Christmas 2021

To be perfectly honest, I was really not feeling Christmas-y at all this year.

channeling my inner David Rose

However, we had family at our house for a week and it's hard to be grinchy when you're around your little niece and nephew at Christmas time! We read books, played, made lots of cookies, decorated gingerbread houses, and fed the birds and squirrels who visit our deck daily. Seeing Christmas through their eyes was pretty great and I'm so grateful for all of the time we were able to spend together! In addition to my mom, B1, B2, S1, S2, our niece, and our nephew, S2's parents came over and spent Christmas Day with us, which was so nice! We love them and consider them our family, too!

B2 and S2 brought their two dogs with them, and I loved having Max and Kaz here. You may recall that B2 was living with us when he adopted Max in 2010, and Max grew up with our Dachshunds and he and Ginny had an insanely loving relationship. This led to the saddest moment from Christmas week was when B2 and Max arrived; this was Max's first visit back to our house since Ginny died. As soon as he got in the house, Max frantically ran around looking for Ginny and sniffed every surface imaginable in his search. I kept telling him, "She's not here, Max," and after a while, I think he realized the truth. He ultimately climbed up into a chair, dug up the cushion, and curled up alone. It was absolutely heartbreaking to witness. He was sad, but he also seemed to sense how sad we were, because he spent much of the week sitting beside us and resting his head on our laps. I love him so much and having him here was awesome and I can't wait until he's here again for another visit. Anyone who thinks dogs don't think and understand and feel as deeply as we do has clearly never really known a dog.

To shift from the saddest moment to the very best moment that happened during this holiday...my four-year old niece and I were sitting together in my library on Christmas Eve, just hanging out and chatting, and out of the blue, she told me, "Auntie Lesley, I love you more than mac and cheese ~ that's my favorite food ~ and I love you more than Christmas." Those words meant more to me than she will ever know.

Maddy used to love sleeping in the sun
under the tree in the foyer,
so we recreated that scene

had this in the family room last year,
but we put it in the entryway because
I like it in the center of the house
rather than in a corner

the house felt whole again

missing Ginny

he was so sad

I love him like he's my own

he offered silent comfort and support all week

indescribably great to have a dog
hanging out on the couch again

be still my heart

Kaz hanging out in the kitchen to immediately
gobble up any food dropped on the floor

such a gentle giant

exhausted by all the activity

this is C's mom's recipe for smartie cookies,
which my niece renamed smarty pants cookies;
the kitchen was a disaster,
but the memories are priceless

despite the lack of standardization in terms of
the number of smarties on each cookie,
they were delicious

my niece helped set the table...

and made place cards for everyone

my brother wrapped my gift in this

so clever!

colored lights make me so happy

one of Max's favorite spots is the
landing on the stairs and I thought
he looked so cute here,
sleeping in the glow of the lights

Happy Tails to you!