merry christmas, kitty!

the bullough family party is well known for unexpected surprises and this year was no disappointment. things started off smoothly with dinner and the nativity- i was backstage helping violet (an angel) prepare for her role so sadly i didn't get a single picture of her in her heavenly garb. i did manage to steal one of addy from my sister's camera...

after the nativity, it was present time. violet was pretty excited about it. you want proof? here you go:

she isn't sure how to handle opening presents; she is only 9 months old so i can't expect too much. she was, however, pretty excited about her gift from brynlee.

she was thankful for the gift but most of all for the yummy wrapping paper. we were pulling paper out of her mouth all night. pica pica...
after gifts, santa paid a visit to the kids.

again, not really something vi gets yet- but she submits anyway.

so the night had been going according to plan thus far- and then we had the white elephant exchange. there have been many gifts that have caused controversy and all out brawls in the past, but i wasn't quite prepared for what this year's exchange would bring to our family. for starters, many of the gifts were outrageous or truly unwanted white elephants- like the cd cade and i made of us singing christmas songs or a vhs copy of brokeback mountain. then as my sister's number finally came and she unwrapped (yes, unwrapped) a new, little kitten i knew that i was in trouble. cade was obsessed with the little kitty and he wanted it more than ANYTHING. the only problem was: mandy wanted it too. i, on the other hand, was still in shock that a live kitten was a white elephant gift! the two of them oogled and awed over the little thing and cade's heart was torn. should he steal the kitty from my sister when his turn came and break her animal loving heart- or - should he go home with a box of barbie head dolls and kitten tears in his eyes?

trust me when i say i was rooting for option two. no question. we already have a cat! and i am not the biggest fan of cats! and they scare me! and WE ALREADY HAVE A CAT! cade was wallowing in sadness. my aunt, seeing this all play out, was kind enough to let cade know she had another kitten that he was welcome to have.

you should have seen him light up.

"a chistmas miracle! a christmas miracle" he shouted repeatedly.

so, as you may have guessed by now, my sister and i are now the owners of two sister cats named thelma and louise. thelma went with mandy (on the left) and louise (right) came home with us.

more to come on little louise later...