Let's Be Candid

Yesterday's event, the annual Butler Family Christmas Party, was great fun! With the exceptions of my brother Darryl's family in Missouri and my nephew Josh, who was in California, everyone from our family was there.

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For today I will just share candid pictures from our gathering. Tomorrow I will post the family group shots. There are many!

At any family gathering, food is always front and center. Ours was no exception. Everyone lined up for subs, salads, chips, sweet treats, and other goodies.

Dana and Jeff thoroughly enjoyed their luncheon.

Our Callie girl wore much of her food on her face and her dress.

The children's table was always busy.

Visiting was an ongoing event throughout the party, which lasted from noon until 10:00 pm.

Babies and children were cuddled and passed around. That's always one of our favorite things about family get-togethers. This is Sarah with baby Ian, just 10 days old...

...Scott with his niece (my grand-niece), 3-month-old Makayla...

...Monica with her son Trenton, nephew Garrett, and sister-in-law Haley...

...and my step-sister Becky with our Callie Jayne.

The guys and a few of the gals have a long-standing tradition of playing basketball at every family Christmas party. Here they are deciding on the game and the rules. I believe they settled on playing "Knock-out." The toddlers always want to play, too, so diligence on the part of those of us off-court is a must!

Then came time for the gift exchange. Jeff and Dana are the winners of the Most Creative Gift award this year! They drew LeRoy and Lori's family, who were the proud recipients of inner tubes, hot cocoa, and hand-knitted caps (by Dana). These were clear hints that LeRoy needs to bring his family to our mountain this winter for some snow tubing!

Lori was just too cute not to share when she modeled her inner tube for us. You know how we all have that little "spare tire" around the waist we'd like to be rid of? Actually, I was impressed that it fit her--it would never have fit around my middle!

And LeRoy, what can we say? That cap is SO you!

After the gift exchange, the children stayed busy for hours, playing with their new toys together.

While the kids played, the adults found other pursuits. Lori, Alisha, and Micah were intent on their card game.

Callie watches her parents and sister Amber assemble a 300-piece puzzle. And, of course, the visiting continued on.

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Later in the evening, some families said their good-byes and started their homeward treks or headed to the Suns game in Phoenix. Others hung out until it was time to clean up and lock up the church building. My family didn't get on the road until about 10:15, so it was almost 1:30 in the morning when we arrived back at home.

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We were tired but happy to be back home and curled up in our own beds. But we were even happier to have our heads filled and our hearts warmed by new family memories!