East Wing
The holiday memories from 2006 begin at the East Entrance, where ten-foot-tall Nutcrackers join everyone at the White House in extending a merry welcome. Festive evergreen wreaths adorn the windows throughout the East Colonnade.
Official Christmas cards from the permanent White House collection are displayed in the East Foyer, along with the original oil painting used for the 2006 card. The painting, by Texas artist James Blake, depicts the glowing windows of the Oval Office as seen from the South Lawn.
An original painting by Pamela Carroll, whose illustrations brighten this holiday booklet, sits on the easel. Ms. Carroll — 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.
The East Wing is also home to the Family Movie Theater. Like many Americans, first families enjoy curling up to watch holiday classics. In 1978, the Movie Theater screened It's a Wonderful Life for President and Mrs. Carter and their daughter Amy; in 1979, the family took in Miracle on 34th Street. And last Christmas season, the Theater welcomed Jenna Bush — the daughter of President and Mrs. Bush — and her class of third graders to view The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
