the next day

 The tree is up.  The kids helped decorate inside, and Jay worked outside.

 This was from the Christmas we brought Elin home.

 New lights in the garland, and I like them much better than the lights we had for a year or two--those were too led blue, had flicker to them.  I hated them.  These are right again.

 Old favorites:

 And the tree outside.  This tree has grown.   Santa is twelve feet tall.  The tree is close to twice that.    We had Christmas bulbs on it before and they just kind of went with the tree as it grew, but they all quit working and we had to start fresh.   Jay had his work cut out for him.

 And of course, Little Santa:

 The fog in the park beyond was hazy pretty.

Love, Val