The Capture

Christmas morning.

We had agreed on 5:45 as the earliest allowable wake up time.

We ended up with 5:15

Here's Owen in shock as he realized that we had weakened and bought him a ridiculously expensive Christmas gift,

and Leo as he opened a hardcore history of the  Union Pacific,

Owen, as he complained about the brightness of the flash,

Opening stockings, without the flash,

A little Christmas madeira in honor of my father, who always served Christmas morning madeira in his antique wineglasses,

My new Christmas tree for the mantel from Millie Gerard!

the aftermath,

View from the couch, with a fire in the fireplace as dawn arrives,

Best tourtiere I've made in a long time....making the filling of onion, ground pork and beef, chopped onion and lots of cinnamon and cloves....

And now the 12 days of Christmas begin....

That silver bell above was my mother's favorite ornament when she was growing up. I think it said Merry Christmas on it, or something like that. When she was living in Boston, before she was married, my grandmother and my uncle (who was a good bit younger than my mother) decided to send it to her. My grandmother decided to wash it....and all the decoration came off. Great hysteria ensued but eventually my grandmother covered it with silver glitter and sent it off. My mother was kinda like me, in that she liked to watch the kids put on ornaments rather than put them on herself, but that ornament she always put on the tree herself.

There's more to write about Christmas day (a good glazed ham, great scalloped potatoes, more coughing, a neti pot, naps on the couch, fire in the fireplace all day, and the boys even brought in firewood with nary a complaint) but those pictures pretty much capture it all.

Merry Christmas with love.