Christmas 2013

Did you have a nice Christmas?
We traveled to OnlyDaughter, OnlySonInLaw and Grandson's #1 and #2 for Christmas.
The tree on Christmas Eve.


Grandson's #1 and #2 on Christmas morning before tearing into all the gifts under the tree.

Later that evening in the garage making use of the crossbows that each boy got as a gift from Mom and Dad.  Both boys did really well as did their Dad but their Mom, OnlyDaughter, who used a bow years ago in high school was the best.

 

The gift that made me cry!
OnlyDaughter was in touch with an artist whose work she discovered on Etsy beginning in February 2013.  This gift was saved for last and truly did make me cry.  The oil painting is of all the Labrador Retrievers that have been a part of our family over the years.  The first one on the left was Duke who came into the family when OnlyDaughter was a baby, next to him is Duchess, our lovely old-fashioned lady,  Mollie is next and she was part of the dynamic duo along with her sister Cami who is painted below our chocolate lab, Nissa.  Nissa came before Cami and Mollie and when these sisters passed, Buckley entered the picture as an older adoptee.  The painting captures all of them to perfection and having the woods behind shows the setting they all lived in with us.  I can almost see the start to the path down to the Puddle Pond between Nissa, the chocolate lab and Buckley, our last dog (to date).

The painting will be hung in the living room for all to see this touching gift as they enter the house.
Thanks to OnlyDaughter, OnlySonInLaw and Grandson's #1 and #2 for asking us to share and be a part of the holiday with them.  The time went by too quickly and we miss them all between visits.

Yuck!  Today is cold and rainy meaning no walk.  Here's hoping everyone had a happy holiday.
We'll be turning the calendar into 2014 in a few days.

Edit:  It was brought to my attention by a coworker and then confirmed by Mr P that Grandsons #1 and #2 received compound bow, not crossbows for Christmas.  Oops, my bad.