My "little girl", had a little girl

I have 2 little sisters, and I'm sure for the full purpose of making me feel old, my sister Torrie had her second child yesterday. My other little sister, my mom and I all went to KC to see the little nugget come into the world. Sadly babies are on their own schedule (what is up with that?) so Amber and I had left to head home, only to get a call that the baby was coming... like.. now! So we went back.

I'm proud to say that I took Talyah* Colette's first photo ever.

(I think)

{8lb 5oz - Colette is Amber's middle name, so if you don't like Talyah's name ... suck it.}

*Not sure if this is how they are going to spell Talyah (pronounced Tal (rhymes with Pal)-Yuh), they hadn't decided yet when we left.  

Pretty sure Amber is now at bat. She's gonna need to break the 17 year no boy streak.

And then the dust settled at the Cease Fire Ranch

And the stockings were hung, by the .... dining room hutch... with care.

The decorations filled the house...

Well, not really "filled" so much.  As many decorations as I could fit in one trip in the jeep.  I totally got lazy this year.  I actually liked that I had less to mess with, but missed some of my decorations that didn't make the cut.  Next year, we should have a garage HERE, so it will be much easier to store things.

Not a creature was stirring... cuz he got tucked in, like every good cat.

Just in time for a good morning breakfast (no pics) and then a feverish gift opening.

The traditional "Mom got me clothes" parts were ok, because well, they needed clothes.

Jingles got what he wanted.

and Gene got what he wanted.  Pajama Jeans.

No.  Really.

Don't forget the traditional "making of the pipe bomb" part of christmas!!!

Gene was spoiled this year - a mattress topper, an awesome shaving set, some clothes, accessories for the jeep, nice gifts from the boys.  I got spoiled too - a new kindle fire (and a cover for it), a shark mop (it's ok, I wanted it), a pretty mother of pearl bracelet, candles and an address book.  Tanner got a boatload of clothes and a cool do-hicky that lets him watch all kinds of internet goodies on his television and a stereo for his car, which was a gift from Seth. I think Seth beat us all this year.... go Seth! I don't think he'd admit it but I think he likes his brother more than he puts on. ha..  Seth made out well with a fishing rod, 4 cases of pop (thanks Tanner) and an amp for his electric guitar.  (apologies to his neighbors).

This was the first year in the history of all years that I didn't keep a list of what I bought or what I'd spent.  I just sort of threw money at this "problem" (I was so busy this year) and amazon is a BAD THING. lol.  Needless to say, everything was wrapped in amazon boxes this year.

We not only had breakfast, I made a big fat ham for lunch and we laid around and watched movies for half the day.  It was a good day.

{Don't get your panties in a bunch, Tanner was really just working on his new stereo}

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Joyous New Year! You are all a blessing.

And here's what you don't win....

We recently entered a big contest... YAY!

We didn't win... BOO!

However, we felt it worthy still of sharing our entry because we're proud of it! Check it out.

5:08 p.m.

The best part of the day.. those few minutes between day and night.

From this day until it's sweltering hot, our days will grow longer.  Spring can not come soon enough.