Journeys›Photograph

Christmas and a Birthday at Home

·Walnut Creek, California·#winter#bay area#christmas#family#birthday
A child wearing a floral shirt and a feathery headband looks down at a brown guinea pig in their lap.

Christmas at home in Walnut Creek this year, and a birthday folded into the same day, so the morning had a lot to get through.

Before any presents came out, the guinea pig got a long turn on the couch, passed carefully from lap to lap on a brown blanket. Fairy wings were involved.

The unwrapping happened by the fireplace in pajamas. The big hit was a purple plush puppy — Violet, according to the tag on its paw — which got an open-mouthed gasp on arrival and then never left arms for the rest of the morning. Stockings turned up hair ties and bracelets, which counted as real presents as far as anyone here was concerned.

By the time we tried for a group photo in front of the fireplace, it took three attempts to get both kids and the puppy looking anywhere near the same direction.

A child in a pink shirt holds a guinea pig while sitting on a couch, with sunlight streaming in.A person and a child sit on a carpet, the child holding a purple stuffed animal, with a fireplace in the background.A person with long brown hair holds a smiling child with blonde hair, who is holding a purple stuffed animal, in front of a fireplace.A young child in a horse-patterned shirt holds shiny toys, with two teddy bears and scattered clothes in the background.A child in a unicorn shirt looks down at a colorful spinning toy, with a white stuffed animal and room in the background.An adult with glasses smiles with two children, one holding a purple plush dog.An adult with glasses is close with two children, one holding a purple stuffed animal, near a brick wall.A smiling adult person embraces two smiling children, one holding a purple stuffed animal, in front of a brick fireplace.

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