Christmas 2011

Whew!  The holidays are (almost) over, and here at the Morrison house, we are recovering from Phase I.  We just returned yesterday from my parents' house, where we enjoyed a special Christmas with most of the family. 

We stopped to visit MJ's Uncle Brien on the way.  All of us have a great time whenever we are together, and this time was no different.  CC loved Brien's suspenders and colorful shirt, and even tried grabbing his glasses a few times.

Once at my parents' house, Jon and Susan joined us with CC's cousin Dane, so we attempted to get a picture of the two kids together in their Christmas pajamas.  Alas, there were no pictures where they were both smiling nicely for the camera.  This is the best of the bunch, I think:

We finally got a family picture of us -- yay!  (Although for some reason I look orange like an Oompa Loompa.)

I did manage to snap a cute pic of MJ and CC together, and I laugh every time I see the funny smile CC is making:

CC received a ridiculous amount of gifts in total this year, so many that I am going to split them into two or three baskets, and just give her one basket of toys to play with each week!  At the moment, the number of toys in our family room is a bit overwhelming to both me and CC.

But the two most special gifts she received were handmade by her grandmothers.  MJ's mom needlepointed CC this amazing stocking that she will use forever.  (Her name is also embroidered in the white space at the top of the stocking, but I removed it for the blog.)  This picture really does not do the stocking justice -- it is so detailed and beautiful!

(Funny story: the stocking is so large, I thought I might be able to get a picture of CC actually inside of it.  But it only came up to her belly, leaving her looking like some kind of bizarre Christmas mermaid, so that picture idea was nixed.)

The other special gift came from CC's Memere, who made her the beautiful dress that has been featured in several pictures on this blog lately. Here's my favorite picture of her in the dress:

The absence of Patrick, Karen and Bryson made Christmas this year bittersweet.  Bitter because they weren't sharing the day with us and because Bryson is still facing some significant medical issues, but sweet because they were released from the hospital last week and were able to spend a quiet Christmas at home.  (My mom and Susan and I snuck over to their house last week and decorated it while they were in the hospital, so I hope they were happy when they returned home and found a festive house ready for Bryson's first Christmas!)

Phase II of this year's holidays begins tomorrow, when CC goes to spend a few days with my parents while MJ and I head to Orlando for the Champs Sports Bowl.  So stay tuned, and GO IRISH!!