Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, dear friends and family!

Now that we're not in Texas any more, our Dallas neighbors got their first white Christmas Eve in something like 80 years. Wow. Here, we actually got a bit of a heat wave and our snow is melting. How odd the reversal of expectations regarding the weather...

We've had a good Christmas Day here at the O'Connor cabin. The dogs all got presents to keep them content while the humans opened theirs. Tate is beyond happy to have a toy that Moya hasn't yet stolen.

Never mind. It's Moya's now.

But, in a rare display of Christmas spirit (or perhaps just to rub it in their faces), Moya actually brought her new favorite toy over to each of her sisters in turn. Tate knows better than to try to actually touch it, though.

And Belle just wants to go back to her nap.

Our gifts involved a lot of items that reflect our new lives here in Alaska - gloves, fur for sewing, lots of music, earphones to hear it better with, and lots of other fun things. James got Weird Al's DVD of the movie "UHF" and the more I think about it, the more I think that explains a lot. About all of us, haha.

{And yes, that's Amy's lobster in James' Birthday Tree. And lots of fish. The topper is an otter with a starfish. Totally adorable, as his birthday trees usually are.}

And here I am, with The Big Family Gift. We replaced our old Kenmore oven with a new Electrolux. Total sports car compared to what we had before. We all used it together to make our Christmas dinner. I do not know what made me make that face, so don't ask.  ;^)

Here we are, gathered around the Birthday Tree for our special meal. (The Christmas Tree is in the kitchen.) Roast duck, sauteed spinach, new red potatoes, two kinds of fresh bread, and stuffing. There's pecan pie and ice cream for dessert. If you hurry, you can get here in time to share some with us!

We hope your Christmas was a nice one. But don't forget to be good for next year. Santa's not the ONLY one who's watching you!