Sue and I spent Christmas morning sharing our gifts before heading out for Christmas in Rochester and Effingham.
Marissa had invited us over to her house at 1:30 Christmas Day, sort of staging in the large number of people that were going there over a few hours time.
It was great seeing how much Mia had grown, though she just wasn't hearing all this Christmas hustle at all. I think everything just overpowered her to the point she didn't even want to open any presents. Because we had to leave early, they did have her open our gifts. But after we left, I think they had to put her down for a decompression nap!
We left at 2:30 so we could get up to Sue's brother Alan's house in Ossipee before dusk. She and Alan then went over to lay a wreath Sue had made onto their mom's grave. By the time they got back to the house, the place was filled with family.
It was a wonderful time of chaos and sharing, little ones scrambling all over the place and the smells of cooking and baking filling the house. It was 9:30 by the time we headed out into the cold night air for home, but smiles and memories of the day warmed us both physically and emotionally.
But we were both beat, and it didn't take long before we were sound asleep! Fortunately, Sue had the day off Monday, so there was no feeling of getting up early to disrupt the deep and gentle rest we were able to have.
