‘Twas the Day After Christmas

 

And all through the house, our family was playing, sleeping, decompressing, and recuperating from the busy holiday.

Yeah, we’re a little nutty around here. It’s my twinlings’ fault. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

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My Dad(D) and Stepmom(SM) arrived a day earlier than expected and it all began from there.

SM had heard through the grapevine that burning sage was a really great thing to do. Of course, after the mayhem a few months ago, caused by my horse overeating sage, the thought of burning sage around my house had obviously never occurred to me. But it was important to SM, so within 30 minutes of arriving at our home, she asked for us to take her outside and help her harvest some sage…….

SM was very excited about the sage. But Jax, not so much.

So we all tried to humor her…….But Jax, not so much.

We were mostly worried she might burn the house down. (We took video, but it needs to be rotated and uploaded first)

D is allergic to cats, so D and SM stayed in a nice hotel just down the road in Moriarty. Jen was very excited about their temporary digs because the hotel has a heated indoor pool.

Jen spent many hours swimming in that pool on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had the entire pool to ourselves.

I even joined her on Christmas Eve for a few hours.

But after doing handstands, flips and countless laps to entertain my daughter and have some fun, I’ve come to the realization that I don’t swim the same way at 44 yrs old that I did when I was a kidlet.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening feeling dizzy and nauseous like my equilibrium was all mixed up. But I still had to assemble a bike, finish wrapping gifts, set up the gifts and Santa surprises (footprints and milk & cookies) for Jen, and prepare the traditional overnight Holiday French Toast.

Physically, the swimming was a great work-out and my muscles felt relaxed the next day, which was good because the day started at 6:30am and was full of excitement for my kidlets!

They only had a few items on their Christmas gift list and we were so happy to be able to give them everything they asked for.

I also choose our kidlets one special ornament each year that relates to their interests, or something that happened to them that year. Jax got a kick (pun intended) from the ornament I chose for him. (Remember Bucking Bella?)

Ranchman John is quite fond of his John Deere tractor.

Jen is quite fond of her chickens.

Santa even gave her a second ornament this year.

And one for me, too!

Jem has always had a thing for trees. His favorite book is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. This past summer we were hiking on a trail surrounded by a forest of Aspen, and he was truly moved by their incredible beauty.

And a couple of surprises were sent all the way from my dear friend, Debi who is living in Thailand. (And thank you Sydney Bitless. Jem likes the shirt you sent)

Jax & Jem hung the Thai masks in their room and insisted on placing rubber snakes inside them.

Jen likes her pretty Thai doll. 

And the rest of the day they spent playing and having fun with their new gifts.

 

Jen had an old dilapidated Big Wheel that was over 3 years old and even though she is too big for a Big Wheel now (sure wish they made them bigger, though), Jen insisted that was what she wanted this year. She has trouble with coordination and pedaling, so that wasn’t an issue anyway, but she loves to ride it around the chicken coop to play with her chickens while feeding bread and treats to her flock. So, Santa brought Jen another Big Wheel and she is extremely happy.

Even Ranchman John received exactly what he asked for, and is already immersed in his new book.

 

And the Overnight Holiday French Toast, made with cranberries, raisins, and fruit from our own apple trees, and fresh eggs from our chickens, was a big success.

Mmmmmm!

I only make it once a year so it remains a special family tradition.

All in all a wonderful Christmas holiday and a nice visit by my Dad and Stepmom.

And my Dobbie girl looks a lot like how I’m feeling today. (Yawn….)