On Tuesday Nancy and I drove to Birmingham to spend some time with Mark's family before Christmas. On Wednesday Jenny and Mark surprised the kids with a 5-week old puppy; their special Christmas present. That evening Jenny prepared a very nice dinner after which we posed for the picture above. Jackson is 13. John Michael is 10. And Margaret will be 7 in February. She's holding the puppy, which is mostly black, against her mostly black shirt. It's hard to see, but it's there. And she doesn't want to put it down. Everyone else wanted a turn too. They named him REESEE (pronounced "REE see" like the candy.) because he's the color of peanut butter and chocolate. He will be loved a lot. Wonder if they'll even notice when Santa comes.

We went to Mass Christmas Eve with light weight clothes, not the usual heavy coats. It was in the mid-70s. Last time we remember it being this warm for Christmas was back in '81 or '82.

We'd like to wish everybody a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and hope Santa was good to all.