Merry Chris Mays!!

Even though I've been sick pretty much since Thanksgiving and got worse for Christmas, plus we were really slow to get our decorations up and get in the Christmas spirit, we still  managed to have a great holiday with family :-)

This year we spent Christmas Eve first with my parents


then at my aunt's house with my mom's brother, sister and their families:

L-R mama (Sheryl), Uncle Dwayne, Aunt Brenda


on top: my mom, her husband my dad, their daughter me, and my husband Chris.







middle: My Aunt Brenda, her husband my Uncle Wayne, my cousin Brooke, and my cousin Jodi - and Jodi's husband Matt and their son Caden









bottom photo: my Uncle Dwayne, his wife Paulina, my cousin Miriam, her husband Vince, their daughter Madison and their son Graham, my cousin Melissa was not there, nor was her husband Darren, but their daughters Holly and Suzanne were
And of course, my mom, her husband my dad, their daughter me, and my husband Chris.













Here are just the kiddos (we sure do have some cute kids in our family, huh? Where does all that blonde hair come from, though?)

L-R Holly, Caden, Madison, Graham, Suzanne

as usual, Christmas was a little sad since none of those cute kids are *mine* but one day ...

Christmas Eve evening, Chris and I exchanged our gifts from each other (no pictures - what was wrong with me?!?!) then Santy Claws came early to deliver the puppies and birdy their gifts. Buffy and Faith got new beds and bowls for their crates, some toys, pig ears and bones. Soleil got a new play perch, a new bird buddy (she's "preened" hers pretty much bare), a tent perch and some toys.


Christmas morning we went to Barnesville to see my mother-in-law (again, left the camera in the car - I must have been sicker than I realized) and drove to visit grandma in the hospice home. She's having some not-so-good days and some better days, but it was great to spend time with her and she seemed to be in pretty good spirits for the holiday. While on the one hand spending Christmas Day at the hospice home is sad, we felt very happy and grateful to get to spend another Christmas with Grandma.


(Chris, his grandma and his mom)

All told, even though our entire family agreed to spend "much less" this year, looking at our loot you'd never know that was the plan ... (I don't know why we do this - when I was little I used to lay out everything I got for Christmas so I could show my grandparents when they visited, and I guess it just became a habit - plus it's fun when everything is over to go through it all as we put it away)


I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or just a plain ol' great December :)