Happy Boxing Day!!

A little late for my friends "down under" of course and almost too late for the British Isles but it's the thought that counts, right?

Boxing Day here in the States involves returning "boxes" to the stores from whence they came and knocking each other down to get to the sales. I'll pass, thanks. I wonder if anyone gives presents to their servants the day after Christmas anymore.

Also Happy Birthday to Ray (and to my friend Dawn's husband as well). Dawn's making a cake for the two of them and we'll celebrate together later.

I have pictures, both of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I went over to Jim's for a while the afternoon of the 24th and played cards with them. The Zachary pictures are from that day. He and his mom were both a little under the weather the next day so Jim and Tim came over with Jonathan and Jim's kids. Melissa's three girls and her little granddaughter were spending the day with other grandparents. Extended families can be very complicated.

And I have a picture (actually a couple of them) with Ray looking happy and healthy. It will top my gratitude list for the New Year.

I'll put them on a separate post - it's simpler.

Elcie and Rebecca called right before all their cousins arrived. They were having a good Christmas and wanted to know all about ours. I'll probably hear from Rochelle today or tomorrow.

We had a good time - far too much food. Maybe by next year I'll have learned how to scale down. I kept a little ham and turkey out (enough for the next few days) and froze the rest. No cooking today or tomorrow at the very least. We'll be using up the leftovers.

Jim came over in the morning to borrow a potato peeler. I'd sent him home the other day with the ham and ten pounds of potatoes. Somehow their peeler disappeared. Threw us all a little behind schedule for dinner but he showed back up with a lovely batch of mashed potatoes and the perfectly cooked ham.

I did send a care package home to Melissa. Turkey, ham, and whatever else we thought she might like including one of the pumpkin pies. Too bad she couldn't make it but it was far more sensible to keep Zachary home if he wasn't feeling well, especially if she was a little puny herself.

It was good to see the grandkids. I see Samantha (Jim's oldest) fairly often but not so much the boys. Michael is a sophomore, "little" Jim a junior, and Samantha (Sammy) graduated last year, is working and going to school (I think I said that in an earlier post but oh well). They lead busy lives. I couldn't believe how the boys had changed from little kids into young men. You'll see why I refer to "little" Jim when you look at the pictures of the kids with their dad. The sumo wrestler is "little" Jim.

Ray slept in until almost ten this morning so we had a late oatmeal, toast, and fruit breakfast. Should hold us until we start in on the dressing, green beans, and sweet potatoes. And more turkey of course. I was up early sorting through, editing, and labeling pictures.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas day. Thanks for all the comments. Pictures should follow this post so you'll see them first (if Blogger doesn't have a snit).