Got to Mom and Dad's Christmas Eve for Round 1 of Christmas 2014 (which is lasting for a week!)
the stocking were hung by the chimney with care
Dad has also lined the stairs with all his singing & dancing Christmas animals
Round 1
Christmas Morning
My crew were good sports to wear all Snoopy pjs
Nick opened the present from Pap & Mini first, which of course tipped him off what the present from us was going to be.
and we managed to surprise Sam, which is pretty hard to do!
messenger bag for me, slightly larger bag for Sammi (art portfolio)
Meanwhile . . .
Got Dad another noisy Christmas animal to add to his collection, too.
Mom and Dad got me a great pair of gloves, after seeing my ridiculousness via blog post on trying to walk Evan on sub-zero temp days with either cotton gloves that threatened frostbite or giant, mis-matched things that swallowed my hands and made it impossible to do anything.
My gift to them turned out better than I had expected. The photos printed on the fleece blanket came out really clear and vibrant!
The 2014 Christmas at the Saltsmans family group shot
Nick asked, when we started, "Will I need shoes for any reason?"
I guess this might've been the reason.
While Mom and Dad cooked and set the table, the dogs waited patiently.
We headed out after lunch in our two vehicles, expecting to make it home by 1:45 for Round 2.
One vehicle made it on time. Meanwhile, in my car with Sam and dogs, we'd just gotten to the north outskirts of Colorado Springs back to Denver when the phone rang.
I'd managed to leave my camera at Mom and Dad's.
Back across town we went.
On the way out for the second time, the neighbors across the street were hosting their own Christmas guests.
We made it by 2:30 at which point Round 2 could begin.
Round 2
First up, puppy stockings! Both of them had their noses deep in the stockings smelling the puppy treats inside.
Nick's real surprise gift came when he opened a Broncos scarf Bob made him only to discover tickets to the last regular season home game this Sunday between the Broncos and the Raiders.
Sam completely knew about the portable drawing table, but surprised Dad with a painting for his office
Sam also decided she and Ali needed to consult more next time. They both picked out owl scentsy warmers for me! The whole house will smell like a bakery when I'm done.
Nick has developed a penchant for really silly cat t-shirts.
Bob and Jason show off their Batman sweaters
Sam in her puffy vest and Nick with the Godfather poster Sam got him.
My big surprise was getting these prints professionally framed. I bought them from our first trip to WDW in 2000 (left) and in 2002 (center) and have bitched and moaned about them languishing in their poster tubes for lo these 12-14 years. I paid $8 for the first one. You can't buy a keychain at WDW for $8 today!
Sam and Jason were in Ceramics class this past semester and Jason manged to make Bob a Joker cookie jar for Christmas before the semester was over.
Jason with the Captain Hook mug Sammi got him. He fits right in to this Disney family.
Rounding out the owl gifts (see what I did there?)
Nummy smelling car deodorizers from Ali!
Since Ali is a manager at American Eagle, Sam was thrilled with the gifts sent along with Nick.
Sam gave me what amounts to the perfect Christmas sweater.
Between the owls, the Peanuts stuff, a baby Sven the Reindeer, a Pooh mug from Jason, and my gloves, it's safe to say my family does shopping for me very well.
Presents underneath for when Ali gets here Tuesday!
The snow was actually starting to fall when I stepped out at dusk to snap a few photos of the Christmas lights on the house for 2014
In our very generous stockings from Mom and Dad we each received Christmas money. I've already spent some of mine as of this morning! I'd spent some time pulling out additional slides from past Christmases that I'd not scanned a few years back when I began converting slides to digital files. I was expecting to download the drivers for the old slide scanner to my new hard drive and knock them out last night after all the festivities.
After multiple tries and trouble shooting, the driver and utilities simply would not open the .exe file in order to install them.
This morning, after searching fruitlessly for a work around, I got curious about the cost of a new slide scanner, since my old one was also bulky, impractical, and nearing 10 years old. Imagine my surprise at finding a 7-in-1 converter that is portable (for Houston trips)! It will do slides, negatives, AND create stills from 8mm and Super8 film!
Conversion to high resolution digital is only 3 seconds per slide.
$119.95 from B&H with free shipping today.
But first, expecting Bob Sr. and Nell here tomorrow for a few days, then Ali from Tuesday until they head back for Texas on Nick's birthday, the 9th.
Nothing like making Christmas last two weeks!
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