{Michiganders Come to the Desert for Christmas}

December is so last month's news, but I'm still getting caught up. I couldn't skip over

Christmas and the two week visit we had with D's parents. Jim shared his photos with

us last week. So, I'm armed and ready to post these now.

We had a great time with them. As always, the time went too fast. We did a little

last minute shopping and a lot of final hour wrapping.

This was our first ever Christmas with Jim, and it was our first Christmas with

D's mom since 2000. It was really nice to have time together at the holidays.

We tooled around downtown Chandler a bit ...

And enjoyed some nice, quiet, relaxing time at home.

Sandy worked on her needlepoint purse (left), and I did a little embroidery.

We saw this old guy (right) when we tried a new breakfast place. I think Jim

wanted to take him home.

We got in three Christmas movies, too! These two and Elf.



Oliver kept guard over the tree, ornaments and gifts until Christmas morning;

A job he took very seriously.

David and I usually make a nice breakfast on Christmas morning, and then we get into our

gifts a little later. It kind of stretches the events of the day out a bit when it's just the two of

us. But this gang was determined to start with gift giving pronto. I loved the enthusiasm.

When Norah realized we were going to be in the living room for a bit, she found a spot

right in between mom and Jim where she was sure to see the action and get lots of love.

Killian was quickly kicking himself for not thinking of it first.

So, as soon as Sandy moved, that boy squeezed in to request his Jim-love.

Norah was graceful about it for a few minutes, but then she reclaimed her

space for the rest of the morning. :)

As the gift giving ensued, it was clear that Jim's gift tags to Sandy would be the

morning entertainment. He tried out a few potential new nick names.

Your little enchilada. Your saguaro. Your cholla. It was hilarious and adorable.

We were either all very good this year or we tricked the pants off Santa! He brought

us a lot of fabulous treasures ...

... including a new lens for me ... and this bad boy for my camera, too.

I mean, seriously. I was in shock. (Still kinda am, David Link!)

Gifts aside, it was fun to share the morning with our family. We had some nice laughs,

and totally enjoyed lounging around in our new Christmas Eve PJs. It was a great day!

That evening, we had quite the spread for dinner. David made tenderloin and lobster tail.

I made sage biscuits and twice baked potatoes. We also had the best brussell sprouts and

mushrooms ever. It was totally decadent and a great last meal with David's parents before

they headed home the next day.