A Big Sigh of Relief...

Yes, Christmas is over!
I always take a deep breath and say 'thank you'.  Not that Christmas was stressful this year.  I can say it was actually fun and very laid back.

Brad did most of the decorating.  Since we are still adjusting to the move, we only put up the little twig tree instead of the big ones.  Between our two families we have lots of vintage decorations that we've inherited or picked up at flea markets.

 

Kami and I started baking two weeks ago.  We planned on making several kinds of cookies but only got as far as the sand tarts.

Brad loves Chex mix so we made a whopin' big batch.  We baked it slowly in the oven for two hours, stirring every fifteen minutes like our recipe said.  It was yummy!

Later I was reading recipes on line and found a recipe for Chex mix in the microwave.  DUH!!!  Am I behind the times???  It takes less than ten minutes!  We had to make some more to try it out.

A tradition in Kami's family is potato candy.  We made some of that, too.

 By Christmas Eve there wasn't a crumb of any of these goodies left.  We had to buy extra cookies.

We open our gifts on Christmas Eve.  Deiter is checking to see if there is anything exciting for him.

And strange gifts they were!  No lovely pieces of jewelry, no fancy new electronics, not even any new clothing. 

Would you believe a new used tire for Brad's mower, complete with a bit of grease around the hole for the axle?  And a box for Reggie

A can of paint for Kami.  And now the box belongs to Penny!

Oh no!  Did he find a stray Kitty Treat???  I must check this out!  Can you see Isabel's eyes shining in the dark?

A perfect leap out of the box!

Notice how the heads on the humans have been cut off the picture.  It's all about the kitties!

Deiter loves rolling in the paper.   Boxes and wrapping are the best kind of kitty gifts.  Along with a few Kitty Treats.

 

After the gifts we had a snack fest.   With wings, cheese ball and crackers, bacon wrapped dates,  meatballs, veggie tray and cheesecake.

Deiter took a nap.

Christmas Day we enjoyed crablegs.  Thought I should get some human in the pictures.  Zip and Kami chowing down on crab.

Brad and Reggie.  Hmmmmm, that melted butter looks really good!  I hope I get some on my pieces of crab.

We had a really enjoyable Christmas.  I am so glad to have Brad and Kami living with us.

Daddy and Deiter keep the home fires burning.
Zip calls Deiter his little Fire Dog.  He is white with black spots like a dalmatian.  And if Zip is at the stove tending the fire, Deiter is sitting by his side.

After all the excitement, it's also good to have a little quiet time alone to contemplate.

Hope your holidays were the best ever!
Thanks for stopping by.
See you in the new year!