My family gets together once a year. In the past, it has typically been around Thanksgiving or Christmas, but this year (trying to avoid our unpredictable weather), we got together mid October. What a blessing the time always is, thank you all for traveling & coming to visit!! 💙
We missed having Daniel join us, but it was great to be able to do a Zoom visit with him one afternoon.
Family Zoom to include Daniel:
Dad/Mom; Myself & a couple kids in the top middle (next picture is better of us); Daniel; Drew (with Bob in the background who made several appearances thanks to the boys 🤣) with Levi & Lucas popping in from time to time; and Sarah & Susie. We joined from several devices so we weren’t all crowded around one screen 😀 Another Zoom picture – Daniel; Naomi, myself, Emma & Lizzy; Lucas (standing with Bob’s base) & Ellie; Susie; Dad & Mom (Keira was sitting next to them & popped in & out. Xanna & Logan were also around & not pictured).
As people were starting to leave I realized we hadn’t gotten any pictures of Dad & Mom with us kids, so I asked if we could get one. Of course, Ellie thought she needed to be in it also.
Drew, me, Susie, Mom & Dad (with photo bomber Ellie)Our attempt at a funny picture – Ellie is the pink blur 🤣 I love how Dad & Mom just appear unfazed by it all 🤩
We did a lot of puzzles: 😍
Sarah, Drew, Dad, (Susie “supervising”) & Mom (I didn’t get in many pictures 🙂)Lucas, Emma & Ellie posing with a finished puzzle. These White Mountain collection puzzles are my favorite – “Storybooks”, “Cereals”, “Roadsigns”, “Candy Wrappers”, etc. Dad & Mom brought this one to add to our collection. Mom & Sarah sorting a new puzzle (Candy Wrappers) while some of the kids did Just Dance behind
And a lot of games:
McKaylee brought Just Dance with her switch. The kids moved our huge sectional couch so they could have enough space for everyone! It was a lot of fun & good exercise 😊 Just DancePlaying a game McKaylee brought – “Hues & Cues” – a lot of fun & great for larger groups – Lizzy, McKaylee, Logan, Lucas, Mom, Emma, Dad & EllieMore Hues & Cues – Sarah, Keira, Emma & McKaylee Logan, Drew, Naomi, SarahMom & LizzyLevi playing with Ellie – so fun that the cousins really hit it off even though we only see them about once a year! 💚 I realized I didn’t get any pictures of the other cousins other than dancing. Lucas & Levi played The Farming Game with Uncle Drew & many other games and Keira, Naomi & Emma played quite a few games.
The last evening was Mike’s birthday & Grant, Emma & Lucas all had birthdays coming up in the next 2 weeks, so we had a nice meal with everyone & cake to celebrate the birthdays. (We sang to everyone since we only see each other once a year). With the huge sectional couch still out of the way, we were able to put together a huge U shaped table so all 18 of us could eat together ❤️:
Mike, Grant, Ellie & IThe “Ladies” side of the table – Ellie (to my left), Mom, Susie, Sarah, McKaylee, Keira, Naomi, Lizzy (dressed up in a pirate costume since she had to leave right after dinner to go to a 4H Ambassador meeting where they were practicing a skit they’ll be doing at some local schools) & XannaThe “Men’s” Side of the table (we have a lot more girls than boys, so Emma volunteered to sit with them) – Emma, Lucas, Levi, Logan, Drew & DadHanging out watching everyone else do puzzles or danceSusie was in her happy place with all the cats! Here she is with a lap full of kitties 😻Ellie was getting over a cold & shy at first. It was fun to see her open up to Uncle Drew. (Of course, with a kitty)
Lovely family pictures!
Thank you! 😀