Christmas 2005 with Alyson & Ben

Christmas Eve was finally upon us.... A normal work day for Bruce... He was up early and out the door before the sun was even close to rising.... I slept in to a comfortable 7 a.m.... I knew what had to be done and figured I had plenty of time to do it in.... We also figured the earliest we'd get our first visit (from Alyson & Ben) would be somewhere around 2:30 maybe even 3 o'clock in the afternoon... And I wasn't expecting Bruce much before that.... About 11:30 the cell phone rang (Asolomeo)... I knew it was Bruce... and I was knee deep in housework at the time.... He'd just received a call from Alyson... She and Ben would be arriving right around 12:30.... And he'd be home, himself, around the same time....Looking around me, I knew I had way more than an hour's worth of housework facing me and I hadn't even hit the shower yet.... I thanked my husband for his heads up and told him I had no time to visit.... There were things that had to be done.... I don't know how I did it.... But somehow I managed to get things picked up and put away... and even have our dining room table spread out with delectable snacks.... The house was in order, we were ready for company.... And even got my shower in and myself presentable by the time they did arrive..... We had a very enjoyable visit as well.....

After we had a chance to visit and snack a little... It was time for our gifts exchange.... We made our way to the living room, and made ourselves comfortable.....We gave Alyson a framed 8x10 photo of Bruce and I along with an AAA Membership .... Bruce worries about her being on the road traveling as much as she does... We also got her a gift card for Bed, Bath, & Beyond... She says that is one of her favorite places to shop.... Knowing Ben is a Bills fan (take a good look at this one photo... The Bills were playing and guess where his attention really was??)... we decided it was only fitting he got something Bills related.... So we found this nice shirt with the Bill's logo on it.... Nice pose Ben... one can hardly tell your attention was really on the TV and the Bill's game....
Alyson had this great idea of getting her Dad an NFL Giant's Jersey and ran it by her brothers, Jay & Matt, who jumped on board with her idea.... They all went in together and got him this great NFL Giants Jersey.... All he lacks are the shoulder pads to help fill it out...
I'm not sure who the number belongs to... but Bruce and his boys know... And I thought it fitting that it is also his age...
Alyson gave me this great little mirror... It's lighted (3 different settings) and also has a magnifying mirror on the opposite side... With these aging eyes of mine... I'll probably be using that side more than the other.... Thanks Alyson!!

Alyson snapped this little pose of Bruce and I.. All in all we had a wonderful relaxing visit... and as usual... all too short.... but glad for the time together.... This was the first of many holiday visits to come.... Next upcoming visit will be from the Russell clan...My son, Klaus, his wife... Olivia, and their sons, Jasonn & Kyle... and even the dog Oreo.... yep they were able to talk us into allowing Oreo to come along too.... That story in the next set of photos.....