A Day of Remembrance

Today is a day of remembrance... well, for me it is. Today was the day that we took the Christmas decorations down. It was the day to behead the tree (well it certainly looked that way after my dad cut it in half) and throw it over the back balcony. It was also the day to take down the Christmas lights, the stockings, and all the amazing nativity scenes that were set up all over the house. Below are just two examples of amazing set-ups by my mother.

I will share with you other 'greats' of this past Christmas.

My dad, Ed, and his grandson, Eddie... Yeah, they're pretty tight.

The kids of Christmas with their grandpa!

Ask me if she is this cute, precious, adorable, irresistible, etc. all of the time. Go ahead. Ask me.

Because she is... all. of. the. time!! 

Her name is Little Miss and she is my second oldest sister's youngest. 

These are the families that came for Christmas. My sister Erin's family is the picture on the left  and Sephora's family is on the right. 

Here is the family that I really missed this Christmas. Nutmeg, the woman holding the baby on the right, is my beautiful, oldest sister. She, her husband, and the family (6 children) stayed in Texas this year. *This picture is from May 2011 and includes my parents, Erin and her family, and me*

Erin, Katy, (my brother) Tim, and I were all present to put the tree up this year!

And here it is...

This is a 14'3" tree... from the backyard.

Katy and I sometimes get mistaken for twins... which is awesome!

What always makes Christmas a joy are these two people right here, my parents. I can't even imagine spending Christmas without them. They couldn't be more in love with each other or more devoted to their kids and grandkids. They are absolutely amazing :)

I mean, I even caught them playing the magnetic fishing game before going to bed!

This picture was taken BEFORE Matt (left) hit Tim one yard away with a snow ball.

The music men. Tigger and Eddie.

Told you! All of the time!

We are a very musical family.

This Christmas was wonderful, and I even got to spend a little bit of it with Paul when he came New Year's Eve.

... and so did Tigger.

Not only are we a musical family, we also like to draw ;)

Do you see what I mean?!

Sooner or later, it was time for everyone to leave. When I awoke today, it was only my mom, dad and me. It's not that I don't like being with my parents (I love it!!), but when I have to take part in removing all of the Christmas decorations inside and outside of the house, it makes you realize just how beautiful Christmas is.

As this post comes to an end, I shall leave you with two sobering photos. Pictures that will make you want to cry... okay, maybe just me. Pictures that will make you realize just how special Christmas is with your own friends and family...

OOPS, not that one! Although, that's a funny story in and of itself. You see, Tigger uses everything as a guitar, even when there is a real guitar a few feet away for him to use. It's funny. 

Okay, so here it goes...

... Oh well, at least there are still some Christmas cookies left :)