On Christmas Day (in the morning), we made our way to the elevator and down to breakfast where the waffle instructions were not as good as we might have hoped but we still had this spread as Ben Suzanne and Jane enjoyed their meals before we headed off to Norma's. Once there, Ben checked out the candy boxes and Ben played with the napkins and then Ben tried to make the chocolate turkey disappear as Sarah opened the arrangement from the chocolate mousse and the Goodness Gracie cookies merged along with the dreidel as we opened the cookies and Jane hid part and then all of her face with hair as I played hide and seek much to Sarah's amusement before the experimental pictures (more to come) were taken and the profile shots of Sarah and my self profile led Sarah to take to take a picture of herself and her food so that we could make our way to the Loew's theater where after some of the large drinks and some snacks we saw Yours, Mine and Ours, a perfect Xmas day movie. On the way back to the hotel, we admired John Minadeo School and when leaving the hotel, we saw a pizza box from Mineo's, so it was really a trip back to my roots. We rode the elevator down as Jane and Ben tried to take pictures of pictures bid farewell (for now) to the Residence Inn and made our way to Norma's for the menorah lighting after which Sarah Ben Jane and Norma showed off their gifts and Jane and Sarah and Jane again showed what they could do with the wrapping materials. Even at these ages, the packaging materials are as exciting as the gift itself.

Next we went to Aunt Sally's where the couches were full as Andy Norma Sue Dolly and Debbie were undoubtedly intrigued by my ability to take self portraits but I then passed the camera to Katy who took these pictures often at odd angles and often with the guidance of Jane

but this effort was interrupted by the spreading of the buffet with a remarkable collection of foods including the famous Xmas roast beast which kept the assembled going through the line and made Katy and Sam happy to see the rooster and the corner cupboard as Andy delighted in his food and Katy thought about the dessert and many cookies to come

while those at the other table conversed and Jane made Blair Witch faces as the food was consumed much to Sarah's amusement and Debbie opened and displayed her new cup as the puppet watched to Ben's great amusement. The camera moved around again taking random shots before it was time to begin the sheriff badge presentation ceremony.

These well preserved badges were first presented the Andy then to Danny and then to Sam after which some group photos were taken of the newly sworn deputies and after a little conversation between Jane and me and some resting of Ben a conversation between Norma and Jane and Sarah's amusement it was time to see whether Sam or I was taller before we adjourned back to Norma's where Andy and Katy were settled and this missed profile shot led to more Blair Witch on Jane's part as Ben and Sarah wondered whether Ben's present would be found but fortunately Suzanne found it and Ben was very excited to have his iPod shuffle as Suzanne admired the packaging Ben realized he needed a CPU from which to download and Sarah checked for phone messages so that we could call it a night.