December 23

Given how late (early?) we went to bed last night (this morning?), it was no surprise that no one really felt like getting up today, but we finally bit the proverbial bullet at around 10 AM. After saying hello to my grandma (who was, not surprisingly, asleep when we rolled in overnight), we got dressed and headed out to pick up the little Christmas tree we use when we're here from my mom's house, and to do some last-minute shopping for groceries and a few gifts.

After tree retrieval, Target, and late-late lunch at Five Guys, we dropped by my brother Bobby's house for a visit. The kiddos took very little time to acclimate to their cousins Brendan and Brianna --who happen to be the same ages as Abby and Isaac, just with the genders flipped-- and quickly roughhoused their way upstairs, where they entertained themselves mostly quietly and later made a batch of Rice Krispies treats while the grown-ups chatted a bit. And then it was back to grandma's house for us, where we wrapped presents and ate dinner.

Here's a little visual rundown of the day, since I don't like picking just one to represent an entire day of blessings:

From bottom left, it's me, my mom, and Abby this morning; us having lunch during our maiden Five Guys voyage; the cousins in front of the Christmas tree; same cousins making their treats; and my grandma cutting up pieces of her 95th birthday cake from last month (she'd frozen it in anticipation of our visit so she could share it). The big picture is the ceramic tree that's in my grandma's front hallway. I really like this particular decoration, probably because I remember it from when I was a kid. The pegs are removable, so you can arrange the colors however you like when you set it up. Just looking at it gives me an amazing kick of nostalgia, and looking at it in the dark with the pegs illuminated makes my heart smile.

Of course, all of these photos --and the ones I couldn't cram into the collage, too-- make my heart smile, so I'd call it a blessed Saturday indeed.