Christmas Afternoon

After worship (I forgot to take a picture of the girls all dolled up), we came home and got ready for the big gathering at my sister-in-law's house. They have a gorgeous "Great Room" they've been building onto their addition for the last several years, and it's the perfect space for us all. My brother is a talented carpenter (and schoolteacher), and he's taught his whole family the ropes over the years.

My parents, my siblings, our spouses*, and our immediate offspring total 40-odd bodies, so this roomy space is perfect! Plus, the rest of the house is open for little people to make messes in...

Thank you, Wendy, for your graciousness!

*I hate both the words "siblings" and "spouses," and I just boarded them next to each other in the same sentence. Blech.

Oh, and that amazing tree cost ten dollars. Every year, they go to our local tree farm and strap a ten-buck monster onto their vehicle. I don't know how they all get home in one piece, but they do!

For McGamma: that banana costume (of Alex's?) that you sent up has found a new home! Simeon the Brave wanted to be a banana-- among other things, like a boot-- for Halloween, so Wendy asked my mom to alter the costume to fit a 3-year old. He was delighted!

We pooled some money this year to buy my mom a necklace with all of our birthstones on it.

Isn't she pretty? This is the epitome of Mopsy. She laughs a lot.

She's a great mother. We probably should have bought her seven necklaces, one for each of us, but one seemed to be enough.