An Extended Christmas

The blessing of having Christmas at the end of December is that we get to extend Christmas out just a little longer (Blessing #171).  It's not fun unless everyone can be here, so we watied for the date that Kent's family could come from Wyoming.  Thus, we welcomed everyone with a "Merry Christmas" on December 31st.  There were 22 of us for lunch at our home yesterday.  We served soup, homemade bread, and lots of munchies and sweets to go with it.  I captured this photo of Chad with his 2 brothers, his sister, and his parents before anyone could disappear.  Noel, especially, is a little camera shy and tried to hide behind Dani, and Kent wondered off once, but I got him on "take 2". 

Noel also likes to play little tricks on the unexpected . . . like sneaking into Jenica's room and turning her picture of Justin Beiber upside down . . . more than once . . . and trying to blame it on Kent and Chad . . . and watching Jenica's reaction when she discovers the prank.  However, Jenica attempted to out-wit her ornery uncle by setting up her camera on "video" to catch him in the act.  But that only works if you have enough space left on your memory card.  Wonder if Noel plays little tricks like that on his wife Patty?  Like putting salt in the sugar bowl, or peeling off labels and reattaching them on random canned foods.  Gotta keep a close eye on him!  He keeps us on our toes and keeps the laughter rolling.  (#172)

Jillian likes to wear cute glasses from Claire's.  She has 3 pairs now, and Grandma Keron is modeling the purple pair in this picture. What do you think?  Jillian gave her the thumbs up!  The red and white quilt in the background happens to be one of the quilts that belonged to Keron's mom - Chad's grandma Verna.  It's a blessing to have something special to remember his grandma by.  Thank you, Keron, for sharing it with me.  (#173)

Aunt Yvonne was the hit of the party with all the girls (including the neighbor girl) when she pulled out her glitter tattoos.  She's also an amazing nail artist and creates some beautiful designs, and added the glitter tattoos in her salon as a little something extra for her younger clients.  We love it when Yvonne comes to visit ~ she shares some of her new ideas and tips with us.  I just wish they lived closer to us so we could visit her shop on a regular basis.  Out of all the Bailey kids, they are the ones who get to enjoy the mountains on a daily basis.  Lucky ducks!

Grandpa Ken gets a closer look at Jenica's design.  If you didn't know better, you'd think she was giving out flu shots with this photo. 

Kaylee is up next! 

Kaylee looks on as Jenica's purple and gold heart takes shape. 

Jillian loves the phrase "save the best for last", so she chose to get her tattoo last.  She picked the "Yin Yang" symbol of perfect balance, which she remembers from the "Kung Fu Panda" movies.

We're so blessed to be able to get together with everyone at different times throughout the year (#174).  As families grow, and multiple schedules exist, it's harder and harder to find a time that works for everyone.  I'm thankful that we can find a date that works for everyone, even if it coincides with New Years Eve.  All the more reason to celebrate! 

Sami, Jacob, Jillian, Jenica, Chad, Janet

After everyone left, we put on our jammies and played games in an attempt to see the New Year ring in.  Sami left early to attend a lock-in with a bunch of friends, so the rest of us played a game that grandpa & grandma D learned in Texas.  We call it "Payback", although it has several different names.  It's really fun when you get a bunch of people to play it together, but it can take a couple hours before one team wins.  Last night, the parents won game 1.  Then we switched partners and the guys won game 2.  (It's always good to let the men win once in a while so they keep playing with us.)  I'm thankful for a family that enjoys playing games.  (#175)

We were all so tired after getting ready for company, and also because of too many late nights.  Could we stay awake until midnight?  Nope.  Jillian was out first.  And as soon as the ball dropped in NYC (which was 11pm our time), and Dick Clark announced the New Year, we all went to bed.  Except Jacob.  He will always be a night-owl.