"This is Gary's last Christmas with us, which is sad for all of us", said Mrs. Bush

Wed Dec 5 16:51:55 2007

Pamela Carroll illustrated the official White House holiday booklet. *

Pamela Carroll is a nationally renowned, award-winning realist painter — is the illustrator of several children's books, including One Nation: America by the Numbers and S Is for Star: A Christmas Alphabet.

Pamela Carroll embraces the traditional techniques of Classical Realism: attention to detail, careful composition, and an ability to create illusion using paint and a brush.

Wed Dec 5 17:07:53 2007

Wed Dec 5 17:07:54 2007

James Blake created the White House Christmas card depicting the glowing windows of the Oval Office as seen from the South Lawn.

"This year it's a beautiful oil painting of the Oval Office, with the lights on in the Oval Office for -- this card goes out, a lot of people have already mentioned that they've gotten their cards, so we're probably one of the first American families in the month to get our cards already out. (Laughter.) So I hope if you all are on our list that you've already gotten yours." - Remarks of Mrs. Laura Bush

"Thank you so much, it's really beautiful, I appreciate it very much." Remarks by Mrs. Laura Bush.

"When you try our food, you will see different traditional and not so traditional original American food that we'll be featuring for the season, like hams and the usual turkey, but at the same token, we also have, like the First Lady said, some regional items, like the tamales and also the chicken fried steak, which is really, really good -- it's actually our favorite." Remarks by Cris Comerford

Wed Dec 5 17:07:55 2007

Mrs. Laura Bush and White House Chef Cris Comerford explain the holiday reception menu in the State Dining Room.

Former chef Roland Mesnier was invited back to the White House to create his world famous gingerbread White House.

Thu Dec 6 09:15:57 2007