Christmas Morning

The children
are nestled
all snug
in their beds....

The presents
are wrapped...

Kitties curled

in great room....

....in breathless
anticipation.

I love
this moment
every Christmas...

...the Pause...

When
the stockings
are all filled...

Fresh fruit
set out
for snacks...













...the kids
still
asleep...












...and I
anticipate...



















...the happy
moments
ahead.

- Is it time
to wake them?

It's Christmas morning!

- Has Santa
been here?

...and look
what he left us!

The theme
this year?

It's a
Green
Christmas...

...with
recycled
gift wrap...

...and soy
candles...

Fair trade
head scarves...

...and
fair trade
toys.

The cats
wait
patiently...

The best
is yet
to come...

But first
a special
morning present
for Tom...

The best
Vermont
maple syrup...

....and KC
will make
gluten free waffles!

Mmm-mmm!

Nicky
chips in...

... and makes
Mimosas!

Cheers!

Tom
feeds
the birds...

...takes
kitty
for a brief walk...

Then
we settle in
to open
family presents.

Stubby
has already found
his favorite gift...

What is it
about this
mysterious
red present...















...that so attracts
the two cats?


But let's
move on
to people presents...

It's an exotic year...

Nicky shopped
Fair Trade
from Guatemala...

TJ bought
Nicky
a mysterious
black scarf...

KC wrapped
in furoshiki
scarves.

And Al has brought
presents
from Argentina...

An alpaca sweater
for me...

Mate
for TJ...

A stuffed
alpaca for KC...

He joins
her collection
of exotic animals.

Speaking of animals,
Tom opens
the mysterious red gift...

Just what he wanted!

... a long-handled
pooper-scooper!




..and to his surprise,
there is something else
in the box...

A banana
catnip toy!

Stubby
goes crazy
over it!

Tom
laughs so hard
he begins to cry!

Another
Argentina gift...


An armadillo
knife for KC!

My kids
think the theme
of Christmas
is weapons...

TJ gets
his sword...

Even Tom
gets a weapon
to battle honeysuckle!

TJ surprises Al
with a Night Troll axe...

KC's in
on the joke...


I think
what I love most
about this Christmas...

... is the laughter.


The laughter...

...and the catnip.

Dusty
gets the banana
now...

Stubby
is
exhausted!

More presents now...

Some
wrapped
in newspaper....

Some
deserve hugs!

But look!

Now Stubby
has the toy again!

- That's my Stubby!

Now look
under the tree
for the Santa present
wrapped in newspaper....

Open it together...

It's a family trip
to Florida...

.....and we're

staying

on the beach!?!

This will be awesome!

We'd better
hurry
and pack!


We leave in
two days!

We'll leave kitties
to their banana...

...and take
our Steussy-Williams
laughter...


...to Florida!