The Best Gifts

Happy New Year! We began 2009 in the best possible way: celebrating with family!

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Our annual family Christmas party was held here in the White Mountains on New Years Day. Because everyone is so busy before Christmas and because half of us have to travel whether the party is in the valley or on the mountain, we began holding our annual get-together the week after Christmas. It's kind of fun to extend the good times of the holiday!

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In my next post I'll tell more about the family and what we did, but for today I'm just going to share shots from the party. Hopefully you'll feel like you were there celebrating with us, like we wish you could have been!

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Here's the big spread! There was plenty to eat and plenty of leftovers to enjoy for the next few days.
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Left-to-right: Brianna, Cami, Celesta, Jeff, Callie, and Ross.

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We held the party at my church building. We enjoyed food (obviously), gifts, group games such as Do You Like Your Neighbor, snowball fights, basketball, Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and other video games.
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Left-to-right: Myron, Celesta, Sarah, and Jacob.

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First of all, we got right into the fine dining!

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Facing the camera L to R: Celesta, Mariah, Jacob, Sarah, and Marcus. That's Jeremy at the very front right.

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L to R: Karla, Dana, Jeff, Haley, and Burke.



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L-R: Jacob, Sarah, Marcus, Brianna, and Jaren. The baby in the very front is 18-month-old Jaycee.

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At left is Celesta. At the table facing this way are Ross, Julien, Cami, and Jeremy.

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Of course the babies got passed around, especially the youngest, 5-month-old Jaren.

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This is Karla with her granddaughter Jaycee.

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Here is Sarah with Jaren.

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And Lori and Katie with Jaren!



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Then it was on to the gift exchange. Lots of laughter and joking ensued.

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Gifts are a lot of fun, but we know the best gifts are the blessings of family and friendships. Thanks to each of you for being a gift to me all the year through.