even asked for a bowl of trifle!!!! Pretty cool indeed, and a perfect end to the day.
Now it's Boxing Day morning and there was a lot of excitement in the air as Jude and Marguerite prepared for one of Jude's best mates Barry Coulter's arrival in Boston. In Dublin Barry had by now checked in at the airport, then parked himself in the bar and while awaiting a call for boarding he ordered himself a wee pint of Coors Light.
Meanwhile back in Boston the snow had started to fall and Park Drive was quickly beginning to resemble a ski resort.
'Where have the basketball courts gone?' Jude asked Marguerite.
A quick call to Barry to check the latest position brought the worst news possible. Barry said, 'Jude my flight's been cancelled due to the bad weather in Boston'.
Disaster!!!!!!
So a week of spiffingly-fantastic-superbly-amazingly-cool activities were knocked on the head as it soon became clear Barry would not be making the trip this week.
Besides Barry not making it over - Marguerite and Jude both agreed they had a brilliant Christmas Day. It was as good as it could possibly have been given that they were 3000 miles away from home. The webcam get-together was just the icing on the cake and made this Christmas one that they will remember forever.
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