It was a very happy new year's day

Poor Daryl had to work all morning, Mia was at her Nana's & Paw Paw's, so I had a lot of free time that morning to take the Christmas tree down and put away all our ornaments and decorations. One great thing about having well over 2,000 lights on the tree was that it was so pretty. One not so wonderful part, was unwinding the lights from the tree. A perk of having a real tree is that by the time you're ready to take it down, the ends break so the ornaments and lights were pretty easy to take down....time consuming, but easy. The tree did try to attack me whilst hauling it outside. I can away with only 2 long scratches on my arm. You don't want to see the tree...it wasn't handled too gently after that.

Dada & Mia play with Legos

After tree wrangling, wrapping all the ornaments in tissue, realizing that we need to purchase one more huge tub for Christmas stuff, vacuuming bazillions of pine needles, I showered and headed southwest to Dripping Springs.

Joe with two gorgeous girls

Right when I walked in, Gwen was in the middle of receiving her breathing treatment. It freaked Mia out a bit, so I was glad that I was able to sweep her up, carry her to the back room and read the fish book over and over. Because of it, she know knows the difference between a shrimp and a crab, but she still calls jellyfish jelly beans :)

Gwen gets a big kiss from her Daddy

The rest of the day was so freakin' fabulous! The kids played well together. Well, Mia didn't like it when Gwen got in the wagon. Both girls have their own at home, so they both thought that the other was encroaching upon their territory. Mia ended up with a sticker on her nose. Once Daryl arrived, we all gathered for a family picture. I'm so glad I have a timer on my camera. I think it turned out rather well.

The Gleisners from the left: Melissa, Gwen, Joe, Tom (Paw Paw), Dee (Nana), Daryl, Tanya, Mia & Memaw (Laura) seated.

Dee out did herself with dinner. She cooked up some wonderfully tender crown rack of pork, green beans and the yummiest mashed potatoes.....garlic, butter and half n half will do it every time. Mia ate a lot more than I thought she would considering she either had a cookie or a lollipop in her hand at all times. That's one thing about Nana's, they get to spoil their granddaughters, and Dee does it so very well :)

Mia drawing with her Memaw

When we made it home, the snapper went to bed immediately. Daryl and I were tickled to have her under the same roof again. I do miss the lights and decorations, but I think the living room and our counter space must have grown....we have so much space now that the holidays are over.