Merry Christmas

Mom hosted Christmas Eve dinner since Mom, Dad and I plan to have Christmas dinner at my Aunt's house today and won't be seeing my brother and his family. We exchanged gifts with the kids and my brother and sil. My sil's mom, grandmother and her mom's cousins joined us. It was a great afternoon/evening. My nephew got the Nintendo DS he'd been longing for (it's pretty cool too) and my niece got lots of clothes and a double stroller for her doll, Ally. The first thing Little Miss did once she had Ally bundled in a new outfit, was take her for "a ride" on the new driveway. We have a somewhat steep circular driveway. Little Miss ran to the end of the drive then let the stroller go. She chased it, caught up up with it and stopped it from disaster just in time. I could hear my dad laughing and Little Miss calling for me. Of course she runs to the top of the drive to reenact the daredevil act but this time somehow gets confused and misjudges where Ally's heading. The stroller crashed into the brick planter. I commented that it was a good thing Ally was wearing her seat belt and that if she planned to continue living with Little Miss she better get a crash helmet.

As for me, I got a supremely soft blanket from the kids. My sil explained that Little Man insisted on it for me. She said "He's concerned with everyones comfort this year." I loved it and was touched by his thoughtfulness. I also got the much sought after Mary Tyler Moore Show Season One DVD set AND Season One and Two of Northern Exposure. Happy days are here again!!

Dinner was, as always, wonderful. Mom made the biggest prime rib I've ever seen.

This morning Mom, Dad and I exchanged gifts. Here's a sample of why I love my folks:




Dad: Oh! A new shirt!
Mom: Well, I couldn't find the yellow one so I got this instead.
Dad: It's great!
Mom: It replaces the one you gave to that Mexican.
Me: What?
Mom: Your father gave his favorite shirt to some Mexican.
Dad: Not "some Mexican", I gave it to Lito.
Me: Who's Lito and why does he have your shirt?
Dad: Well, he kept admiring it and seemed to like it so much so I gave it to him. He wears it all the time.
Me: Who's Lito?
Dad: He coordinates our birding trips in Mexico. You know, he gets the mules, bird guides, cooks...
Me: Mules?!
Dad: Well yeah, we need pack mules to get our gear up into the cloud forest.
Me: Cloud forest? What's a cloud forest?

He went on to explain the amazing terrain in this mystical mecca for birders. It's apparently quite a destination that has, according to dad, a barracks that is "just this side of primitive". Mom just looked knowingly at me as if to say "It's your basic nightmare." It sounded cool but I doubt I'd enjoy the mule trek. According to dad it's along one of the oldest trails from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. It's so old and well traveled that it's now a rut about 3 feet deep. I don't think I'd do well there.

We're forever having conversations just like this. My parents are always talking about events they assume I'm privy to. I never know what they're talking about but it definitely keeps things interesting.

I love my family and am so grateful for them.