Toadfrogs and Elephants

Around lunch time we all drove to my mom’s house for Christmas with her. The dogs both needed baths and I had to run a quick errand, but after that we got down to the business of presents!

Melissa, Chris, Wade, and I

Madison was obviously wiped out after her morning on the farm.

We started the day off with a wonderful breakfast courtesy of Laura and then opened presents. We took a group picture with us all in the jackets Dad gave us:

Dad had taken Madison to the barn with him and she decided to roll in muck. That meant she had to spend all day outside, but I don’t think she minded. She quickly found the geese – she is the small dot to the right of the geese taking off.

Then we took her for a ride in the pick up truck. I was curious if she would try to jump out but she stayed safely inside.

Madison then discovered the pool – with the cover in place. She didn’t seem bothered to be walking around on the cover. Frank, the yellow lab, was smart enough to stay off the cover. Dad says the cover should hold a grown man’s weight, but I don’t think I’ll test it.

Wade and I went to church with his family and then made a quick dash for the car. We loaded up and headed for Paducah. We arrived just in time for my Christmas with the Fab Four – Jenny, Amy, and Johnna from high school. We met at El Chico and had a good lunch with fun presents. Johnna’s stepdaughter, Taylor, joined in the fun:

After lunch with the girls it was time for a visit to my Dad’s house. Melissa, Chris, Wade, and I arrived at dinner time. Laura cooked another fabulous meal. Pete supervised from the Kitchen bar. Evidently he is starting to slow down in his old age – Dad mentioned that he wasn’t killing mice like he used to:

After dinner we had a money free auction. Laura was determined to get rid of some things and we were happy to take them off her hands. Wade suggested using Paper, Rock, Scissors as a tie breaker, but that was never necessary. I’m leaving out pictures of the items in case I decide to pass them on some day…

After the Burch Family Christmas in the morning we had the extended Burch family over for dinner and more gifts. The extended family brings Marie and Tina and we always have lots of fun. The games of choice tonight were Santa and his reindeer (due to the cute antlers) and hide-n-seek.

Tommy Angel (Jim and Jean’s no-longer-living cat) always gives a grab bag of goodies to everyone. There are male and female themed bags. The male bags always seem to include some kind of interesting item to wear. Jerry is also wearing last year’s gift.

It appears from the pictures below that Wade was a little bit of a camera hog and the reindeer nose was very popular:

Wade and Tina

Always the entire group photo:

Madison and I drove from Paducah to Memphis yesterday to celebrate Christmas with the Burches. Wade had flown in the night before and spent some quality time with his parents. We had a big breakfast and then got down to the business of opening presents. I got a new color laser printer, a new red iPod Shuffle, and Turtles made by Jerry (yum!).

Emily and Wade

And we always need a good group photo:

The Toadfrogs and Elephants all grown up. The Harpers and Upshaws have been celebrating Christmas together for years. One year Ben and Stephanie weren’t in town and one year Melissa and Chris were in New York, but this year is the big change. We won’t mostly be together on Christmas Day Night – both Ben and Stephanie and Matt and Jason will be out of town. How sad. The good news is Matt is in to town today and I got to see him for lunch.

Sometimes growing up is no fun.

I have had enough of Milwaukee and am leaving (not really, but I am heading back to Paducah). Madison and I were going to drive to Paducah, return the trailer, and help my mom get ready for Christmas. The trailer has been at Wade’s work for the last few days and we suddenly realized the logistics of getting my car hooked up would mean an early morning. I had never hooked up the trailer and at least wanted Wade available if needed. However, he was headed to Chicago for the day at 7:30. That meant we needed to get up at 6 am (there goes my idea of leaving when I woke up). I set the alarm for 6 and we got up and got ready. Wade was putting his shoes on in front of his computer and says, “Holly, my computer and phone both say it is 4:30 am.” Oops. Evidently when I was setting the alarm time I messed up the clock time. We went back to bed for an hour and then started the whole process again.

I made it to Paducah without any problems. My gas mileage has suffered greatly from the trailer so it will be nice to get rid of it!

I received a few holiday photos through email and wanted to share. First we have Kate and her family – Scott, Taylor, and Anna:

Second is Michelle and Nathan’s new baby Bryson: