Times and Seasons

The hardest part of starting a blog for me is trying to catch up so I can write about things that are current.

As a family, we alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas for a holiday get together.  This year (2011) it was our turn for Thanksgiving.  We plan on celebrating on the Saturday after Thanksgiving so those who travel and have to work on Friday can still make it.  Our grandchildren are getting older and more involved in outside activities and with Nikki and Tifany living so far away, with two families' children splitting the holidays between mom and dad (and being on opposite schedules to boot) it's nearly impossible to get everyone together at the same time.  It's sad for us but a fact of life.  This year along with Nikki and Tifany, Jennifer and her family couldn't be here because of a Soccer competition game Brinli had in St. George.  Brinli is a natural at the game and loves the sport.  She is an amazing player who is fun to watch.  Go, Brinli!!  Because they had to leave for St. George on Thursday, Jen planned a Thanksgiving dinner early in the afternoon so her kids could still have a homemade meal.  They invited us to attend and it was delicious!  Brent had found a recipe online for the Turkey that was stupendous!  So tender, juicy and tasty!  Thanks for inviting us, Jen!

Daxton was enthralled with the pictures.  He seems to have a interest in genealogy.

Needless to say, Jeff and family, Becky and family, and  Ryan (he has the kids for Christmas this year) were able to share a meal with us on Saturday.  We took them to Chuck-A-Rama where they could eat all the food they could hold.  It is always a fun time getting together.  The Christmas present I made for each family member were handed out.  Turns out that I made a few mistakes on dates (no surprise there!) and will need to reprint some but its not a big deal to do so.  I just have to make the time to do it.  I do want to give each family the PSE file so they can change the pictures as the children age.  It was a fun project and hope they will be appreciated much more as the years go on.  After dinner, I went with Becky while she had Wendy take family pictures of her family.  I had requested that for Christmas each year each family give us an updated family picture.  Wendy is the amazing family photographer for those who are close enough to have her take them.  She has a great eye and has done some very amazing photos.  Thanks Wendy!

Below are the original (before error changes) Christmas gifts for each family: