Christmas Wrap-up

I woke up early Christmas eve morning to this lovely sunrise. It was crisp & snowy, just the way the holiday in Ohio should be. Our tradition is to spend Christmas Eve day with my side of the family, so that is what I'm posting about today.

Weather permitting, we being the day with a pack walk. Usually my step-sister comes along with her two greyhounds, although they didn't make it in time to accompany us here. But since my friend Courtney came over to spend the day, Mason was happy to be included for once!

It was pretty nippy and is always windy where we live, so Brutus got to model his stylish coat!

Greyhounds are perpetually cold, so here's Aunt Maggie all bundled up

Then it was back to my Dad's house for a wonderful brunch with the family. The other hounds had arrived, so it was nap-time for the pooches while we ate. Brutus and cousin Monty "gaurded" the presents to make sure nobody snooped!

This must be the official "greyhound napping position", seeing as they all flop down the exact same way!! This is Aunt Maggie and cousin Gracie (the white dog).

Brutus woke up when it was finally time to unwrap the presents.

Courtney, the creative person she is, made Brutus and I a wonderful bag of goodies (note who is featured on the bag, labelled "The Wonderful World of Brutus")...

... which included some of Brutus' most favorite treats!

I got my niece Mayna a cute stuffed pug (closest I could get to a Frenchie) that came with all sorts of clothes to dress it up. She opened it gleefully & reportedly hasn't put it down since!!

Here's my dad with all the hounds, who were a bit perplexed by all the commotion and wrapping paper.

With all the gifts opened, it was time to go back home & get ready for our Christmas Eve dinner (we served Turporken, in case anyone has ever heard of that wonderful creation). Good thing we wore out the dogs in the morning, as the rest of the day was a blur with preparations and hosting about 20 people. Other than some short periods of havoc that were mostly related to someone ringing the doorbell (I'm going to hang a sign next year that says "just walk in"), the boys were excellent - even sleeping uneventfully through dinner. Considering that having 2 people over is a big/rare event at our home, the fact that Brutus was "pretty good" with almost 20 people here was remarkable.

Tune in tomorrow for Christmas day (unwrapped). I'll leave you with one last photo, to Brutus' dismay. He did not appreciate my idea of using Courtney's bag as a Frenchie-carrier!!