I have been rather dreading the ordeal of writing this post... Unfortunately, I have been pushing blogging off until I'm backed up all the way before Christmas. Isn't it dreadful of me? I'm probably the world's greatest procrastinator.
So much has happened since I posted last. Christmas week found us eagerly anticipating Nate's girlfriend's visit. It also found us very sad. Dad had another staph flare up while he was on the antibiotics. Most of us were feeling extremely emotional. Tears were always right there under the surface. Would this be our last Christmas with Dad?
Follow along through the pictures from our lives over the holidays...
During our busy cleaning week, we girls get pretty wore out. When we get home after a long day of cleaning, the last thing we want to do is clean our own house. Nate very sweetly did the dishes for us one evening. :)
This dog at one of our cleaning jobs is so funny! We thought she looked so cute conked out on her bed.
Mom, Abi, and I went through McDonald's drive through for a treat one day.
Isn't my nephew the cutest thing ever?
"Helping" Grandpa
I couldn't find Doughy... See if you can find him! :)
Nate's girlfriend flew in from Haiti on Tuesday, December 22. Abi and I went along with Nate to pick her up. We might as well not have been there. :) JK :)
We planned a special supper while Virginia was here.
Nate, Virginia, Abi, and I went shopping on Christmas Eve for some last minute gift shopping. I saw this adorable logger's coat and just had to get it for Doughy. :)
Every Christmas season we pray for a white Christmas... And every time, God grants our seemingly irrelevant prayer.
The happy couple
Throughout everything, the milking must go on!
The boys were trying to get some last minute deer hunting in before the season was over.
I took Nate and Virginia out for a photo shoot Christmas Eve.
I was having a lot of trouble getting the correct lighting and contrast.
There was a super moon that night.
Of course, you have to get silly!
My personal favorite. :)
Virginia found a scrap of something dead that the dogs had been dragging around so she had to take a picture of it.
They were yelling at me to hurry up and take the picture! It was so cold!
Then, a snowball fight ensued...
Watson is the most luxury loving cat I've ever seen.
Dad would get cold so easily while he was sick. Christmas Eve was so sweet. By the time we finished opening gifts, a lot of us were in tears, just thinking about everything that we'd gone through with Dad and thinking about all of the unknowns. Cherish your time with your loved ones! You never know when they could be taken from you!
Ah, the long awaited annual Christmas breakfast! This year was going to be extra special as the Smiths were going to be there! It was Aunt Carol's turn to have the breakfast at her house this year. I totaled everyone up and there was somewhere around 33 people crammed into the living room, dining room, and kitchen! It was great! Since there was so little counter space, Ryan set up his pancake station on the ironing board. :)
We always do a family style meal. There were about 20 people crammed around these two tables, plus the people that didn't fit!
Aunt Carol had made tons of goodies!
The adult table. :)
Instead of a gift exchange this year, we did a "grab bag." Everyone brought a gift, then we numbered them all. We then wrote all the numbers on slips of paper, threw them in a hat and started with the youngest member present, which happened to be Joseph. :) It was great fun! Especially when the boys got gifts such as fuzzy socks, lotion... :)
Virginia drew the smallest gift, which was a pocket knife. :)
Haley wanted Katelyn to get the gift she brought, and, lo, and behold! she did get it! :)
Johnny wanted Doughy to get the gift he brought, and Doughy got it! :)
Josh drew Hannah's gift. :)
The boys got Ryan some UnderArmor.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the eagerly awaited event... Gram's gift of a new van! She didn't get it at first when she opened the gift with the set of keys. We had to explain it to her. :) She was thrilled beyond words!
Gavins have a ping-pong table upstairs in Nate's old room. Some of the more athletic ones were playing Round Table.
The ever present technology...
Aunt Holly had given us a puzzle, so we all worked on it.
All finished! It's a picture of Simeon the priest holding Jesus.
Mom got the boys Nerf guns for Christmas... It was a good idea, but not. :) Those Nerfs were flying around all Christmas Eve and day! It was like a war zone! In these pictures, the boys had set up some kind of elaborate game for shooting each other. One of them would stand across the room while the others shot at him. I'm still not entirely sure how it worked, but, hey, at least I wasn't involved! :)
Dad was on the receiving end too. :)
Because of how busy we've been, the house hadn't been properly cleaned for a long time. So, one day when the boys were home, I wrote out a big to do list. We actually accomplished it all!
Mom got us all on sale Christmas candy. :)
The sun was reflecting off of the snow one evening.
Ryan and Kelsey invited us all over to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Someone was being a wittle shy...
Forget silverware! Just drink your potato soup!
Some chunks were too big to slurp down.
When Katelyn was a baby, Kels had all of us sign a picture matt for her. So we all were passing around a new one for Doughy.
Mom had gotten this Ugly Sweater cookie kit for us to do New Year's Eve. We decided to have a contest of who could decorate the ugliest cookie.
Ryan and Sam played Settlers of Catan.
The repast
Big sister feeding little brother... Not good!
Someone needs to teach this boy some manners!
Here are most of the cookies.
Sorry, I had the camera the wrong direction and then I forgot to rotate the pictures. :)
Nate's
Since Dad didn't decorate a cookie, we appointed him as judge.
The three winners! Dad separated it into three categories, Kelsey won the Most Authentic, Abi won the Comfiest Looking, and Gram won the Ugliest. After you page through the pictures, give me your opinion on who's you like the best! :)
Joseph was eating a cookie with black frosting. :)
T.J. was entertaining the littles by scaring them. A little backwards, I know, but they loved it!
Kelsey made a very beautiful cheese plate!
Man, that boy!
Poor Doughy, Katelyn was spitting water on him. :)
Ryan and Kelsey love sea food, so obviously, they want to pass that liking on to their children. Kels had prepared a big bowl of shrimp. Katelyn gave her's the smell test and decided that she did not want it!
It was getting late enough that Kels put Lynna into her pjs.
She's so cute!
Most of us stayed until midnight (and after :). We had so much fun!
T.J. gave me this mug for Christmas. :) This is me to a "T." :)
Mom and Dad had gotten a new mattress set so the boys had to get rid of the old ones. I caught them with the window completely taken out so that they could pitch the old mattress set out the window.
Instead of "Kisses" I bought "Hugs." :) I like hugs so much better than kisses!
I had a craving for chocolate crinkle cookies, so, I made some! :)
Abi saw these at Walmart and begged Mom for them. Just kidding. :)
I made cheesy Mexican rice soup for supper one evening.
Abi made a chocolate swirl sour dough bread.
It was amazing!
Josh was doodling... I'm not exactly sure who the last three people are...
Abi's sour dough starter is going along famously!
The boys redoubled there attack on hunting after the holidays.
Katelyn loves shoes!
Ryan sent us this one day. :)
Abi made scones for an ancestry day with Gram.
Our room was in a terribly bad way. I had been avoiding cleaning it for so long that it was pretty bad, mostly just dusty and stuff. I don't know why I hate cleaning our room. Just one of those things, I guess.
Nate got a much needed hair cut one evening. :)
Wow! Look at all of that hair!
