A Family Christmas

I'm finally ready to finish the tale of our family Christmas party. All week I've been dragging myself to work while recovering from a violent stomach flu that started last Saturday morning, so there's been no energy left for anything else. I'm still not all there yet, but I'm up for a blog!

All my sibs made it to the party except baby brother Darryl, who lives too far away in Missouri! I can't wait to see him and his family when we go to Missouri in July. It's a few years since they were in Arizona.

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Here are the rest of us, exhausted after the party at nearly midnight. That's LeRoy, Karla, me, and Jeff (ages 49, 48, 54, and 47; Darryl is 45).

Starting from the oldest, I'll introduce everyone's families.

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Here are my dad Myron and his wife Kathy, both retired. They love to travel and to work on their home 2 miles from mine. I won't divulge their ages, but Dad is 3 days less than 20 years older than me, while Kathy's age is exactly between mine and my dad's. Sorry, couldn't help myself!

Here's my family, whom you know all about if you read my blog! That's Sarah (age 19) in back, our college student who plans to be a veterinarian technician. Meanwhile she is a nanny to her cousins Brinley and Callie.

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At right is Jacob (17), a high school junior. Front and center is Dylan (11), our 5th grade sportsman.

Here are LeRoy and Lori's crew. Nathan (age 12) and Katie (age 10) are good students and athletes.

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LeRoy owns a window tinting business but is thinking about a change in career, possibly nursing. Lori is a substitute teacher and does online work so she can be home with her kids as much as possible. She loves scrapbooking.

All but one of Karla's 10 kids made it to the party. Her son Josh, his fiance Zemina, and Zemina's children had to stay in Mesa due to work. Maybe a wedding soon? We look forward to meeting Zemina and family!

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Here are Karla and her 6 still at home: Brianna (17), Mariah (14), Julien (11), Addison (4), Gabrielle (8), and Celesta (20).

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Celesta is in college and plans to be a nutritionist. Brianna is a senior and a dancer. Mariah is a straight-A freshman. Julien is in 5th grade and loves sports. Gabby is in 2nd grade and wants to become a teacher. Addison attends preschool.

Karla babysits so she can be home with her kids, and she and Brian still own their roofing business. (Brian the workaholic stayed home to--you guessed it--work.)

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This is their oldest, Jeremy (age 26), and his wife Cami. Jeremy is a helicopter pilot and Cami manages a pharmacy, though she will be able to be a stay-at-home mom soon.

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The 2 cuties are 2 1/2-year-old Analyce and 5-month-old Jaren.

Here are Karla's oldest daughter, Genevieve (age 24) and her husband Scott. Scott is a mechanical engineer and is also working on his master's degree. He's a gifted masseuse, too! Genevieve feels blessed to be a homemaker with her little girls, Brooke (age 3) and Jaycee (18 months old).

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Josh (age 22) would be next, but he and his fiance Zemina were unable to attend.

This is Karla's daughter Elyssa (age 21) and Ross, Elyssa's husband since March. Ross takes classes and works as an enrollment counselor for the University of Phoenix. He's also an artist. Elyssa is an assistant kindergarten teacher.

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Poor Ross had a bad cold when they arrived, and they had to return to the Valley at the end of the evening so he could work the next day.

Here are Jeff and Dana with the youngest 9 of their 13 children: Hayden (6), Marcus (16), Amber (18), Elsie (14), Emma (10), Burke (13), Jeff holding Callie (21 months), Brinley (4), Haley (8), and Dana.

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Oldest son, Justin (24), his wife Alisha, and 5-month-old son Aiden were unable to come. They recently moved to Mesa and started new jobs.

Oldest daughter Ashley (age 23), her husband Matt, and their 2 sons, Gage (age 2) and Garrett (5 months), were also unable to attend since Ashley was very ill with the nasty bug that got the rest of us later.

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Here are Jamison (age 22), his wife Monica, and their 8-month-old Trenton. They live here in the White Mountains, where Jamison is a hunter and works in construction. I believe Monica works in an office (please correct me if I'm wrong!).

Micah (20) was also absent, though I never heard what kept him away. Micah works and is an avid reader. I always enjoy talking sci-fi and fantasy novels with him!

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We missed each and every person who was unable to be there, but they were with us in our hearts.

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We had a great evening together, then LeRoy's family and Ross and Elyssa had to head home back down the mountain.
Karla and the rest of her children were able to spend 2 more days with us. The next evening we all went to Jeff and Dana's house for a delicious enchilada dinner and games. Jeremy and Cami's family drove home that night.
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We planned a hike on the Mogollon Rim for Saturday, but most of us woke up sick. I felt so bad for Karla, Genevieve, and the rest, having to make that 3-hour drive home when they felt so terrible.

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Despite the unhappy ending of illness, it was so awesome to get together and enjoy each other's company. I can't wait for the next chance to gather as a family!

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The newest member of our family was born just yesterday! Darryl's step-daughter Tanya had her 4th child yesterday in Missouri, a 10-lb. daughter named Kendall. Be sure to check out her pictures on Darryl's blog! We wish they all could have been here to celebrate with us, but we hope to see them soon!