December 17, 2007

A Cumberland Christmas









I love that we get to spread the holiday out over several weekends! We arrived in Cumberland and first stopped to visit Bud, Bob's grandfather. After lunch at a fun local restaurant we went to Pap and Charlene's house, where there was more food (shrimp cocktail - yum!) and presents all around. Owen tried to explain the mechanics of his police cruiser to Pap, but after a quick change into some new threads he had better luck with Charlene!

With a winter storm threatening we headed over to Nannie's house, and woke the next morning to some ice but not enough to keep Uncle Todd, Aunt Maria and cousin Hannah away. After a big breakfast we exchanged wonderful gifts, and with Cearra's help Owen got into the unwrapping too.

One very special gift for Bob and I was a painting that Maria did and that I had long admired. Nannie also did a wonderful job matting and framing an article that Bob had published in "Turbomachinery International: The Global Journal of Energy Equipment" (sounds like light reading, yes?).

Later in the afternoon Bob's high school friend Randy stopped by with his wife Sunny and their adorable girls Sidney and Reagan. Nannie of course laid out more snacks and we had a great time catching up. Good thing one of my gifts was a pair of cuddly P.J.s; they might be the only thing that fits after all this eating!

All too soon it was time to load up the van and head home, but the Christmas cheer and love from our visit will last forever.

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