At least it's not Christmas in July.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Wait, it's January 28th... Oh well, better late than never I always..always say. As always, Tahera and I spent Christmas in Horseheads, NY celebrating the pagan holiday with our families.






















Here's a wonderful shot of Mom P. getting a necklace from her hubby.



















And here's a good one of Dad P. and his new yellow shirt. Though the neck size is a little big, the "room to grow in" philosophy has seen a resurgence ever since grandchildren entered the picture.























Having two families in the same hometown may seem like stroke of good fortune for a married couple. But as some of our friends can attest, it also leads to the perpetual challenge of trying to decide how to divvy up the time amongst different relatives while we're in town. As has become a bit of a tradition in its own right, In the evening before the 25th, the Parvez's do Christmachanakwanzakaa'l Fitr (aka "Giftsmas"). The Ejaz's set the the celebration for the morning of the 25th after we return back from our Arctic League deliveries (after catching a few Z's, of course). Here's a nice picture of the Ejaz family giftsmas tree in full regalia. While many of the young Ejaz's have ventured off into the world (well, ventured off to Buffalo, at any rate.), Medina is still there full time to make sure the rite of the giftsmas tree is observed. Once she does move off to college (just 4+ years away!) we'll see if the Ejaz's don't go the Parvez route and..erm... "spare" the tree.

















(Tahera insisted that this picture be put in.) I tend to look at Giftsmas as the one time of the year I should get off my duff and really try to be creative with something. Since I'm sure as hell not going to whittle her a present, I figure I should at least try to do something interesting with the wrapping. This year I got her a skirt from Bennetton. Their gift box had a snowman with red scarf on the lid, giving me the inspiration for this year's wrap. I figured it'd be a subtle hint of what was awaiting inside. While I was busy doing this, Tahera wrapped everyone else's presents. Though she didn't know it was going to work out that way, I figure it's a pretty good deal, as my creativity is pretty much shot after about 1 package.






















This year, Sameena got the unofficial award for best reaction to a present. T and I picked out a M.A.C. and eyeliner for her, knowing her love of cosmetics. Upon flipping open the lid to the package, she began laughing diabolically. "Muuhuahuahua!" We've decided that brush will play a role in a future attempt by her to take over the world. She was later seen petting the brush lovingly, as if it were Mr. Bigglesworth.

















Of course it wouldn't be a holiday on Horseheads if weirdness didn't ensue. We probably have a mountain of photos like this one.





This year, Tahera and I put together a photo slideshow for everyone. Unlike prior attempts at this sort of endeavor, this time we were a little more judicious with our background music choices. Sorry Kelis, you'll get no airtime from Riz and T this holiday season.


















Thanks for checking in repeatedly and giving us friendly reminders about updates everyone. It's you, our loyal fans who keep us motivated to consistently post about the wonderful happenings here in Western NY. It's a new year, and we still have plenty of fun posts to share with you guys. Check in again soon for...well probably this post. But check in again a little while after that for some other really interesting stuff!