Christmas prep (without the boy)

With almost no help from me (and no help from Vincent - AWOL in Ohio - last year he and then girlfriend Samantha helped a little), Stephanie assembled and decorated the tree and the house.

Soon after Stephanie - whose father had taken her to see The Nutcracker ballet in Columbus - took Vincent to see The Nutcracker - Stephanie began getting Vincent novelty nutcrackers. My favorite is still a Halloween present from a year or two ago: the Dracula nutcracker. This year we've gotten two new nutcrackers for Vincent, but haven't gotten to given them to him - one for Thansksgiving (the pilgrim) and then the cool rock 'n roll Elvis nutcracker (both below).

Stephanie (pictured below) gazed approvingly at her work.

She also put some of our older nutcrackers and other Christmas items on the mantle, around the clocks.

The Christmas tree (pictured below) is an artificial tree Stephanie acquired several years ago. The decorations are ones we've acquired over the years or - in some cases - inherited from our families.

-- Perry