The Gathering of the Clan

[My sister, Lori, took most of these photos. I took a couple of sneak

ones - the unposed ones I will be hearing about once this gets posted:)]

Blakey was getting all ready for everyone to arrive.......but his hat wouldnt stay on.

They arrived in batches, Steph and Gord and their three dogs first. Pup and Jas were excited to have company. Pup managed the excitement better than I had feared; there were no growls or dog fights.......not much sleeping either, though, as anytime anyone moved, my two would expect to be taken out to pee, no matter the hour. Gord, who is over six feet tall, found my futon too short and narrow to allow him to get much sleep.

"Next time, a motel!" he intoned.

Once we all fell asleep Christmas Eve, it was hard to wake up fully when Jon, Zenny and Jeff arrived before midnight.

However, we got even next morning when dogs were wanting to go Out, smokers needed to go out on the porch for a smoke, and those of us awake annoyed those sleeping in

with our cackles.

Jon: "I could hear you cackling like maniacs out there this morning!"

More cackles.

Jeff makes every Christmas wonderful. Since he was a little guy, he has always been so vocally appreciative of every gift, so grateful and overwhelmed with the richness of it all, flinging himself into the arms of whoever has gifted him,  it makes it all so heartwarming.

He affords us much laughter too, as he makes statements like, "I may get a job soon. But not for a while......I'm beginning to enjoy my leisure time." And when we all laugh, he adds, "Well, it took me eighteen years to get to this point!"

He got a duvet, two fluffy pillows and a duvet cover for Christmas, along with a warm soft robe. When he opened his personal dvd player, he was totally amazed and said, "I'll never have to get out of bed again!"

When Lori gifted him with a monitor for his computer, he was floored. "I'm so happy, I'm sad," he said, his heart full. He is still the same kid he was when he flung himself across the room into my arms when he was eleven, when I gave him something he especially had wanted.

It rained buckets Christmas Eve and Christmas Day which meant very wet dogs tracking in and out. When Jon and Zenny decided to go see the wild river (at the very top of its banks these days) at Stamp Falls, Lori loaned him a West Coast hat to keep his head somewhat dry.

I insisted on a photo!

 Zenny is so homesick for the Island, she badly wants to come home.

I hope they return soon. It is hard seeing them so rarely.

There's work on the Island, Jon!

Lisa is looking especially stunning, and is so happy, strong and in tune with

her intuitive wisdom these days.

I am very proud of the journey she has made and I look forward to watching good things

happen to her in the coming year.

Here are Steph and Gord: this is my new son, who is making Steph a happy girl this year.

Gord is the man I have waited a long time to show up in Steph's life.

I love him already. And it feels so right, it is like he has always been here.

It was total immersion for Gord: the whole fam damily, and he was

still smiling when they left. He didnt head for the hills. So it looks like he's here to stay!

That's a good thing. We all think he is The Best!

The Big Four

Lisa, Jon, Steph and Jeff

Every time we are all in the same place at the same time,

which happens only every few years, I insist upon this photo being taken to record

the passing of the years.

Hmmmm........out of the fourteen people present, seven of them were there because

I wanted to be a mother............and there are more, who werent there:)

Pretty amazing.

Here we are with my sister, Lori, in the center - who made Christmas

so wonderful for all of us. Lori was extremely generous to everyone, and she cooked

like a slave,

both the Christmas feast and a huge big Boxing Day breakfast this morning.

We helped, but she and Warren, her man, really did a heroic amount of work.

Somehow we missed him in the photos, will add him in when Lori sends me a photo.

Lisa with her brilliant and talented (and very handsome!) boys, Tyler, Caleb and Josh.

Great-grandson, Damian, in his new hockey gear,

that Auntie Lori gave him for Christmas.

 

On Boxing Day, morning came early, thanks to dogs wanting Out.

It came when it was still dark,  and when I looked out

and saw Steph and Gord out on the porch, smoking,

I had to take a photo.

Steph, ("NODDA Baby!") is not impressed.

Jeff, even less so:) Pup hid out on the porch much of the time.

But he got along with all of the dogs very well. At fourteen,

right before The End, he has finally mellowed!

Boxing Day morning required a lot of coffee.

and a fair bit of snoozing,

for the dogs, at least!

After everyone left, I spent the day putting my house back together

and wiping dog hair off of just about everything.

Both dogs are exhausted and Jasmine is limping.

She overdid it, with all the excitement

and the vet is once again going to be not very happy

about it. She was to be IMMOBILE till her next vet visit,

but that was impossible, given Christmas visitors.

Likely one MORE month of immobility ahead to once again try to repair the damage.

However, it was a wonderful, heartwarming Christmas.

Great to get everyone together,

to share all the laughs, some memories,

blend new people into the horde.

To dream about the Tomorrows ahead

and all of the delights that are still in store

for the young people

and thus, vicariously, for me.

I hope all of you had wonderful family gatherings,

as well. I missed my online friends while I was doing Real Life -

I look forward to a LOT of writing and reading

in the year ahead.