December 25th - Just an Ordinary Day

December 25, 2014

It's a gloomy, rainy day today.

We're not opening presents like most families are doing today.

There is nothing to unwrap.

The kids didn't even wake up early like they usually do.

There is nothing under our tree today -

no reason to get out of bed.

On Sunday, December 21, however, we awoke to a beautiful layer of snow on the ground.  

We had a scrumptious breakfast of eggs, 

bacon, sausage, 

sticky buns, fruit salad,

coffee and hot chocolate.

Then we unwrapped our gifts. 

Stockings first.

We celebrated Christmas early this year

 because our family couldn't be

together on the 25th.  

Kerry had to work 

both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, 

and she lives in Nashville.

And it just wouldn't be Christmas without her.

Kerry opened the felted replicas 

of Ravioli and Fletcher, her two pets.

Adam was happy to get some good pens for correcting papers.

Reading glasses with built-in lights were the ideal gift for Vance!

I knitted a headband for Annie.

We moved to the dining room near the tree 

for the rest of the gifts.

Since we don't have a lot of family around, 

our holidays are usually 

just our immediate family.

When all of the gifts were opened,  

we worked on a puzzle together.

At the end, there were two puzzle pieces missing.

I had one.  Kerry had the other.

We think alike.

We both wanted to put the final piece in.

So we decided to put them in at the same time.

Dinner was prime rib, twice baked potatoes, 

carrots, brussel sprouts and rolls.

For dessert, Adam tried his new French Press coffee maker.

Annie brought home a carrot cake 

from Cheezy Eddie's in Rochester

for dessert.

The day was complete with a fun game of rummy.

Adam needed a little help from Momo.

It was a beautiful Christmas day!

Last night, on the real Christmas Eve, we went to church,

watched Good Will Hunting,

and went to Vernon Diner at midnight for some junk food.

Today we will just relax.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies and Happy Hearts, This is How the Holiday Starts

Decorating Christmas cookies is always fun.

And interesting.

It can also be a lot of pressure.

Gone are the days when the kids slapped on some frosting and a few sprinkles.

They take it seriously.

No two cookies can look alike.

Beauty is nice, but creativity is greatly appreciated.

Vance was really thinking outside the box that evening.

A Japanese Christmas bell, a well-endowed angel,

Siamese twins snowmen, 

and lastly,

 Annie's Asian friend Khanh, who plays the saxophone.

Adam got fancy with some swirled designs, 

but his favorite was his Harry Potter scene

with Dumbledore and Harry casting a spell on the dementor.

Annie was the most detailed and creative with unique

but time-consuming designs.  

She is most proud of Patrick Star from SpongeBob

and was slightly peeved at Kerry when she ate him today!

Kerry and her friend, Grace, did a little baking of their own.

A giant Christmas cupcake!

So .......

 The presents are wrapped under the tree.

 The stockings are hung.

We're just waiting.

 Waiting for the big day.

Day-Tripping

We set our alarms to wake us up at 5:00 AM yesterday.

We were going on a day trip to Rochester.

It was a dark, cold morning.  We had a long 5 hour drive ahead of us.

This was taken on the highway in the dark with the lights overhead and the cars on the other side of the highway.  Fun!

The parking garage in Springfield was festive!

As daylight slowly brightened the dark sky, it was really beautiful.

We got to Rochester a little early so we could get a seat for the Holiday Sing.  The Holiday Sing is an annual tradition at the Eastman School of Music.  Students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members (and parents!)  gather together in the main hall at the end of the fall semester to hear and perform musical pieces inspired by the holiday season.  I was excited that we could be there!

And better yet,  Annie was playing in the Holiday Sing this year!

We enjoyed all of the performances, but of course we liked the saxophones best of all!

If you're interested,  here a snippets from some of the other groups.

Afterward,  we had the privilege of having lunch with our beautiful daughter.

And for the finale,  we shared a few slices of scrumptious carrot cake at Cheesy Eddie's.

Then we were back on the road again.

We left in the dark.  Came home in the dark.

These are Christmas lights as we sped by in the car.

We arrived at home again at 8:39 PM.  

It was a very long day, but one that I'm glad we didn't miss.

The kids come home at the end of this week so it won't be long until our family is whole again.

I can't wait!

Change

We had a water bowl already.

It's been used for many years.

On the surface, it was very functional.

The design only allowed the pets to see a small portion of the water

so they were unable to splash the water on the floor.

But it was not perfect.

Exposing what has been hidden, 

removing the lid, 

the unseen water was not clean.

Don't they deserve better?

It was time for a change.

This is the new water bowl.

The water is constantly moving.  

It is filtered so it's always clean.

It's healthier.  It's better.

The world is always resistant to change.

Isn't it true?

Change is scary.

Change is hard for many.

Even when it's necessary.

When something has been the same way for so long,

it takes courage to do things differently.

It takes is someone with the courage

to try another way... 

to show others it's not scary,

and hopefully lead others to the same conclusion.

Still, some resist.

But be persistent.

Don't give up.

Or maybe just give them no other option.