A Petri Dish Christmas

Okay so the truth of it is, there were sick people at EVERY CHRISTMAS GATHERING we went to this year - and about half the station is sick, too. So I pretty much feel like I'm swimming in a Petri dish wherever I go! I've been pumping Echinacea and sanitizing my hands and trying to generally stay far, far away, though traditionally I am not a germophobe. And I'm still not sure I'm out of the woods where illness is concerned, but hopefully it won't be too bad.

But I think the sickest Christmas was the Freelan family Christmas. My sister and brother-in-law drove up from Indianapolis, and Ryan and I went, and since Ryan's family already had their family Christmas, we invited his mom, Allen and Bre to come over for the day as well. That would be the list of healthy people. And THEN there were my parents. Sickie one and sickie two. Dad, especially, was about the worst I think I've ever heard him - with some nasty mcnasterson chest cold thing.

You KNOW he's sick when he skips lunch. WHOA. Hope you were sitting down for that one. I mean, for Dad to skip lunch would be like ME skipping lunch. WHOA. Hope you were sitting down again. I just got you twice in one paragraph.

Mom had the house looking so pretty:

And then there was Dad...

Poor guy!!! We felt awful for him!! From a distance!

Unfortunately for him, he's got some daughters with a bit of an ornery streak. so when everyone opened their eyes after the prayer for lunch, it's possible we all looked like this:

And oh yes. We took the rest of the fam down with us:

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh we crack ourselves up.

We made one for Dad too. With a tooth and everything:

Mom wanted Julie to play the piano, which she did {not without a valiant fight, but no one can win against Mama}. Mom played the audio of me reciting Luke 2 from the King James version, which left me with a VERY red face. Ryan won major points for saying he thought it was darling. {It is not darling.}

Lunch was so good, and then we hit the presents!!! I won't bore you with all the present pictures - but I'll throw in a couple just for fun. {And Nita, THANK YOU for taking over my camera. It was a treat to be able to just open presents and not play photographer for a little while!}

This is actually a cozy for a mug...but given the day, I thought this might be a better immediate use. 

Things that happen while I enjoy my gift...

 We asked for an ice bucket, because we like to have people over for dinner outside in the summer, and we always have to borrow Mom's ice bucket. She got us a fancy pants one. I was SO HOT in their house that I went straight to the freezer and got some ice!!!

 Mom loved this gift. One day on the morning show, the guys asked about the best gift you ever got as a kid. Mine was a Cabbage Patch Kid. Mom said she wanted me to know she listens to me on the air - so look what we got! our very own little dimply elbowed family!

And then there was the family photo: 

Ohhhhhh we slay me!!!!!

Okay here's the nice version:

Merry Christmas from the Freelan Petri Dish!