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I haven't done this before, but what the
heck. Here's Cheryl and me opening up a few of our gifts. |
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Since we were going to be out of town for Christmas, we decided to just put up a little tree -- it's actually the top piece of an old tree of Cheryl's. |
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I love scrabble. Cheryl got me a new "deluxe" version. The one I've had I kind of felt I shouldn't be using because it might be a collector's item. It's an original game with an ancient pamphlet for other games (averaging about $2 if that indicates the age!) in an original box. Now I can preserve it and use the new one. |
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Cheryl was wanting some flannel pajamas, which came in handy when we went up to cold Chicago. |
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A shredder. You can't be too careful these days with all the identity theft that people fall victim to! |
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This time it's a game for Cheryl. We played this over at one of her friend's house and liked it. |
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What the heck is this
thing? It looks like one paddle. (Handy, I guess if I'm
ever "up a creek".) No, it's not a paddle. It's a tree pruner. (I guess that's indicating an addition to the "honey do" list. ;-) |
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No, I wasn't trying to be unromantic by getting Cheryl a kitchen appliance. She asked for a new, better food processor. |
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And last, before heading out to Cheryl's mom's, Cheryl gives Tuxedo his present (just a big chew treat). |
That same evening we went over to Cheryl's mom's
for fondue
and so we could give our presents to her niece, nephews and mom.
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Is this cute or what?
This is Cheryl's sister's son, Ryan, 2-1/2 years
old in is own little recliner.
Hey, just one minute...I don't even have a recliner! ;-) |
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Here is is again, with dad and mom in the background. |
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Chocolate fondue for desert? Cool! |
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Everyone....except me, since I'm taking the picture. There's another with me and not Cheryl, but since this is her side of the family, if I were to post one, it made sense to do this one. Starting with Cheryl and going clockwise: Cheryl, her sister Laura, nephew Ryan, brother-in-law Matt, her mom, her brother Alan, sister-in-law Jen, niece Sara, nephew Cole...and hidden, taking the picture, me. |
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What did Ryan get?! We'll see later... |
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Cole examining a game cartridge we got him. |
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Sara opening her I-Dog. I wonder if she ever got that puppy trained yet! |
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Okay, back to Ryan. It's a train, from "Thomas the train" collection, and some track. This green engine's name is Henry...which leads me to... |
We then flew to Chicago to spend Christmas with my
family.
My niece Beth and her husband Todd hosted Christmas dinner.
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My grand-nephew Henry, being held up by grandma (my sister Gwen). Quite obviously, he likes Thomas the train, too! |
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Okay, here's a better one of Gwen. |
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Henry has his own chair too! It's not a recliner, but it's exactly his size. (He's 18 months old.) |
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And another chair "just his size". |
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Me and Henry. His chair makes a good backrest. That's my mom and brother in the background. |
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Henry playing the drums. I guess you can call him a "little drummer boy". Okay, that was a bad pun. Rrrum-pum-pum-pum. |
Oops...I didn't really take any pictures of anyone or anything other than Henry!
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Last, while we were in Chicago, we capped off the trip by seeing Blue Man Group. |
