Family Traditions & Special Gifts From Special Friends

We have a few Christmas traditions in our family. Who doesn't?

Christmas Eve dinner - dungeoness crab, boiled shrimp, homemade cocktail sauce, melted butter, corn on the cob, ceasar salad and french baguettes

That would be my niece, Laura, (former Navy Corpsman) and her husband, Jared (Navy Corpsman). They are PCSing to a new duty station. He started that beard about 2 days ago. LOL! Anyway...not sure whether he's giving Laura encouragement on that crab or hoping she's picking out the meat for him.

Some of the remains of the crabs.  Poor babies.  :)

The stockings were hung from the chandelier with care. AWESOME, huh?

I think my sister-in-law is pretty darn clever!  Not enough room on the mantle - find a better option.

And in the mail today two very special gifts from some very special people:



Thank you Stephen.  I will treasure this forever!  You Sky Soldiers & ROCK Paratroopers mean more than the world to me.  I'm eternally grateful for your love and love you always.

From LTC & Mrs "Ranger" John and Connor.  Ranger John's one of my favorite scotch drinking buddies.  Oh heck, he's just one hell of a guy all the way around.  He'll be home from another deployment soon.  I see a trip south in my near future.  Gotta catch up on some drinking, tales and get some tips on using this flask.  I love you Ranger John.  Be safe and hurry home.  We've missed you!