So this is Christmas 2007真正的耶誕節

上一次在美國過耶誕節已經是十幾年前的事了。帶著孟田到處瞎逛，希望她也能感受到過節的氣氛
It's nice to be back in a country where Christmas is the major holiday of the year. With the snow and the music and all the decorations we felt most welcome being in Calgary again.

她一眼就看到椅子上的大熊，要去抱抱
Fiona makes another trip to the mall, meets a furry friend

我終於幫孟田修剪額頭前的頭髮了，頭髮老蓋住眼睛，夾髮夾又被她扯掉，乾脆剪成劉海妹妹頭。不過好奇怪，只不過剪個劉海，發現髮色輪廓也跟著變了，似乎變成另一個小孩了！！
We saw some firsts this season: Fiona's first haircut, performed at Mum's salon

孟田的第一個泡沫浴，她愛死了。在浴缸裡又跳又叫，兩隻小手把泡泡弄的到處都是
First bubble bath. Fiona remembered seeing a Kipper the Dog video where Kipper takes a bath, and acted out some of Kipper's motions

幫爸爸裝飾耶誕樹，她很會把小飾品掛在樹上呢！
Decorating the tree. Fiona "helps" Daddy put the angel on the top


我和孟田第一次去「古蹟公園」，裡面有很多卡加利的老建築物，蒸氣火車，模仿早年卡加利的市容所建的公園。爺爺奶奶送我們的耶誕禮物之一就是這個公園的年票，好棒，等天氣暖和些，沒事就可以帶孟田來坐火車玩玩
First visit to Heritage Park, first hay ride. It was a chilly afternoon but we all had fun. Grandma and Grandpa were generous and bought us some 2008 season passes for the park, so we'll be back again

Meeting another new friend, this one not so furry, but charming all the same

還來不及告訴孟田禮物還不能拆之前，一個不注意，她就等不及的撕開一個禮物，害我又得重新把禮物包回去。她很喜歡樹上的裝飾，這個摸摸那邊碰碰，興奮得很
When can we open the presents?! Fiona was excited to see the gifts under the tree

耶誕節當天，全家去Hyatt吃中飯
Enjoying a family Christmas brunch at the Hyatt hotel downtown. As Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, every one"

吃完飯走到附近的奧林匹克廣場溜冰，孟田也有溜冰鞋喔，天黑了還不肯走。孟田的溜冰是──爸爸抱著溜。
After our meal we walked a couple of blocks down to Olympic Plaza and enjoyed some outdoor ice skating

我和孟田做了一個薑餅屋，奶奶做了挪威的傳統耶誕糕餅，最右邊是30年前從挪威帶來的稻草羊
Back at home it was time to enjoy some sweet treats. We made a gingerbread house this year, and Mum made a traditional Norwegian kransekake, the towering cake in the centre. On the right is a traditional straw goat, also brought over from Norway nearly 30 years ago

at home in December

More home happenings at the Morgan household...Fiona tries on her new backpackFiona walking! She likes pushing around this walker thing, but she's also able to walk on her own now, without any supportDaddy reads a bedtime storyIt's a little big maybe? Fiona tries out some new clothes: a seemingly huge-sized kimono-type housecoat. Maybe by next December it will fit...Mmmm, coffee. Vivian knows how to brew a tasty latte with our home coffee maker. She's even learned how to do pretty designs on top with the foamChristmas morning! Time to open some presents Ya-ya!! Fiona loves ducks, so we got her a plush ducky
More ducks! The floating kind for the bathtub. Fiona loves fish too: on the right are sticky plastic fishes to go in the bath. Fiona also got a special gift all the way from England -- a special cardigan hand-knitted by Gareth's Auntie Ruth
Vivian opens the package from the Morgans in Canada. More nice surprises! Book, calendar, tea-cosy and more. Merry Christmas! As Dickens' Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, every one"

Christmas happenings

'Tis the season to be jolly! Here's how we spent Christmas this year

At this year's annual ORTV Christmas rally. The theme was "Christmas and You"
Another annual tradition: The HOP Christmas Party at Pastor Kirt's house. We played the unwrap the present game, and had a white elephant gift exchange Christmas Eve was on Sunday this year, so there was a service at the House of Praise. The HOP has moved to a new location now, in the nearby district of Neihu. The Huguang Church has welcomed the HOP to join with them in this nice new building Cute kids sing in the Christmas program

Pastor Kirt and Meilan share the messageLunch was served on the patio afterward. Lily and Jenny smile for the camera Benjamin and Nicholas
Christmas Day: After opening our presents at home in the morning, we popped over to Steve and Angus's house in the afternoon for a meal and some Christmas celebrating. Andrea, Melissa and Marci share the joy. Melissa flew in from London to visit before traveling to Bangkok
Angus, Gareth, Leo, Vance, Beth and Melissa
Vivian and Fiona find themselves caught between two love birds...

Fiona and Mikayla knock out a duet on the piano

Fiona composes a new tune

Christmas pictures, and a new blog!

Recently we visited the photo studio in my office to take some Christmas pictures. Thanks to that camera guru fellow Vance for shooting these.
...and did you notice that we changed our blog template? All the same posts, but with a new look and feel, plus more cool functions -- better archiving, tagging, etc. Cool eh?Our 2006 card -- Merry Christmas!
(if you'd like a high-resolution copy of this photo for printing, leave a comment and we will get back to you)
We managed to get some really nice shots of little Fiona. She seems to enjoy playing in front of the camera

Morgans in Taipei

In between spending time with Fiona, we enjoyed some meals at the American Club, a hike along the mountain behind our house, a visit to a nice tea house up in the forest, and other fun outings. At church we also had a baby dedication ceremony for Fiona.
除了花很多時間又抱又寵孟田之外，孟楷帶著他們去爬我們家的後山，參觀了台北故事館。我姐夫還帶我們去川瀨喝茶。一月一日去教會時，還特地請牧師幫我們做了一個簡短的嬰兒奉獻禮。請上帝能一路帶領孟田，並看守她。