Holiday fun

As is our tradition, Greg and I slept over at our parents' house Christmas Eve; this year my grandmother stayed the night as well, and it was very nice to be able to spend some extra time with her. Once we were all upright and ambulatory this morning, we headed into the living room to exchange gifts between the five of us. Ultimately, though, it was the sixth member of our group who ended up being the center of my photographic attention. Because if there's one thing that Kaylee loves, it's unwrapping her presents:





I'd like to say this shot happened naturally, but in truth Greg collected Kaylee's loot and placed it at her feet so I could take a picture of her with her new toys:



Since we had Thanksgiving over at my aunt's this year, our Christmas gathering happened at my parents' house today (next year Thanksgiving will be at Mom and Dad's and Christmas at my aunt's). So in the afternoon the five of us were joined by my aunt Bonnie and Uncle Bill; Bill's brother Phillip; my cousins Emily, Katie, and Anne; Anne's husband Dimitri; my aunt and uncle's Corgi, Molly; and Anne and Dmitri's yellow Lab, Butter. And as was the case earlier in the day, the dogs pretty much stole the show.

Butter got a bit of wrapping paper stuck to her lip:



While Molly snuck around checking out everyone's presents:



Since Butter's not quite yet mobile after leg surgery a few months ago, Kaylee worried that my cousin Annie might be lacking in doggie kisses:



However, as my aunt later demonstrated, as long as you get down to her level Butter does just fine:



Butter's thinking "What on earth is she making that face for?"



Molly found it all very amusing:



My cousins Katie (sitting upright) and Emily:



My grandmother as she listened to the ongoing conversation:



And my grandmother upon realizing the dog toy she'd just had tossed to her was a bit slimy:



Finally, one last shot of Kaylee to bring today's post to an end: