PEF staff Christmas party!

Last Saturday, the day of the huge snowstorm up and down the East Coast (and, incidentally, the day that our childbirth bootcamp class was canceled due to the weather...), we had the annual PEF staff Christmas party. A fun tradition was made even more exciting by the crazy weather, and the ever-present possibility of being snowed in or getting our cars stuck out on the road... :)

This year, we all got together at Chris and Danielle's for appetizers and Christmas carols, and gift-giving to the little kids. Then it was off to Shanghai Park for a dinner that wasn't cooked by anyone on PEF staff... :) And finally, we ended up at Bill and Debbie's for the annual gift exchange. (And this year, Greg and I, the two staff spouses, were included in the exchange!)

The kids all had a ton of fun...




...and by "kids," I mean big and small kids. :)

The Sallades are such gracious hosts...




...if only we could just get them to come out of their shells a little... :) By the way, how cute is it that little Laura caught the spirit of the silly family photo??

All joking aside, it really was such a fun evening. The staff are among our closest friends here in Princeton, and it's always such a treat to be able to just hang out with these dear ones in a relaxed setting. And there are some seriously talented gift-givers among them -- Aime, I'm looking right at you! I was so touched by the gift of all the tools I'll need to make our own baby food -- it's the perfect combination of so many of my current interests. Don't you just love gifts that show that the gift-giver cares enough to really know what will bring a smile to your face?

So here are a few of our favorite photos from the party -- the PEF staff are a good-looking bunch, if I do say so myself! :)


Greg, looking very professorial with the Boyces' books


Bill reading to us from "Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays"


Me looking very pregnant and blocking poor David from view


Aime and Greg -- so cute!!


Debbie opening her gift from John


Bill and his three lovely daughters
We had such a wonderful time, blizzard notwithstanding! We love you, PEF staff!

For the full set of photos from the PEF staff Christmas party, check out this SmugMug gallery.