We met dark and early under the tree on Christmas morning. I remember as a kid always sending the youngest sibling in to wake up mom and dad with the reasoning that they couldn't get mad at the youngest because they were still cute.
Peaceful living room. Shimmering lights. Anticipation.
I love Christmas morning.
Santa still leaves surprises on our respective couch cushions each year. Some of the nicknames have changed ("Jimmer") but some still stay the same ("Norkie" and "Smilly"). Greg and I forgot to bring our stockings this year but lucked out anyways.
Roscoe doesn't have a stocking which I will probably remedy next year because I'm crazy. He got Greenies for his breathe and was a lot more excited about attacking his treat than actually opening the present. Maybe I need to soak the wrapping paper in beef broth....
Santa has a sense of humor. Comparison of Skittle spoils.
Will be good dog for beef jerky.
I made a family photo calendar for, I think, the fourth year in a row. It's always fun to look at. Not quite as fun to get everyone to send me photos and put together..
If he had blue eyes he would look just like Mr. Bubble. Creepy. And I still shake my head over the fact that he likes baths. I think they're such a waste of time and water. But one of these days, we're going to own a bath tub that's actually his size. Though I will miss laughing at him trying to fit into ours.
Pretzel.
Two things. One - Adam's choice of packing materials for this present. Two - he made me a wooden bowl.
It's really cool and I'll keep it forever.
I was most excited about our gift to Adam. It was a fancy waffle maker. His reaction was exactly what we were looking for.
I expect him to make me waffles every time I see him now.
We went on a trip to Omaha. Christmas dinner was eaten at a King Kong next to the freeway. But look at that pretty scenery from the parking lot!
And this sunset over the gas station!
Still one of my favorite dad quotes from years ago:
"Do you know why one side of the V is always longer than the other?"
"No...."
"Because there are more geese on that side."
Morgan was actually dancing in the car and we tried to get Adam to join in. This is the best we got. My favorite part of the drive was all the "skunks". But this requires a back story.
Earlier that day, while letting our dog roam free on a walk in the country, we realized pups was eating something. Upon closer inspection, that something turned out to be a skunk carcass. Well, we didn't want him to be eating a skunk carcass so Greg took the job of carefully wrestling with his jaw while I prepared to pull on the carcass at the earliest sign of release.
Roscoe continued with tenacity, jaw clamped. We were ruining his Christmas!
But eventually he eased up, only I had myself a "girl" moment when I saw how slimy and gross the carcass was and couldn't bring myself to touch it, let alone grab and pull it out of his mouth. Then Roscoe bit down again only Greg's finger was in the way.
It is a really good thing that my husband is light years better than me at controlling temper. He's a champ.
So, while that situation was diffusing, Roscoe finished off the skunk.
Aren't dogs just the best things on the planet?
Now fast-forward to the car drive where we kept smelling skunk. We were thinking, "Wow, there are sure a lot of dead skunks along this freeway!"
Until it still smelled like skunk that evening in the hotel room, too...
Yes, Roscoe was farting skunk. This continued for three days and we nicknamed him "skog", short for "skunk dog".
Nobody wanted to ride with us after that...poor stupid puppy.
SR-71!
The SAC Museum is always a worthy stop.
I dared him to fit into this airplane. He did.
The flight simulator was fun, but my favorite part was standing on terra firma listening to those in the flight simulator. Greg and I both took a turn followed by Morgan and Adam. So funny.
Late last year I read the book "Demons, Phantoms, and Me: A Love Affair With Flying" by G. Warren Hall. I loved it! Such candid, fun stories about this pilot's life and experiences in the Navy. Therefore I had to get a picture with the F4 Phantom.
Dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ. It soon became Morgan's graduation celebration after she mentioned that we hadn't done anything to celebrate her finishing college.
Happy graduation Nurse Morgan!
Greg made pizza on our new cast-iron pizza pan. I had a goal to make pizza on it once a week this year that I kept up with thru January.
But it should last many lifetimes so no rush to make all the pizza now.
Family game time. Still always ends in tears. The memories keep getting created.
Rook was and usually is the game of choice.
Morgan is the official provider of "haunches massage". She's the reason Roscoe greets most people by pushing his butt against them.
Snowy sunrise over the Clay Center library.
Saying goodbye to mom at the post-office!
Last view of the house. It's so nice to go home for Christmas. So hard to leave.
Merry Christmas 2014!
Have a great day :-)
