Christmas 2011

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Santa Claus made a brief stop at the house, quietly placed a few presents under the tree, then moved on quickly to finish his rounds in Murphy. 

What started out as a joke gift from Mark became a very welcomed warm gift for upcoming cold blustery days. 

Cliff has everything he needs now............lots of pistachio nuts, York peppermint patties, and the full series DVD set of NCIS. 
A 5-lb kettle bell from Mark.  After too much pie, too many chocolates and overindulging since Thanksgiving, I'll need the kettle bell to burn off the blubber.

Bring on the snow!

Mark picking through his stocking.

After we opened our presents and pawed through the stockings, Mark helped cut up our garden butternut squash for dinner.  This Christmas was far more pleasant than last year's fiasco.  The turkey actually finished cooking and dinner went as planned.  Even though a light dusting of snow would have added to the ambiance, the weather was just cool enough to feel Christmasy (actually too warm for snow) and nice enough to take a walk up Red Oak and Boulder Mountain Rd. after the turkey settled and Cliff napped. 

Mark will head back to MO in the morning.  Having him here for this holiday lifted our spirits and fed our souls until we get out to KS and MO in the spring to see both him and John.   The only thing better would have been to have had all the kids and grandchildren here. 

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