Christmas 2016

How was your holiday weekend?  I hope it was happy and full of love of friends and family.  We had a nice, easy-going time.  Kristi has made a tradition of getting matching pajamas for her family and even got one for Buddy!  Aren't they cute?  After I got the photo, the mayhem began.  :-)

Kristi was Mrs. Santa, she knew where everything was under the tree and passed out things accordingly.. :-)

Our daughter Amy sent these cute robot animals for the boys, they had lots of fun with them all day.  Thanks, Amy and Jay!

I laid the new tablecloth and napkins on the table that Kristi gave me as a gift and the new crystal candle holders that Dayle surprised me with and set the table for dinner.  Dayle had a ham in the oven and even prepared the potatoes "Gratin Dauphinoise" for me since the cold I have had me feeling a bit dizzy and out of breath.  

Dayle knows me well when he found these on his shopping trip to Costco! :-)

Dayle used his new chef's knife that I got for him to slice the ham for dinner.

OK.. smile everyone!  *snap*  Then we all toasted each other and said how glad we were to have each other then we dug in for a delicious Christmas dinner.

Want to join us?  There is plenty!  LOL!

Dayle gave me the gift of music.  Years ago I'd seen a ukulele and had fallen in love with it, practical Dayle said "You don't need a ukulele!".  So for years he's heard me say I'd wished I'd gotten it and learned to play.  He decided that he'd get one for me for Christmas.. he wanted to surprise me but finally told me what he was up to.. he wanted my input.. so we did some research and actually found the same kind I'd fallen in love with so many years ago.  It's made of Koa wood with mother-of-pearl inlay around the outside and the sound hole.  Goodness, it sounds wonderful!  I'm learning to play chords and keep it tuned.. you tune it to "My dog has fleas".  I even got a music stand and will be spending some time learning more chords and singing to the music.  Wish me luck!

  
Here's the chef's knife I got for Dayle.. he said it cut through the ham like a hot knife through butter.  :-)

Kristi surprised me with this really neat necklace from Origami Owl, you get charms that mean something to the person you're giving it to.. the diamond is my birthstone, the bone for our dog Buddy, the knitting yarn and needles and the heart with "Grandma" on it.  I just love it.. thanks, Kristi!  There were lots more gifts and things but I thought I'd just share a few.  As you know the best part of the day is the time with your loved ones.

It was a wonderful holiday time for us all the way through.. we decorated slow but steady, I loved the luncheon here with my sisters, it was a good year.  Now we can enjoy the lights of the tree until New Year's Eve and then we'll stow all the colorful things away and start 2017 with a clean slate.  But this week is one of my favorite weeks of the year.. I hibernate.  No appointments, no meetings.  Just relaxing by the fire with some strumming and some crocheting and goofy movies on tv.  How was your Christmas?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)