Jingle Jingle Jingle!

Here's wishing everyone a VERY Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

We had a wonderful time this Christmas... lots of great food, great times with family, and even a smidgin' of the white stuff to cover the brown turf of Missouri to make the holiday pretty! Cannot complain about a single thing and we still have a week of our holiday break to go.

My best gift was the Kindle that Ed got me! As an avid reader, I know it will help me further feed my addiction to books! I already have 5 lined up waiting on it for me to read! More photos to come soon... check back in a day or two, my Michigan grandkids arrive tomorrow and I want to put ALL of their pics on my blog!

The Merriest of Christmases!

Ed & I at Gretchen & Leon's home on Christmas Eve.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas!
And a Joyous New Year!"

There is nothing quite like sharing your Christmas with little children to help you capture the essence of joy... this Christmas was extra special because we spent it with all FOUR of our grandchildren. First, there was Christmas Eve with Sydney. We shared a service together at 11 a.m and then a dinner in the evening. It was so much fun. Syd wore the dress we got her for the day and looked so cute! It included a hat that didn't stay on much beyond a bit in the morning, but we got a kick out of it!

"Yay! It's Christmas!"

"I will model my dress while walking on the sofa!"

"I don't think ANYONE is happier than I am today!"

Then came December 25th, and by 2 o'clock Kate, Nate, and the kids arrived from the North. We were SO glad they got here safely even with all the snow up in Michigan and Wisconsin. By 4 pm everyone was at our house and ready to tear some gift wrap!

Rhylah got a hand-knitted hat and mittens from grammy but wondered a
bit about why we put them on her in the playpen!

The girls played "tag" in the hallway at gramma's house!

Asher models his crown from the Christmas Cracker he got from Uncle Leon!

Rhy even put on her pretty Christmas dress and then sat with it in a "poof"
for this really adorable shot!

A sweet holiday shot of Rhylah with big brother Gabriel!

The final gift from under the tree... Gabe and Ash got their Wii
from Papa, Gramma, Uncle Leon & Aunt Gret.
Could Gabriel look any MORE excited??

"Oh Bottle Brush, Oh Bottle Brush" (a corollary post to Kate's "Oh Christmas Tree")

I am an old fogey.... I must admit it. When it comes down to it, I am a veritable Scrooge about the thought of tramping about a tree lot and seeking the "perfect" tree. (Note to all you natural tree lovers out there... the perfect tree does NOT exist! We cut it down back in 1983 and there's never been one since!)

Tree shot with flash... yes, it really TOUCHES the ceiling!

Tree shot with ambient light... pretty, huh?

This year, we've sunk to new levels of "fogey-ness" - we purchased a 9 ft. PRE-LIGHTED tree! Yup! Eddie no longer has to play round and round the May-pole, tediously untangling strands of half-lit holiday bulbs! Our tree goes up in 3 sections, and down in the same; two plugs connect and voila, we have a tree! Considering that, after that point, it generally takes us three nights to get all the ornaments onto it, I'd say it's an excellent choice for us! No mess, no fuss, and with the right potpourri even the smell can be simulated!

Years ago, my father mockingly called these "bottle brushes" - but even he, in his later years, succumbed to the allure of "easy trees". Even the hardened naturalists among us will admit the look of these babies has changed substantially since the 1980's. So look at the cutting fun my kids in Michigan had last weekend and then picture me, cocoa in hand, sitting cozily by the fire with a little Bing playing softly on the stereo...

Merry Christmas to all,
bottle brushes or real,
It's not in the tree,
'Tis how it makes you feel!

Part of the Snowman collection!

All of the snowmen, having a committee meeting to discuss
the new tree. Even theirs is artificial!

We have tree! Huzzah! Ed goes happily back to reading in
his cozy chair!

Cocoa is MAGIC!

One of the most fun things we did while our grandkids visited us was taking Gabriel ice skating at Steinberg Rink in Forest Park. There we discovered the magical powers of COCOA! Gabe started out clinging to Papa and the side rails... and after one exhausting trip around the rink which took easily 30 minutes, he GOT IT! Then, after a "cocoa break" - he went back out onto the ice and he REALLY got it! My grandson can now ice skate! It was SO much fun!

Christmas Joys

It goes almost without saying that this Christmas was a very special one for us. We had the whole family together for an entire week of fun and laughter. There's nothing quite as good as having little ones around to make the entire holiday seem much brighter and happier.

Gretchen and Leon continue to await the arrival of their little girl. Will it happen in the New Year or before? We wait and see. Meanwhile, everyone was home and happy and healthy!

This goes into the record books as one of our top Christmases ever!

Some Christmas photos

Here are a few of the shots we took on Christmas Eve. Thought everyone might want to see what we all looked like that night! Chas is still not too sure about having a tree in the house, but he put on his happy face and posed for us.

It's Playtime for Chas!

Today was a special day for Chas. In late morning, we jumped into the truck and took him to the new St. Charles Dog Park. His ears popped up and he began to fuss to get out of the truck even as we pulled up and he spotted all the other potential "playmates" at the park. Our boy did a good job for a first-timer. You can see from the photos that at first he hesitated and just sort of watched the other "furry kids". Then he ran in and joined 'em. He was a stitch trying to get everyone to chase him... dogs must know greyhounds are fast cos' when Chas got galloping, they only followed for a little while and then he'd have to "dare" them to catch him all over again. All the other "parents" there were cheering him on, yelling things like "Go buddy, get my dog to run; he needs the workout!" All in all it was pretty funny and we met some other crazy dog lovers. Jolly good fun! If your community doesn't have dog park... encourage them to get one, it's a great place to meet people and we were amazed at how clean and nice ours is. Grass is stuggling to grow in ours at present, but it just opened in November and hopefully come summer, it will get a chance to sprout some green.

Finally, I hadn't yet posted a shot of our beautiful tree. It came out gorgeous again this year. Ed is the "master" tree designer at our house. I am the "appreciater" of trees!