Yesterday was such a wonderful family day, which is just as it should be.  

I had a lazy morning, finishing up in the kitchen (while watching various scenes from A Christmas Story, which was looping on TV all day) until all the kids were up.  Alex dragged over some big boxes, and we started in on the pile of gifts.

Tom is pretty good at guessing what's inside wrapped packages, but not for this, which turned out to be a new (very) cushy chair for working out in the shop (because unlike most of us, he does not have much padding of his own.) 

He just bundled up and headed out to play in the shop, so once he reappears I expect to hear rave reviews about his new seating arrangements.

Tyga, who isn't good at guessing, got a camo sweater 

(which he was going to wear to Tyler's Ugly Sweater party last night.)

While he didn't seem to mind wearing his sweater...

he was much more interested in his new dog toy, and dog bone.

You know how kids often play more with a box than the toy that comes inside of it?  (All parents will understand this!) GOOGLE figured this out <g> and created a Virtual Reality 'toy' called Cardboard, which Lisa got for Alex (she wrote some of the tech help for it) and tried to explain to me the other day. 

There's an app you put on your phone, then slide the phone into the box 

(which has 3D eye-pieces)

and off you go!  (When I tried it I got walk around the Eiffel Tower.)

Alex had a Snowboarding Christmas;  

here's a flask to help keep him warm.

He also got new goggles (from Tom), gloves (from Lisa), and pants (from me), so he's all set to hit the slopes.  Now all he needs is to be where the snow is, which is almost here in Phoenix, where it's COLD... unlike the unseasonably warm East Coast.

This was a little something I found for him, 

though I certainly don't expect him to put it on his car!

Lisa liked her SPIRE

and her warm, snuggly boots 

which turned out to be a great match for her pants!

Tom was happy because (among other things) he got a lot of things on his wish list, like new socks, warm slippers, and a belt, and several interesting-sounding books. He was also thrilled with his new placemat.  "You finally found arrowhead fabric?!"  It was hard to sneak time to work on it, because I never knew when he'd pop in from working out in the shop. But it was worth it.

Marilyn always sends fun stuff.  I loved Tom's parking cards; there were a variety inside the bag, each one funnier than the last.  Maybe I can get my own set?  HINT, HINT  Heaven knows I'd have plenty of opportunities to use them!

When Tom open this, he wondered (aloud) if it came with dollar bills.  Knowing Marilyn, I was pretty sure it would <G> and of course it did!  Alex dove right in, working on George Washington.

I got wonderful padded socks (don't know where Marilyn finds all the wonderful socks she sends me), which I slipped on last night and they were really, really comfy.  

Aja got the hammock she's been wanting -

see how happy she was?

Chas wasn't able to join us until 2:00, shortly before we were getting ready to sit down and feast.    (He and Lisa had to blast off a couple of hours later.... for another Christmas dinner with his family.)  One of his gifts was a Tibetan singing bowl, which we all enjoyed playing with; it has a very relaxing effect.  He was also very pleased with the hand-flaked point Tom gave him.

Of course I got all sorts of other wonderful goodies yesterday; 

here are just a few of them.

Tom found this perfect shirt, which (surprisingly!)  I'd never seen before.  The tiny text in the book says I love to read, I love to read, I love to read, I love to read, I love to read, I love to read, I love to read, I love to read - well, you get the idea!

I also got the 'obligatory' jigsaw puzzle for our New Year's Eve 'party', which Tom wanted to open and start last night.  It does look like a fun one - but of course my quilting stuff will need to be cleared off the table first, and I still have much sewing left to do!

I'm much happier with this year's calendar, which has zentangle-like pictures to color each month, than I was with last year's Sad Penguins.

Also got some Google goodies: 

a t-shirt and (perfectly-sized for my small hands) juggling balls.

How well my friends know me... Anita knew I would enjoy these napkins.

And speaking of knowing me, I did get all sorts of chocolate goodies, and a birdcage candle holder (with lots of aromatic candles) for the hot tub.

Speaking of the hot tub, I did start off this morning with a nice soak, although I still don't have the temperature quite where I'd like it.  Checked in with Mom, who 'survived' yesterday's afternoon and evening over at Ed's.  Of course the 4 kids (his and Emily's) were pretty wound up after all the excitement of Christmas, but it sounds like it was still a very pleasant time.  Here's a shot that Andy posted yesterday.

And now I think it's time to go eat something to keep up my strength so I can do some sewing.  Would love to get the Texas gifts in the mail on Monday, and the Maryland gifts done before the New Year is upon us.