Christmas Morning

I absolutely cannot think of a better way to start Christmas Day (or any day for that matter) than with a nice slice of Dion's pizza, complete with Dion's Ranch Dressing, and a nice hot cup of home brewed Starbucks coffee. Pure bliss. Since my plans to make it to Dions as soon as I landed were foiled, my parents ran there and bought a whole pizza for me! While it was a very generous act, it was also a little selfish on their part too - this way I can eat it at home and not drag the whole family there 5 times in seven days :-)

This wonderful little music box used to belong to my grandmother. After eating my Dion's, I was visiting with my mother when I noticed it sitting on the coffee table. So many wonderful memories...and so many linked to my grandmother this time of year. She will forever be missed.

Roxy is such a good sport. She actually kept this on for several minutes before somehow shedding it while none of us were looking. Can't blame her; I wouldn't want to spend all of Christmas morning wearing it either.

It was a Snuggie Christmas as the Prins'!! (or for some the $5 cheaper knock-off). Here's Bradley, who's 14 now and can get his learners permit in March. Glad I live 1,000 miles away!

Ian, who is seven this Christmas and had apparently been up since 4am in the morning. Melinda said he very politely stayed to himself and let the rest of the family sleep till 7am.

And Seth who is six this year. Both he and Bradley had to be woken up by the others at 7:30.

Grammy was the only one who got the Original - and before the morning was out she had two!

Oh boy! SWORDS!! To quote Ian after opening these final presents (from me, of course ;-) - "This is the best Christmas EVER!" I miss that feeling of pure excitement and delight...

SQUIRREL!!! Roxy absolutely HATES squirrels and tears after them whenever they get into the backyard. My mother found this little stuffed squirrel for her and you would have thought Roxy had died and gone to Heaven! She played with that thing for four or five hours straight!

After opening all the presents, we sat down to the annual Christmas Brunch and were again joined this year by Herb & Dotsy Schroeder. We love them! They're just like family, and since we no longer go to Phoenix for the big family get togethers of my childhood, it's wonderful to have them join us and bring a little bit of that big-family-feeling.

The little boys each got some fake cockroaches in their stockings from Santa. So before brunch, I went around and added them to the table, you know, for ambiance. :-) Yes, I'm not much older than my 6 and 7 year old nephews.

Ian has turned out to be a teddy-bear man like I was and this year he got this great Batman costume for Christmas. I had forgotten that for his first birthday six years ago, this teddy bear had been a gift from me. I was glad Teddy, I mean Batman, was able to join us this year.

Every year I razz Dotsy about something, like how much dessert she's eating or how she plays the Wii. This year she stubbornly hung onto her juice glass long after I had cleared the table and handwashed all the crystal. When I finally distracted her by giving her a coffee cup and snagging her juice glass, I told her she could use the pitcher if she got thirsty :-) (I also later offered her the dog's water when I had in fact cleared the pitcher away, too)

My sister in all her glory! Actually, she learned this from our cousin's daughters. Charming, isn't it?

Grammy (my mom) would agree with Ian that this was in fact the best Christmas ever - especially since she got everything she asked for, including a new Kindle and a new Wii. Here she and Dotsy are playing her favorite game, Cow Racing.

Bradley was pleased as punch this year to hear "how much he's grown!". He has been dying to get taller for over a year and it looks like this Christmas he's starting to get his wish.

I forgot to edit out Dotsy's red eyes in this shot, so she looks a little possessed. Regardless, it's always fun to take pictures of her cause she's so not self-conscious and incredibly expressive and photogenic!

I think this shot of Doyle nicely sums up this post on Christmas morning. That's Teddy there by him making sure no one disturbes his rest.