Christmas 2022
in Sierra Vista with
Our Expanding Family

This year's celebration included new "family" members in the form of Molly, her sister Emily, and Emily's husband Ryan. Although not technically related (or at least not yet), the new family fit together like ... well, let's think ... maybe like a gingerbread house fits together with a layer of frosting to glue it all together?

At any rate, we had a wonderful time from morning to night as the party began at Mike and Anna's house for breakfast, then moved to ours for dinner and partying.

Christmas morning dawned bright and clear, with Santa's sleigh's contrail still lingering in the blue sky. With no fog or snow, Rudolph had it pretty easy finding his way to Sierra Vista this year.

Santa borrowed our SUV to deliver the last of his gifts to Mike and Anna's house. Mrs. Clause threw in some hot casseroles for good measure. It's no wonder Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly.

Morning at Mike and Anna's

Christmas began at Mike and Anna's house for a gathering of the clan, a holiday breakfast, and the opening of gifts

Anna, Alex, and Zach put together an amazing Christmas tree. It's our old tree (it's too much work for us old folks to decorate and take down every year), and frankly, Anna and the kids did a much better job than we ever did.

The presents were stacked high around the base of the tree. After a couple of years of muted COVID Christmases, everyone was ready to party like it was the 20-teens again.

The best present of all was having the family together on Christmas day.

Clockwise from the left: Cherie, Emily and Ryan, Matt and Molly, Alex (and Gambit the dog), Zach, Anna, and Mike (and Teddy the dog)

Christmas Breakfast
at Mike's house included five breakfast casseroles, red and yellow mimosas, coffee, and bonhomie ... with plenty of refills on all of the above

Cherie mentioned that on Christmas she had a "happy heart" — everyone was together and enjoying each other's company — a mother's greatest joy.

You can almost hear Mike, in a gravelly voice, ask

"Is 'zat yooou, Santy Claus?"

as he and Cherie wait for the next round of presents to begin.

This is a wonderful 'like mother, like son' image of Cherie and Mike on Christmas morning, sitting companionably side by side taking it all in.

Matt and Molly, left, got a picnic backpack to fill with food and wine once the weather warms up and they can have a leisurely lunch in the mountains (or by the ocean if that's where summer will find them).

Zach intensely watches as Alex opens one of the gifts. Poor Zach, he was getting over a cold, and kept a mask over his mouth for much of Christmas Day (which he lowered to ooh and aah here), and Alex keeps earphones attached to his head pretty much year-round.

Ryan, below, hams it up for the camera ... OMG, Santa found us here, miles from our home at Camp Pendleton in California???
Rosie the dog, however, wasn't buying the act.

In a more serious moment, above, Emily (Molly's sister) and Ryan share an embrace on the love seat ... or is that Ryan trying to protect his wife from these strange people and dogs in Arizona?

And speaking of dogs, Anna, below, enjoys watching Teddy and Gambit nose into their own Christmas presents ...

... while Rosie the Riveter, er, riveted, looks on at the festivities from her perch on the couch

Back at the Ranch

After the morning spent at Mike and Anna's house, we all took a couple of hours of rest and recuperation before reconvening in mid-afternoon at our house for drinks on the patio, tossing a baseball back and forth, drinking, flinging frisbees, drinking, kicking a soccer ball around, drinking, chatting, drinking ... you get the picture.

As the moon began to rise and we were tuckered out from sports, the family gathered around the fire table to swap stories while ...

It's a bird ... it's a sleigh ... it's an eye in the sky! Our border is monitored by a dirigible that seems to float beneath a rising moon along our southern border on Christmas evening.

... while Cherie was busy in the kitchen preparing the holiday dinner. In this case, she's making creamy mashed potatoes with cheese, bacon, and green onions, to go with our turf and surf dinner of ribeye roast and lobster tails (thanks for those, Molly). Yummmm...y!

Cherie works in the kitchen, background at left, while the candle-lit holiday table awaits its guests to come in from the patio

And finally we all gather for our special meal, plates overflowing

Molly's Rouge Gallery

Molly took some photos around the dinner table and elsewhere which brought out the best of her subjects.

At left, Molly (on the right) and her sister Emily at the Christmas dinner table.

Remember that thing about Ryan maybe protecting Emily from all those crazy relatives and dogs? I don't think so ... he and his have enough of their own.

Zat you, Santa Claus? I'm in a pickle ...

The Grinch aint stealing this Christmas

Anna and Mike share a candlelit moment at the table

A new holiday tradition?

Making Gingerbread Houses

After dinner, the family adjourned to the kitchen table to engage in competitive gingerbread house construction. Is that a thing? I guess so. Three teams tackled the art of erecting and decorating gingerbread houses.

Mixing alcohol and sugar can result in some explosive creativity, as the team of Zach, Molly, and Alex put together a clever (cleaver?) Janus-like house which was fairy-tale pretty on one side, but whose other was destroyed either in an Alaskan earthquake, cursed by the wicked witch of the north, or attacked by zombies. I'd have to give them the nod for the most original concept.

Matt and Anna teamed up to make, in my opinion, the most artistic house. Anna's the proud artist, while Matt looks a bit mischievous, getting into the spirit of beer, er, cheer as he sprinkles snow on their house of winter delight.

Mike and Cherie were attentive spectators to all this construction, while Anna patiently puts the finishing touches on her artwork.

And the winner is ...

After the houses were constructed and decorated, we needed an impartial judge to decide whose gingerbread house was the best.

Matt dialed up his Aunt Kathy in Ohio on Facetime to critque the entries, which were presented by the contestants. Unfortunately, it was pretty late in Ohio, and Kathy was woken by the call, then had to whisper her comments so as to not wake up Tim who was sleeping by her side.

I'm not sure it was even possible to judge who made the greatest house, but I know one thing: Emily and Ryan had the best ugly Christmas sweaters going for them. And Kathy decided they had the best house, too!

Congrats to the beaming, winning team!