My Christmas 2016 Recap

I know it is a little bit late to be showing Christmas pictures, but I can't resist sharing some of the fun and special times with our family.

Christmas was spent in Indiana with our son and family, where there was a lot of ice and snow to make it a White Christmas. And a very cold one as well.

Michelle decorates the tree with ornaments that have meaning to the family.

Perhaps the favorite this year was this one of family pet, Lexi who had to be put to sleep the week before Christmas.  Others include special interests, a childhood drum of John's, a reminder of their home state, and one in memory of a very special friend. 

Our family always enjoys going to the 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service and the singing of Silent Night among a thousand lit candles is the highlight.  Afterward, we share our gifts with the family and their gifts to each other. This is such a sweet time together.

Now that the kids are older, Christmas morning happens when everyone decides to get up and come downstairs.  That is where I will pick up this pictorial account.

 This was the year of the matching warm lumber jack jackets.  So cute!

After everyone had opened their gifts each of the kids had a special gift from Mom and Dad.

 Jackson's gift was a special pen made from a very rare wood with a bolt-action roller ball extender.  The end is made from a ammo shell and bullet.  Most unusual and a treasured item for Jackson.

 Savannah had on the top of her Santa list, a compound bow.  She did get a smaller one but also arrows and targets.  She was thrilled and a bit surprised that Santa was actually listening.  She says she will be in the Olympics in eight years.  We shall see about that, but she will have a lot of fun in the interim.  Maybe she can take an archery class in college to get her closer to her goal.

Mary-Elizabeth has discovered a love for photography and she received her own Polaroid camera.  She will have so much fun with this.  She is really quite good.

 They are so cute in their plaid jackets and such a precious family who love spending time together.

The girls were spending every minute loving on their big brother before he had to leave for Dallas and the Cotton Bowl.  That will be another post.

This one speaks for itself!

For years, they have taken a family picture of them all holding Jackson since he rather dominates the camera frame.

It took them a few tries to get those 300+ lbs off the ground and horizontal.  By this time, Dad is saying, "Hey ya'll, I've got the most weight up here."

And that is a glimpse into the fun we had for Christmas 2016.

I will leave this post on a more serious note with our daughter and her family behaving nicely at their Christmas Eve service in Dallas.

On Wednesday, since we won't be having the Hodgepodge, I'll give a recap of our time in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl.  What a time we had!