it all began with Ben and a bbq: Walnut Babies

I had a wonderful Christmas surprise this year that deserves it's own post.
I'm warning you now that this is a LONG story, so stop reading now if you're not up for it!
As a child in Montana I enjoyed an annual tradition of heading out to a snow covered old teacher's college in some tiny town on the weekend after Thanksgiving. They had the whole thing (lots of tiny cottages) set up to sell different holiday handicrafts. In one section the buildings were short and adults were not allowed. Each year I would purchase different ornaments and gifts, but there was one thing I got most excited for every year...Walnut Babies. Each year I would pick a new special little one to add to my collection and oh how I loved them. They alone probably held over half of my childhood excitement about christmas each year-all in a tiny little walnut shell.
3 years ago when Luke was on the brink of adult puphood and gaining more and more freedom by the day, he made a choice that would send him back into the doghouse and was the demise of nearly all my walnut babies. Ryan and I were meeting eachother and friends downtown for a holiday celebration and I left Luke out and free in the house, as we had done several times. On the way to meet Ryan, I called him and said, "what if Luke lays in that crate all day staring at the Christmas tree thinking how much he can't wait to get his paws on it?" We collectivley decided he would be fine and had a great evening. As we drove separately Ryan was walking back out of the house to meet me when I got home. He gave me a big hug and told me to take a deep breath. Luke had DESTROYED more than half the ornaments on the tree. The low hanging fruit were obviously the first to go and he had definitely shaken the tree to get the higher ornaments to fall. I mean he chewed multiple glass balls to bits. Was one not enough? I did not speak to him beyond necessity for at least a week. I was very sad.
Christmas Eve after dinner, Molly insisted I open a gift. She said it was from her boyfriend, JP, who I affectionately refer to as J. Pizzle, and that it was appropriate to open early. It was a small package wrapped in tissue and the minute I got one peak at that precious little cuteness, my head fell into my hands in tears. I had told JP the Luke story when we were in Denver in early December and he took it upon himself (with no help from Molly,) to make me a family of Walnut Babies-one for each member of our family. The little blankets even coordinated to the point that Ben's is a mixture of mine and Ryan's. Because only joyful tears can express my thankfulness, all I can say is,
Thank You J. Pizzle. You brought joy to my heart this Christmas.