And so it begins

And so it begins...

Three days of presents (and three blog posts to commemorate said presents).

First up. My parents' house. 

Can we please open presents now? The kids were dying!

My Grandpa and Grandma Allen were able to stay and watch the chaos, wrapping paper frenzy. They said it has been years since they've been able to watch little kids open presents at Christmas time and they loved it. My Grandpa is so sweet to my Grandma. She has had some major mental health issues the past few years and he has sweetly and gently taken care of her without complaining. Mental health isn't fair... my Grandma isn't my Grandma anymore. I miss being able to talk to her, hear her laugh (and tell an occasional dirty joke). It's like she is lost inside of herself somewhere. I miss her.

It was fun to see Pearl make my Grandma smile, even for a brief minute. She made both her "greats" a book. This one was about a snowflake and a butterfly.

The only picture of me and my Fern. Blurry but I love that little smile. 

Aggie gear. Who would have thought.

I gave my brother this snazzy sweater. Can you guess which one is from me? I thought it looked like something he'd wear when I saw it in the store. Apparently I should have gotten Jesse some new pants though. 

We - and by we, I mean 99% Jeff - made my parents and sister these super cool sunburst mirrors, from This Old House, out of door shims. It took a few weeks to get them all glued, sanded, re-glued, re-sanded, and stained but in the end I think they looked awesome. I'm hoping Jeff has it in him to make me one now. 

But the highlight of the evening came when Jesse opened this present from his wife. No. Your eyes aren't deceiving you. Those are "fornicating reindeer" as my parents' hilarious and amazingly talented neighbor, Maren, named her hand-knitted Christmas caps.

And you know what happens when something funny is said in our family. We can't stop saying it or talking about it. Even if it's a tad irreverent for a Sunday evening two days before Christmas.