merry christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! The photo above is of me holding my 8-day-old nephew, Jeffrey. I held him a lot when Jeff and I were in Orangeville. I find it incredibly relaxing holding a sleeping infant. Plus their heads smell WONDERFUL. Jeffrey seems to spend most of his time sleeping, though his parents tell me he's much more active during the night.

While I was holding him, he would occasionally wake up for brief periods and stare up at me with his big, serious eyes with a remarkably world-wise expression. I cuddled him and smelled his head and marvelled at his tiny fingers and toes, stroked his incredibly soft hair, speculated about his future, kissed him on his nose.

Then he got stinky and I gave him back to his parents.

:-)





The photo above is of a Christmas Eve ritual in the Ridpath household, when JBR reads The Night Before Christmas to the kids. I've seen photos of him reading to Jeff, Larkin and Case when they were toddlers; it's great that the ritual has continued through another generation.

After present-opening at Ginny's on Christmas morning, we headed off to visit with Larkin and Rick and the family, then drove home for a short break before going to my sister's place for dinner with my dad. Annie was still in her pajamas when they opened our presents:





After dinner, Annie and Sara organized a Christmas carol sing, taking turns playing carols on the piano. Then we played games and did crafts until it was bedtime, and Jeff read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, which made me cry.

Hope you're all having a great Christmas/holiday, everyone!

(The photo below is of the Christmas tree that Annie and Sara set up for their guinea pigs, and a gift of "Raviolos" they bought for them from the pet store.)





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