Christmas in January

We had our Christmas yesterday....postponed because my Mom was sick at Christmastime. It was a fun-filled day, although I'm sure every single person there was thinking about my Mom the whole time, as I was. We managed to keep our sad emotions in check except for a couple of moments. We each draw a name for a gift exchange and my daughter-in-law picked my sister. She gave her a silver ring with two stones.....one a ruby to signify my mother's birthstone and one a pink stone to signify her fight with cancer. It was a beautiful and very thoughtful gift. The other moment came when my sister gave my niece Laura, who is 10, a jewelry box full of all my mother's costume jewelry. It's amazing that Laura understood the sentimental value of the gesture, and it made her cry. So naturally we all welled up with tears. All in all, we had a nice day. Here's few photos of the family: Laura, who is growing more beautiful every day. Her father's going to have to beat the guys off with a stick pretty soon. She's getting more and more stylish too. Nick and Kelly look so comfy and cozy together. They make a great couple.

Kara (aka Emily's Mom). You can see how beautiful Emily is going to be if she turns out to look like her mother.

Jamie tried hard to thwart the camera but I got her in the end. 'Course the first picture may have been because she had a mouth full of food.

Doug couldn't keep a straight face.

My brother John....always with the happy attitutude.

Samantha couldn't be prettier. She's in her Junior year of college.

And Emily with her cookie is having a great time. She looked adorable in her little two-year-old pigtails.

I took more pictures of the rest of the family, but I did quick drive-by shots and some of them were less than flattering. Since my sister wouldn't let me take a picture of her face, I took a picture of her butt.......but I figured she'd kill me if I posted that one!