Christmas at my family's house

I know this is a little late. Apologies. I'm going to be back on track soon.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, we went to my family's house (east of Pittsburgh) from January 2-6 to celebrate Christmas. It was a fun time, and below is the highlight reel.

This is Papap, Grammie and Elias with his new flashy rattle thing.

This is Uncle Mike ordering Kindred out of the room and telling him to stop opening other people's presents. (He really doesn't like Kindred at all. It's sad, actually.)

This is a rare shot of my brother Caleb holding a baby. (Note the delight on his face.)

Okay okay, I was just kidding about my brother Mike. He adores Kindred and Elias, and he loves being an uncle.

Mom with the picture-tee...

Kindred with his new cooking set. "To help Dada [aka the domestic god] cooking!" he says.

Dad with the picture hat...

And finally Mom with the picture large mug. (I don't mean her mug is large. I mean she has a large mug. Er...)

This is the oh-so-elusive cousin Krista. Kindred had never met her before. And neither had Michael. In fact, he was pretty certain she didn't really exist. I mean, he's been in the family for more than 10 years now, and he hasn't met this cousin of mine. Quite frankly, I was starting to doubt her existance as well. But no! Here she is, in the flesh, sweeping the living room floor with Kindred's new broom and dustpan.

And remember this lady? This is cousin Niki, with her favorite snuggle-bug, Elias.

One of Elias' favorite presents (which has been relegated to the closet until he is a little taller, unfortunately, for reasons of airway blockage) was his little Johnny Jump-Up. He stood and bounced and spun in the door way with his arms tucked by his sides and drooooooling away all over the front of himself and the jumper seat. Here he's showing off his new skills for Uncle Mike, who is quite impressed.

He was as happy as a clam. ('Til he started choking.)

(Sorry, I'm feeling a little punchy tonght. Is it obvious?)