Opening the Gifts (December 2023)

 

Christmas Day was wonderful, as it always is. We had a slow morning opening our stockings and Secret Smurf gifts from each other (my favorite part) and then a leisurely day opening the rest of the gifts that were chiefly from Grandma Owen. 

Christmas morning was bliss having everyone home. Millie was not yet married and moved, Annika was here with Tim, and it was absolutely perfect. I was so happy watching everyone open gifts and enjoy each other.  Afternoon brought our ham dinner with Mopsy and whoever was staying with her, and then evening brought our cookie party when the rest of the guests arrived. 

What I was too distracted to notice was that Tim was already starting to feel ill. By the next morning, he was in full-blown misery with COVID or the flu or some suchlike Terrible Thing. Annika came down with it, too, and they spent three full days shut up in the dark library, sad and sick, while we sat outside in the living room, not yet sick and just plain sad. 

On Friday, they emerged from the dark room for Corynn's wedding rehearsal, Saturday was Corynn's lovely wedding (looking at those beautiful pictures, one would never guess that Corynn, Rebecca, and a bunch of the wedding party were ready to keel over), and --poof-- the week was gone. These pictures, though, were before all of that happened. They were before I knew all that would happen. 

They are happy pictures of a happy day that I remember happily. 

Everyone always hopes that Papa will draw their name for Secret Smurf, with good reason. He gives a giant box, filled with all manner of gifts uniquely suited to the lucky person-- in this case, Lark. 

Millie made Piper fingerless mitts, Zeke made Millie a treasure box, Ransom got a balloon. What a party!

We took a long break from present-opening before we tackled Grandma Owen's heaps in the afternoon and evening. I took all of these pictures and sent them to her so she could see the children opening some of her gifts.  It's bittersweet to post these pictures now, two years later, right after our first Christmas without those heaps of presents from her. We miss her. <3