Merry Christmas Morning

We woke up bright and early on Christmas morning thanks to Matthew, who, every years seems to forget that he's 23 years old.

It's a Reeder Family tradition to open our stockings first, eat breakfast, get ready for the day and then settle in to open presents. And, we don't just go rippin' and tearin' through the packages. Each present gets opened, oohed and aahed over one at a time, and then played with. It's like Christmas in slo-mo.

Christmas morning use to last until after dinner when we were little, depending on how long I wanted to play with my Teddy Rukspin before moving on to my new Cabbage Patch outfits. And, sometimes, when I could see that I only had one more present left under the tree, I'd pretend to be EXTRA interested in my current toy so I could make Christmas last just a little bit longer.

This year, Matthew's leatherman failed to arrive on time, which could probably be the result of me ordering last week online. So he received a roll of toilet paper declaring our apologies.

Dad had resorted to flashing his lights at people when they cut him off because he was embarrassed by the puny horn in his car. So, now, when you get blasted off the road by a loud Elantra you know who it is.

Danny got new Ergon grips for his bike.

Mandy really wanted to keep her new scarf and gloves in one piece while Matthew cut the tag off with his new knife.

This is that new knife - it's for skinning deer. It is jaggedy and has a hook on the end. Weird. When I asked him why he needs a knife with a hook, started saying something about, "That hook makes skinning a deer as easy as unzipping a coat . . ." and I stopped listening.

We got our very own Dutch Oven for camping.

And then we got THE GLOVE. Just for the record, I called this present before it was even opened - you can't fool us Uncle Rik and Aunt Barbara - not even with your nice little card!

I found the pictured golf glove floating ominously in a lake in North Carolina while canoeing at Nana Alice and Papa Gus' 50th anniversary celebration.

I was 10 years old. It was so scary that I went back and told Aunt Sally I saw a hand floating in the water. She didn't believe me, so Mom and I went and fished that glove out of the lake and presented Aunt Sally with her prize. We all had a great laugh.

End of story . . . or so we thought.

The following Christmas we had forgotten all about The Glove. Aunt Sally's presents were some of our favorites because she always knew what was cool (she's the one who gave me my Cabbage Patch doll and who bought us lollipop spinners when Dad said "Spin your own lollipop."). So, when we opened a box from her and out popped the glove, each finger stuff with tissue paper, we jumped a mile.

And so the tradition began, who would get the glove each year at Christmas? Until one year, Uncle Rik claimed to have accidentally thrown the glove away! He never received it, or so he told us. It must have thrown it out with the wrapping paper. Well, that was fun while it lasted. That was probably 10 years ago.

Until now. It's back.

Danny's honored to have been entrusted with such a big Beimfohr/Taylor/Reeder responsibility as The Glove. We were going to keep this a secret from Aunt Sally and give it to her next year, but she already knew. So, just wait, you might be the lucky winner next year!

Joey got tons of tools from Matthew. Matthew was like a kid in a candy shop telling us about all the things he "wanted" to get Joey, but when he got to the check out his total was about four times more than he could afford.

Matthew didn't ruin any of Mandy's gifts with his knife.

Mandy gave Matthew a deer stand! This was the present we probably played with the longest and the pictures deserve a post of their own, so check back soon!

Joey in his new slippers.

And, I cannot believe this, but I got one picture of Mom and it was OUT OF FOCUS! She screens her pictures before they get the "Blog Stamp of Approval" so, I didn't even bother asking her about it. She was there and she had fun presents to open to! I'm sorry Mom! You know we love you.