Christmas Eve and Random thoughts.....

I was born into a large family.  We hear a lot these days about large families and that was us.  No we didn't have 17 or 19 or whatever but there were 6 of us and really that is a lot.  Especially since we are all now grown with families of our own.  Of course we all have spouses, so that makes 12. Then add the 16 grandchildren and 13 1/2 great grandchildren for a total of 41.  And we can't forget who started it all! So with just my immediate family we have a total of 43 1/2 people. Quite impressive, I think. Maybe not what the Duggers will have in a few years but still a large family.  And with a group that large it is hard for all of us to get together in the winter in one house since we can't spread out outside.  So, I said all that to say this....We have to rent a building for our Semi Annual Christmas Eve Fish Fry.  This year we rented the Arden Community Center about 20 minutes from us.  Most of the family were able to be there.  There were some circumstances that hindered some from coming and I feel bad about that.  I know our families are all spreading out and we have traditions of our own but I will be an advocate of this for as long as possible.  Of course I am the one that has no family on the other side to spend the off year with so I do look forward to these "together" years.  

So here goes.....hope your eyeballs don't pop out from all the pics but there was so much going on it is hard to pic just a few.

First of all I am posting this for my Mom.  Mom has lost almost 40 pounds in the last year and complains because she can't lose the last few pounds.  This first picture was taken at Carolyn and George's wedding in October of 2008.  Wouldn't you agree that she has done great! These are beautiful before and after pics as far as I'm concerned.

  

The rest of these are in no special order, just kind of random.  I will try to caption so you know who and what (sometimes that's hard to tell...lol). Hope you enjoy them.



Not sure what this  is...Jeremy is acting out his story and we probably don't even want to know...LOL





We set up a craft table in the corner for the little ones.  Shannon and Carolyn both brought stuff for them to work on.

This is Allie, Carrington, Austin, Devin, Kenzie, and Jay'v.





One of the chief cooks....my brother Rick.  Doesn't he look great almost 60 pounds lighter. He's my inspiration!!

My sister-in-law Tonia cooking Hush Puppies.  You just have to taste them to see if they're right.

My sister, Donna.  She's really concentrating on all that food. 

The end result.....

Uncle Curt trying to see if his belly is bigger then Carolyn's preggo one!

Girl cousins picture.....Sarah, Courtney, Carolyn and Jody.

All the women after the Chinese gift exchange...and we still loved each other!!!



All the men including Jeremy with his "man purse" that they fought over!

So there, you have it.  We're kind of crazy, but a lovable bunch.  As you can see, this has become a big thing attended by some friends also.  We say the more, the merrier!! And we do know how to be merry....especially when you get us all together. 

By the way, I am thinking of starting a food blog with recipes.....what do you think?  Should I????

Coming up next....our family Christmas and Court's birthday....hopefully before 3 weeks goes by.

Church Christmas Program....

If you're not me or my immediate family you will probably find this boring because these pictures are just of our kids....I've got a lot more so if your kids were in it and you want to see them, just let me know.

Our Christmas program was entitled "An Old Fashioned CHRISTmas with CHRIST in it".  They actually decorated the church with pine garland and paper chains with strings of popcorn hanging from the candelabras. It was beautiful and looked so authentic.  Andrea has a wonderful gift for decorating.

Jay'von saying "Happy Birthday, Jesus!"

Breanna



C.J.



The pine garland and paper chains....I didn't get the popcorn :(



This is the whole group singing at the end



Jody and Lennie singing   -  (this one's for Granny)

We wanted to get pictures of everyone while they were all dressed up for the program but it is hard to get them together.  The following pictures will show you how hard....lol.

Finally, one that worked.....C.J. (8), Breanna (9), and Jay'von (3)

 Then we tried to add Neena and Papa to the mix and had more fun.  Charlie's eyes are very sensitive to the flash and he shuts them when photographed.  We have tried all the usual remedies and still have many pictures through the years with his eyes shut.  This time was no exception but we did get a couple that were tolerable. :)

This is a prime example.....everyone is fine, except his eyes are closed.  We actually had family pictures taken once when the kids were small and he had his eyes closed in every one.  The next one is the only one that worked.

I wanted to get pictures of everyone but after all that everyone was done.  That was the best we could do for one night. 

My extended family is quite large.  I have 5 siblings plus our spouses, our children and in some cases their children.  When we are all together there are sixty some of us.  Every other year we all get together for Christmas, and guess what.  This was the year.  So my next post will have pictures of our semi annual Christmas Eve Fish Fry......coming soon!

Cookie Exchange.....

I started a post for New Years about all that happened in 2010 but it just was taking to long.  I think I'll just focus on a review of December in pictures.  Hope you enjoy them!

The first thing that happened in December was our Second Annual Cookie Exchange.  We started this last year for a fun time with our family and friends.  We expected about 20 people and had over 50 attend.  My little house was bursting at the seams.  Andrea Poston offered her BIG family room to us this year. So we packed up all our stuff and took it next door for the party. 

These pictures are just a few I had time to take during the busy evening.  Sorry, somehow I neglected to get pictures of the wonderful cookies.



Kristen's snowflake sugar cookies



My niece Jody as "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"



The ladies can come dressed in Christmas attire. We actually give a prize for the favorite outfit.  These are the ladies that dressed for the occasion.

These last pictures are of some of the ladies that attended the party.  I wasn't able to get everyone because there was so much going on.

We had a great time and an excellent turnout even though the weather didn't cooperate.  We're already looking forward to next year.

Coming up next.....Church Christmas Program.