Another belated post: Christmas in July 2019

Our sweet daughter-in-law, Jamie, absolutely loves Christmas! Since joining the family, she has introduced us to a new tradition; Christmas in July. Each summer, she goes all out with decorations, gifts, and a delicious meal. This year, we thought we might not get it squeezed in with the crazy schedules everyone had going on. But, we managed to find a Saturday when almost everyone was free! We were missing Gerson and Seth this year. 

To increase the level of insanity, Jamie introduced a marathon of crazy games for us to play. We had to pin Rudolph's nose on ourselves by slinging around a pom-pom on a ribbon. We had to shovel snow (cotton balls) from one bowl to another with a spoon held in our mouths. And, we had to use our face muscles to move a cookie placed on our foreheads into our mouths. I've decided I am NOT any good at crazy games. Luckily, we had happy winners for all the games. 

Instead of drawing names for a gift exchange this year, we all brought a White Elephant gift. I personally think the things Scott and I took were the best; but, I'm sure those who received them might think differently.  There are captions on the pictures to explain each gift and who received it. 

The pictures below are some that Jamie took that day. My camera was dropped on our road trip to South Dakota and has a huge scratch on the lens. I just haven't managed to replace it so I've fallen down on the picture taking duties for family gatherings. Thank goodness Jamie is pretty dependable about taking pictures! I screen shot these all off her Facebook page; but I'm sure she will forgive me.

The twins waiting the arrival of their cousins.

   

Sophie choosing Scott's gift: Ryan's old skateboard wrapped
in aluminum foil.

Her alternative gift selection was a condiment
vest for your pet. 

Sophia selected the gift I took. A HUGE box of
old clothes that Ryan left at Scott's house.
She was particularly confused when she pulled out
an old pair of underwear.

Leslie got a gross picture of her and G touching
tongues.  YUCK!

Scott got a coloring book with farting
animal pictures.

 Jamie always manages to give each of us some thoughtful little gift. She gave the girls Christmas hats. The Ohio State fans some super cool scarves. And she gave me some yummy smelling lotions from Bath and Body Works.

Maggie wearing her hat...

Sophia rocking her's...

Leslie and Becca with their scarves...

Silly Samantha being Samantha...

Poppy (clean shaven... which we all agreed just looked weird)
in his scarf.

The Buckeye fans...

Sophie in her hat..

And "Dan" with her new mug and hat. 

Jamie and Samantha...

Sophia modeling the doggie condiment vest. 

 And, last but not least, a few random shots taken during game time. I felt like we were all on Minute to Win It! The girls had a blast and I think the more competitive members of the family did too. 

Doing the cookie shuffle...

I can't remember who won any of the games.

Poppy wearing his nose. I think he actually won this game.

Ryan wearing his Rudolph nose.

Dorothy and Leslie shoveling snow.

Mimi shoveling snow.

Sophie shoveling snow.

Jamie, thanks so much for a new tradition and yet another reason to gather with this crazy bunch of people I love so much. 

2015 Update Continued: Halloween

For Halloween this year, we traveled to Leander to spend it with Jamie, Sophia, and Samantha.  Halloween, kids, and candy. No words are necessary!

Jamie's mother stayed at her house to pass out candy.

We had a roller derby girl, a minion, a kitty cat, and a penguin 

Our roller derby girl was unhappy her skates were too small.

The community really went all out for Halloween!

One house even provided a photo op! Gwen! Take a Picture!

The evening wouldn't be complete without facial hair!

Maggie

Sophie

Sophia

Jamie and Samantha

Where did the year go? Oh, here is the rest of March!

So, I took a few minutes to look through the blogs that I follow and learned a valuable lesson: recording something a few months late is better than recording nothing at all. Of course, this year has been an emotionally rough one and when my emotions are raw I tend to withdraw.  I am starting to heal from the loss of Dad and have survived a few major events without him. So, I'll spend the next few posts filling in the blanks from 2015.

In March, the girls from the family made a trip to Marble Falls Sweet Berry Farm. We picked strawberries, the girls played on the giant trampoline, ate ice cream, and enjoyed the beautiful Texas weather.

It was one of our first outings with Jamie and her twins. They quickly wormed their way into our hearts.

The berries weren't as flavorful this year as they have been in the past; not really tasty enough to just eat. But, Leslie helped me make several pints of strawberry jam. We used the Pioneer Woman's recipe for strawberry jam and one I found on the internet for Strawberry-Jalapeno Jam. It was really good!

I know it is much easier to run to the store and pick up a package of strawberries that have been mass produced; and, it is probably less expensive to buy processed jams and jellies. However, I will always remember picking strawberries from my Granny Alice's garden and helping Mom "put them up" in the freezer or make jelly. Luckily, Leslie and I are of the same mind set and want to create the same type of memories for the grands.  So what if the berry patch is an hour away and it's a little more expensive?!?  Making memories is worth it! And, for some reason picking berries with these cuties is a whole lot of fun!