the Christmas post

I have been remiss in posting my Christmas Day photos, so here goes. The first one is actually from Christmas Eve, because really, is there a better day to read the Grinch? When you can get to the part about "Christmas is tomorrow, it's practically here" it really is! Growing up it was always my job to tire Dave out so he would sleep through the night. He never did. We'd often read stories together as part of the attempt and I thought of you little brother as I pulled this out that night. (And to this day, thanks to all the times we watched Muppets' Family Christmas every time I hear "Sleigh Ride" my brain still hears "there's a party at the house of Fozzie Bear. . . ") I never sleep that well the night before Christmas either. Too excited. I can't decide if I want to grow out of that someday or not.
Christmas morning I found this note on my doorstep:

It's an easy walk to Gord & Shannon's but it's a fair distance if you're shoveling. I was so touched that the three of them would do this for us. What a great gift to start the day with. It did snow ALL night so it was a little hard to see where the shoveling had happened, but as I walked through the snow my heart was light with the thought of what they had done and that definitely made the snow far less of an impediment.
This is my street Christmas morning. I don't know if I've ever been out walking on Christmas morning before but it was a beautiful way to start the day. It was quiet and peaceful and white and blanketed, as though all the trouble of the world had been muted for the morning. I know it was an illusion, but what a pretty deception. To give you an idea of how fast the snow was coming down. This picture was taken just outside my front door as I headed out.
And this is just a few minutes later outside Gord & Shannon's place (which is just 7 doors down and around the corner from ours.)

This is Gord & Shannon's where the main events took place. It looked beautiful walking up the drive that morning, fresh snow failing and the lights on the house and the lights from the tree shining through the window. The photo does it no justice at all, but I can still see it in my head, and trust me, it was lovely.
There were great gifts, and great people. We opened stockings early -- always a great tradition. I still have the red stocking I've had since I was a little kid. I noticed this year that the gold letters are barely hanging on by a thread. I think it might be time make myself a new one. I know we got these stockings when we came to Canada. I don't remember if we had stockings in England and they just didn't make the voyage. (Mom, when you read this can you let me know if we had them then? I'm not sure if stockings are a Canadian thing.)
I was trying to also get my shiny new snowflake pendant in this shot. It didn't work at all, but it's a great shot of me & Coli. Coli got Lululemon pants for Christmas and they're great pants, but I think she needs to stop wearing them for at least at couple of years. She looks far too grown up in them. Surely she's not *really* turning 13 in a couple of days. That must be someone else.
This is Sammy, Tracy & Hugo's youngest. And I know it's out of focus, but look at that face! Tell me you could let a little focus get in the way of sharing a smile like that. At this point in the day Sammy and Kendra were roaring at each other like lions using the stair railing in place of cages at the zoo. Hilarious. Tracy & Hugo braved the snow to come with Chrisaleen & Sammy and share Christmas. Yay for more faces! I remember when this little guy was born, seems like just yesterday.

It was a lovely Christmas. Lots of cousins & nieces to talk to and play with. (I may have lost Scum but I did win Carcasonne). There was delicious food and always a conversation happening somewhere. The snow came down all day. The kids spent hours playing in it and the grown-ups spent hours not playing in it. It truly was a celebration. And best of all is knowing that there will always be a place for me at the table.