Christmas at Home

Disclaimer from Mom: As I look over these photographs (almost entirely taken by Kenny) I feel compelled to apologize and explain. This was our first Christmas at home (we had been taking everything to Grandpa's) and wasn't exactly what I expected. I had big dreams of making presents, cooking fabulous things, taking lots of pictures. Instead I was getting over an awful virus that I had almost all month and Kenny was home for the first time in a long time. Shopping and cooking were beyond me. There are not pictures of everything, so you'll have to take my word for it that the first thing Kenny did Christmas morning was to snake our drains, retrieving a very rotten frog from a pipe and giving me the present of a working sink and dishwasher for the first time in over a month. Then he picked up the kitchen and living room and helped feed Luke breakfast while we waited for Kelsea to wake up. The kids clothes do not match and are not clean. Kelsea's hair isn't brushed and put up. There is drool and snot.

And then there is the bit that for me was a little harder to tell from just the pictures: we were all very very happy and felt very blessed to have the holiday we did.

Kelsea had snuck out to sleep on the couch and watch the Christmas tree, wearing herself out so completely that she slept quite late.

Mommy's Mommy came over and enjoyed coffee and Kenny's whole wheat pancakes, then we set about opening stockings:

Goldfish!Tickets to Lights in Bloom!

Bike Gloves!

Kelsea did have a stocking, we were just to busy watching her to take pictures - every single item was a big deal, from the dried fruit bags, to stringing beads and even wipes.

Then Gaga came over too, and we opened our other presents under the tree andthe ones she brought too: