Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Now, you folks know Samara. You know she can't wait for presents.

So we opened them.

Here's Samara diving valiantly in front of the presents to save them from an (imaginary) assassin's bullet.

Yes, as you can see the in background, it's a white Christmas here in Alaska.

Then I tried to eat a present.

That didn't work, so I just covered myself with them instead.

Finally, Samara very excitedly opened her present from her dad.

I missed a few pictures after we started really tearing into the presents.

But as you can see, we really made out well. There's food, and clothes, and ornaments, and coffee and games. We both got jeans and shirts. I got a couple of nice casual shirts that I can wear to work. Dennis and Joe, among other things, got me a really nice tie. We also had nice gifts from Amanda, Ann, my parents and sister Natalie, and my aunts. Samara's dad, of course, sent the Wii. (There are Wii games being played even as I type this.) We also got some nice Christmas cards.

I'm sure I missed something, but I have to admit that I'm a little addled with sickness. I woke up this morning with stuffy ears, and now they're still stuffy, plus I am really tired. I dislike being sick, but I dislike it even more when I have time off.

Still, sick or not, we're having company tomorrow for Christmas dinner. I've got the dough for the light rolls rising now, and Samara and Rose are soaking the turkey in brine.

At least with the Christmas presents open, I don't have to wake up early in the morning.