A White Christmas

This was the year we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. Given that temps were in the 50s much of the week and snow was nowhere to be found even way up there in New England, it's a good thing we had family to fulfill our "White" Christmas dreams!  :)

But first: I should mention that prior to the trip north, we enjoyed a little Casler Christmas the Sunday before. Tillie made a lovely meal and we all exchanged our presents. It was a great afternoon!

And now back to New Hampshire: 

We took full advantage of the warm weather in the days leading up to Christmas. The boys had fun playing baseball...

 ...and riding the toy 4-wheeler that Dad had salvaged. 

Plus there was much fun playing ping pong and foosball in Papa's workshop. He kindly moved major tools and woodworking equipment!

Of course with Levi and Theo around, there was lots of playing with cars and trucks:

And with William around there was lots of concentrated gingerbread house decorating. That kid has some serious piping skills; he spent well over an hour perfecting his house:

And with Josiah around, there was sure to be some deconstruction happening. Papa produced a very old computer tower and keyboard from the basement, and Josiah got to take it apart. Ahh...nothing says "Christmas" like disassembling computer components in the shadow of a twinkling Christmas tree.  :)

On Christmas Eve we changed dinner plans to enjoy a Chinese take-out feast, which is Hélène's family tradition. No one was too put-out when the idea was proposed! Check out that huge box we picked up from the restaurant. Yum!

Christmas morning itself dawned bright and lovely. 

Unfortunately, though, William had a short-lived stomach bug. He hasn't thrown up since he was 3 years old; our family is fortunate that we rarely get sick like that. But Christmas morning he was out for the count. 

After a few hours, he thought he might be able to open a few of his gifts, which he did quietly upstairs with Jesse. 

But after every couple of presents, he'd lie down and take a catnap. Poor munchkin!

I'm happy to say that by 2 p.m., he inexplicably was right as rain and recommenced charging around with his cousins and generally having a blast. By the time extended family arrived in the evening, you couldn't tell he'd ever been sick. We managed a cousins shot...on the ping pong table in the basement...because, well, that's where it worked out.  :)

My dad got a youth-size bow to have at the house for the boys to enjoy through the coming years. So far Josiah's the only one strong enough to pull it back, and we have a lot of safety lessons ahead (!), but I imagine it'll see a lot of use as the boys grow.

Hélène had a few goes too!

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas, Mom and Dad! I'll leave with a photo of Dad and 4 of his 7 grandsons on a hike through the woods, plus a photo of Mom making brownie reindeer in the kitchen with a couple of the boys.