And More Cats

Baylor may love the new cats in the Hazel household, but Grimm is still his favorite.  And he is quite a tub these days, rounded belly and all.  

I Don't Know, Cats?

The house is still raging hot and the windows are still open, which Grimm is loving!!  It is weird having the windows open during the Christmas break because the house won't cool down!!  

We went to Heather's for our Christmas get together and we meet her kittens, Peaches and Cream.  This is Cream with Baylor.  Peaches is a bit darker orange.  They are brothers Heather found online at a rescue and surprised the kids with for Christmas a few weeks ago. Baylor was completely smitten with them of course.    

Merry Christmas to All

Jason, Baylor, Meme and Pap went to Dave and Laura's last night for a quick visit.  It has to be quick because they never alter their schedule when they have visitors.  I sent my camera along and in typical Thatcher fashion, the photo is more of the living room than the people in it.  Oh well,  Baylor and Adam got a long really well and Baylor was sad to leave him.  

Santa did arrive and left a lot of nice gifts for our family.  

Which made this member of the family super excited!  

He did really well waiting for other people to wake up before opening his gifts.  We helped the pets open theirs first which was fun.  Grimm received several new toys to run under furniture or throw in the water dish.  And Eddy's stocking as filled with treats, which she was not interested in the slightest.  

When Momma and Meme were up, we let him start on the gifts.  

Between Santa, Mommies and his grandparents he made out pretty good as usual.  

New Nerf gun.  

He asked Santa for three items and he left three packages wrapped with Santa paper. 

Lego Dimensions was in one package.

A few characters including Legolis from Hobbits was in another.  

And a Lego Jango Fett was in the last one. Santa came through again.  

Jason joined us as well shortly after we started opening gifts. 

Our fur children, navigating the chaos.  

Jason gave Baylor a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  He does not have many of them so it was a nice addition to his toys. 

Another Nerf gun, but smaller.  

If I don't watch, maybe I can get some rest.  

Christmas kisses for Grimm.  

When he ran out of gifts, it was time for his stocking.  I remember my stocking when I was his age was much smaller, but it was something I always looked forward to!  

Around 11:30 my parents arrived and I finished up dinner prep around 1:00.  We had a Tuscan roast pork loin and a pot roast for the meat. 

I made super soft dinner rolls, that I nearly burned.  

Brussels sprouts with bacon.  

Steamed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole were also on the menu.  Along with the pickle and olive tray, deviled eggs, and Meme's cranberry relish.  There was plenty to go around and plenty to send home with everyone.  

The family gathered around for lunch and it is always wonderful to have so many people to share our day and meal with.  Baylor is lucky to be able to have both of his grandparents together for holidays.  Mine lived on separate sides of the US so that was not something I experienced.  While we do give many gifts at Christmas, I really try to teach Baylor that the real joy in this holiday, any holiday, is being with our family.  They are what is important when we get together.  That and all the yummy food!  

After our meal, we had gifts with the Grandparents.  Baylor had opened most of his gifts and being young and a gift loving boy, he was a bit sad that he was not opening as many gifts as his grandparents were.  It was still a million degrees in the house and he changed into shorts not long after my parents arrived.  

Meme and Pap bought him the Nerf bow.  Jason and Baylor had a good time playing outside with his new toys.  Jason does really well playing with Baylor and they always have a good time.  

The grandparents.  I got them to pose together for Baylor I said because Pap hates having his picture taken. 

Not so with the Grandmas but Pap was running Meme out the door and she did not want to be left behind.  

Pap wanted to get on the road before the traffic got bad (okay, it was Christmas, not Friday rush hour but you cannot tell him that).  Mom and Dad were staying the night so it was an even Grandparent exchange.  

The goodbye cuddles.  

One of the gifts Mom and Dad gave Baylor was Sorry, which he fell in love with on vacation.  He was so exited to play it.  Which made my mom super happy that he loved it.  I think it was a Merry Christmas to all.  I know I loved it!  

We had the windows in the house open all day again.  This meme showed up on Facebook and was totally appropriate.  

Christmas Eve, or the Last Morning with Chocolate Before Breakfast

This morning was the last morning to move the Advent Calendar and open the last chocolate door.  Both are a fun way to count down to Christmas.  

Checking the paper calendar and moving up Santa's beard.  

The last chocolate.  

I know I was baking a lot and cooking dinner for the family but the house would not cool down.  It was soo hot in the house I had windows open, the butter was melting on the counter, I had to put it in a bowl because it was running all over the place.  It was crazy hot.  We even slept with the windows open like it was fall or something!!  But it was great!  

I peeked downstairs and it looks like Santa made it on time!