Doggy Christmas

As is tradition, we jetted to Houma for the week of Christmas to see Husband's family. This was our first Christmas with Sam, and he got invited along by the Aunt Poochie.
That went surprisingly well. As soon as we arrived Sam swept her of her feet in his infamously cute ways.

It took a while for the silky terriers to be okay with this oversized intruder, but eventually they all became playmates. It was pretty adorable watching all four of them, perplexed by their jealousy at anyone petting one dog but not another. Even Grumbles became friendly, just to spite the new guy.

The doggy-ventures continued as we popped over to Raceland for a visit with Husband's brother and his wife. They, too, have small dogs, both of which are boys. We thought for sure there would be a brawl, but upon introducing them and allowing the initial, hey this is my momma!, growls they became fast friends.
It was a total bro-fest in the living room, with Husband and his brother catching up as the dogs switched off between the two of them and playing.

Sister-in-law and I were both a little worse for the wear, so instead of our usual selfies and silly pics, we just basked in the lovely Christmas spirit in her home. She's enthusiastically Catholic, and you feel that spirit as soon as you are in a room with her, so of course her decorations reflected that.
I seriously love the aesthetics of her Advent Wreath the way she placed it on their dining table.

Then she dimmed the lights and lit it, enhancing the pretty tenfold.

Even their Christmas tree set a cozy, nostalgic ambience, framed into a corner with family photos and a visual promise of a blessed Christmas morning.

It was a wonderful visit, filled with wine and a sweet little gift exchange.

My hair and makeup was so on point, I had to share

Our host during our stay, Husband's best friend, has taken a beau this last year who is fast finding a place in our little family. She's a bubbly, strong woman with a taste for wine that basically made her my BFF upon meeting.

She managed to be in town for a day or two while we were down, and we got together for delicious Tikka Masala that Husband's best friend cooked for us. She had a cocktail party the next day that I was looking forward to meeting some of her people at, but sadly after almost four days of nonstop visits, my leg/hip needed a rest.

After playing with tiny, jealous dogs, meeting friendly playful dogs, and then running amok in the bayou, Sam needed a rest too. We were lucky we had an "open" day to recover, since my leg literally didn't work. It took until late in the day for the swelling to get down enough to hobble in the kitchen for something to eat. You can see how that turned out below.

Then it was Christmas Eve, the coup de gras for Husband's family. We got together again with the Poochie to exchange gifts and share in wine. It was great for Sam, as he was acclimated with the dogs, and they kept to themselves quite well.

The Poochie gave the boys dog themed cufflinks. Husband has shepherds at home, so he got shepherds. They're super adorable aren't they?!

So all in all, Houma Christmas really turned out to be Doggy Christmas.