I have much to tell about the past few days…it is always good to see family at Christmas. Highlights so far:

My sister and her family arrived late last Friday night.

They trimmed the tree and finished shopping and in general, and had a few days before Christmas to relax.

My Dad (aka Santa) picked me up at the airport at 12h15 AM on Christmas morning. I was glad to get home in time.

Santa left half the living room full of presents….note the fire in the television in this picture.

We started opening presents and called my other sister in Toronto. We played Smurfin’ Beer of course.

Top three presents of the day:

	A collector teddy bear (courtesy of Jorden and his Bear Factory to Grandma Bear).
	A handmade quilt (courtesy of my Mum–and most probably my Dad–to Nat and Darryl)
	The largest toy nutcracker you’ve ever seen (courtesy of my other sister to her sixteen-year-old nephew. … How can you get any more random?…what else could a sixteen-year-old guy need? Although it turns out there is a story behind it all. Something about Jordo and getting married in a nutcracker uniform????

After a big Christmas breakfast, we went for our annual ski at Mary Lake. Well, Mum, Chantel, and I did. Jorden, Nat, and Darryl went for a hop, skip, and a jump down the road and back.

After playing outside for a few hours, we all reconvened at the house. Dad had been slaving all day over the turkey. We goofed around a bit in the living room (taking pictures and singing to some golden oldies). Then–we ate dinner. Dad and Darryl ended up in a turkey coma.

Can it get any better than that?