Thanksgiving and Beyond

At last here I am.  I have had trouble accessing this blog and today, for some magical reason, here I am.  At this Holiday time my heart is full of gratitude, for family and for all the magic that the holidays bring.  Thanksgiving this year was especially sweet for us as most of our family chose to come to our home to celebrate.  We set up numerous beds and cooked tons of food and enjoyed the happiness that comes from being together.  Crazy, wild and wonderful.  Here's a sample.

Angelica, Gerald, Seth; Gerald was with us for Thanksgiving, a first!

Chase and his baby girl, Hazel.

Seth has his Dad's touch with children; Audrey's grandson Hunter loves him.  

Sisters, Tia and Olivia in their fancy dresses.  Daughters of Ben and Jessica (number 2).

Game time for Vincent (L), Jacqueline (center), Angelica, and Abigail (back view).

Daughter Jessica holding nieces, Tia and Olivia.

Olivia, rearranging the "what-not".

Two beautiful granddaughters, Angelica and Peyton.

Grandchildren born the same year, 2002; Miles, Jacqueline, Seth and Vincent, in poses to match a photo of them as babies.  Take a close look.

Another set of grandchildren born the same year, 2003; Angelica, Timothy, Peyton, and Alexis, posing to match their baby picture.

Jessica makes sure we always have a puzzle to work on.  Gemma, Alexis and Jessica are hard at it.

The whole gang gathered after dinner upstairs for a Thanksgiving discussion.

Some of us walked through the sights in Boise.  Here are Miles, Gemma and Vincent in a jump.

It was wonderful to have family here with us.  By the end of the week everyone left for home.  Christmas is soon to follow; perhaps too soon.  We began singing with our singing group the Monday after Thanksgiving.  We had performances most weekdays for two and a half weeks.  It was so fun but demanding.  Layne sang a solo with us, "Hallelujah".  He was fantastic.  

After our singing was finally finished this past week, Layne and I drove to Utah for a couple of days.  We spent the first day and night with Bob and Maryanne and the second with Lynn and Camille (Layne's twin brother).  It was lots of fun even with a quick trip.  We are home now with a couple of days to get ready for Christmas.  I think I can do it.

Granddaughter Angelica flew back to Taiwan to have oral surgery and will be there for the whole school vacation.  So it is Seth and us for Christmas.  I'm so glad that Reed and Dorothy now live here as we will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with them.  Otherwise it would be a quiet Christmas.  But quiet or busy, the holidays are sweet.