Christmas

Sorry I didn't get a pre-Christmas post done to wish you all a wonderful holiday.

Before dawn Sunday morning a huge gust of wind came through bringing down many branches and leaving ~200,000 homes (number varied according to source) in SW Michigan without power, including us.

Power came back late Sunday afternoon, a minor miracle to have it repaired so quick.

Sunday night we got about four inches of snow over icy roads. Monday we were without phone lines, but so happy to have power we didn't mind being without a phone.

With all the utility interruptions and bad roads, Christmas was still able to happen on schedule. There was a little last minute shopping that didn't get done which turned out to be unnecessary. I always suspected the "last minute" stuff might never be missed.

Christmas Eve the Michigan members of the family all met at Mom's in Kalamazoo for our celebration.

This is Mom's Christmas tableau of cherished decorations and gifts collected through the years. On the right is a Patsy Anne doll from Santa when she was a little girl.

Most of the evening I was too busy eating and having a good time to think about the camera.


Mom's wish list requested tee shirts for exercise class.

Everyone was so happy to have a clue what to get her, I think she got about a dozen. This is one of her many favorites.


Granddaughter Kimmy passed out gifts to be opened, saving her pile until last.

Labels were a little confusing considering we had three "Moms" and two "Grandmas" in the room.


Daughter Heather's partner Jason is a professional cook. He brought a yummy, beautifully decorated cake for us. I can't believe I failed to get a picture of it before it was cut!

It was huge. Our share to bring home after the party filled this normal size cake tote.

This is the corner with "M" from Merry Christmas, taken this afternoon to attempt to make my readers drool and show some of the detail icing work.


Meanwhile, across the US in Idaho Granddaughter Sydney had a tricycle under her Christmas tree from her grandparents in Michigan. (Assembled by her dad. Thank you John!)

For family and other Sydney fans, there are Sydney Christmas pictures and videos on John's Blog.