Twas the night before Christmas and Emma's Royal Court was preparing for Rudolph and his man jolly St. Nick.
Chief Dog Baker was up late making very special Emma cookies for us and Rudolph. They are cheesy bacon goodies....Oh so drooly drooling good! Mom has been baking for days and I've been waiting and waiting and watching and supervising and sniffing and can you believe each time no Emma cookies. She finally made good on her promise. (here's a hint for a new year resolution...keep promises to Emma without making her wait for days) It was well worth it. I have to admit I was a bit worried when I heard her tell Dad she didn't have the time and was too tired to follow any of the recipes exactly so she kinda improvised. It was a recipe for muffins tweaked and made into drop cookies. I was trembling in my fur. Dad said Emma this can't be good. To Mom's delight and mine they turned out perfect. We all thought they were magnificent. Rudolph and his reindeer friends must have liked them too because before we went to bed we left them these........
That's not all we found. There were bulging stockings hanging up and presents all around our little spinning Christmas tree. Bella wasted no time jumping right in to
With this being Sweet Pea's first Christmas with us and most likely her first Christmas ever where she was allowed to participate in the festivities, open her own presents and get really, really spoiled we wanted to make sure it was special for her. Mom and Dad do pamper and spoil us pretty good.
We all got blinky bling for our collars and hooded sweatshirts.
Silly sister. She loves her souvenir bear so much Mom thought it would be fun to get them matching hoodies. It's difficult to tell which is which. Do you think Mom would mind if I happened to toss the wrong one ;) Hehehe! (just kidding I really do love my baby sister)
We got a good workout pawing, tearing, pulling, pouncing, jumping. It might look easy but gift opening is a huge physically exerting activity. I do believe if Mom wants us to get our proper daily exercise this should become part of our daily routine, not just once a year.
We also got a lot of yummie treats and some chewies. These Gracie's Grande Yappaccino goodies smell so wonderful I could eat the whole cup full. Some thumbs would be helpful right about now.
We're not running out of loot are we?
Bella loves Christmas so much she just couldn't help herself. Not only was she more than willing to lend a helping paw to all of us doggies but she also helped Mom and Dad open their gifts too. Bella's gift to Mom was Bewitched dvd's. We each got her a different season.
Whew! This unwrapping and playing is hard work. I need a brief rest.
We were also spoiled and pampered by our Secret Santas. We signed up for a gift exchange at Jazzi's blog and our Secret Santa was Baily, Mesa, Big Carl, Tori and their humans from My Life With Dogs.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to Baily, Big Carl, Mesa, Tori and their humans. They really know how to pamper a pooch. There were 2 stuffies each (6) a tennis ball each (3) and a package of chewies. WOW!!!!! We were so amazed with the kindness and generosity from doggies and people we have never met. We love everything.
You might notice the toys shown in these pictures are a different holiday, but we didn't mind at all. Actually they fit perfectly. It seems we had an unintentional theme going - witches. The toys fit in perfectly with all of the Bewitched dvd's Mom got. I think it's pretty pawsome.
The cat in the pumpkin got tried out by everyone at first. I think everything has been chosen by it's dog. Bella likes the witch, dracula and pirate with ropes. Sweet Pea likes the cat in the pumpkin. Emma likes the bat loofa dog. The black cat is shared. Bella plays with all 3 tennis balls. Who knows by tomorrow every toy may have a different dog that loves playing with it. Mom and Dad used to try and assign toys to us but we always switched them and then Mom and Dad would try to maintain that order and then we would switch so they have decided who ever likes it most or wants to play with it can. I do believe I like this way best.
Our other Secret Santas are from a pet store. They put up a Secret Santa Paws tree and you pick a name. For each name you pick you get to put up a name. We each got our name on the tree and we each picked a name. We bought gifts for a female Great Dane, a male Great Dane and a English Bulldog. Sorry, but I kinda forgot their names. The Secret Santa buys some items with a minimum dollar amount and then the pet store so very generously adds some extras to all the boxes. There were toys, blinky bling for our collars, chewies, treats and coupons.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot Mom and Dad got us brain thinking games. The Tornado interactive brain game by Nina Ottosson. It works best if you use your nose to move the layers of bone shapes around to get the treats. I don't have any good pictures of us playing with the Tornado toy yet but I will share them when I do.
We also got a wooden interactive game with sliding discs that hide treats under them.
We all figured them out pretty quickly but it's still lots of fun and we enjoy playing with them and getting the yummies.
We also got our very first Christmas card in the mail addressed to Emma, Bella and Sweet Pea. It was from The Slimmer Pugs. That's who we had in Jazzi's gift exchange. They sent a cute Pug card.
Hmmmm, I wonder if that is George, Toby, Gracie or Lily modeling on the card? It's kinda hard to tell with the Santa hat.
We have been truly blessed this year. Good health, prayers answered, a new family member, new blog friends, a cozy home, food in our bowls, vacation with family, walks, toys, treats, a comfy bed and an old reliable Emma contoured couch.
From the very bottom of my Great Emma sized heart Thank You, Merry Christmas and I wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy, and Blessed New Year.
Emma
