Christmas - The Day After

Christmas Phase I - Santa was here!

It's the day after Christmas - a day filled with cleaning up little messes here and there, helping the kids put together any new toys that escaped yesterday's marathon assembly session and in our house it is a day of leftovers and relaxation!

More "evidence" that Santa had visited!

All is quiet in our house this wet winter morning, it's 8 am and everyone except me is still sleeping, the dog has been out for her morning constitutional and even she went back to bed.  As I write this post, I am surveying the aftermath of yesterday's festivities and deciding whether or not I will truly relax today of if I will spend the day putting the house back in order!  Right now the pull of another cup of coffee is strong, but I seem to lack the energy to get up and go make a fresh pot - if my current energy levels are any indication it seems that my house will stay in it's present state at least until tomorrow.....

Me.....

Our house had a total of three celebrations yesterday.  The first arrived bright and early Christmas morning, the mysterious man, Santa Claus had visited our house while we slept......the morning was spent opening stockings and all of our gifts.

Santa was very good to all.....my favorite is my new vacuum (I know I am weird -  get me appliances and I am a happy gal).  My hubby's fave was his new PS3, my oldest daughter got her first digital camera and my youngest finally got her Fur-real Friend Puppy (she had been asking for this since last year)....

Santa brought Daddy a PS3

Daddy with his angels....

My husband, myself, two daughters, the dog and the cat all participated in our Christmas morning revelry.

Jasper with his new catnip toy.

Bella with her new chew toy.

Early afternoon heralded the arrival of the in-laws bearing gifts for all, so we spent more time unwrapping gifts, visiting, sharing memories and eating cookies.

Christmas Phase II

Christmas Phase II

My son and his fiancee arrived mid afternoon bearing multiple bags of gifts for all, these were stashed under the tree, while we waited for the arrival of my parents and grandma.

Christmas Phase III

Passing out the presents, phase III

We spent time visiting, laughing and eating snacks.  My daughter's each had to each take turns sharing time with their big brother and his fiancee so that they could show off their newest treasures.  The house rang with laughter and sounds of the newest video game.  During this time I was also preparing our Christmas dinner - the traditional ham and all of the fixings.

Bella got a new blankie from Grandma and Papa

My parents and grandma finally arrived bearing more gifts and more food for our Christmas feast.  The dinner was laid out on the counter buffet style due to lack of table room.  We all dug in and dished up our favorites - for me it was the ham, mashed potatoes and the steamed vegetables....I go straight for my favorites and forgo all the rest.

Harold eating his dinner one serving at a time!

 We had quite the laugh over my husband who started by eating his tossed salad out of a salad bowl, which is not funny in itself, but once he finished his tossed salad he continued to use his salad bowl and ate the rest of his Christmas dinner (one selection at a time) from his salad bowl.  At various times I would look over and see that he was eating mashed potatoes, then later sweet potatoes, followed by ham topped with pineapple and finally the cranberry fruit salad with walnuts that he  loves.  Dinner rolls with jam were eaten as an accompaniment throughout his "salad bowl dinner".  It was one of those times that are forever immortalized in my memory bank (and I got the photos should my memory ever fail)!

My Son with my future Daughter-in-Law

Me at the center of the Chaos
Our family matriarch, my grandma, is seated next to me.

My Mom & Dad.....my Mom is passing out gifts
and my Dad is directing!

 Because we pack so much into one day we are usually thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day and this year was no exception. This Christmas was perfect except for the two missing family members - my sister and my brother......we did call and talk each of them, my sister in Colorado and my brother in Las Vegas.   They were missed this year, hopefully we can ALL be together next year in person instead of just in spirit!

Merry Christmas, the day after!