Elbrader Christmas

Peyton, Devon & Jeremy's new little boy

Meghan, Peyton's older sister

Landyn, Dawn & Bill's baby boy

The Harrell kids on Santa's lap (with Grandma Nita, Santa's elf)

All the little ones that Santa came to see

Mom's Brother's and Sisters with their Dad

Crissy's family (Mom's sister): Brooke, Lauren, Crissy, & John

Gayle's family (Mom's sister): Austin, Gayle, & Dave

Dennis's family (Mom's brother):

Back row-Debbie, Peyton, Dennis, Devon, Jeremy, Meghan, Dusty, Bill

Front row-Dylan, Daci, Grandpa, Landyn, Dawn

Our Family: Back-Carrie, Tyler, Robyn, Dad

Front-Molly, Mom, Rayleigh, Grandpa, Tucker

Grandpa & all of the Grandkids & Great-Grandkids (David & Ryan are not pictured)

Last stop for the day . . . Neosho, Missouri. We got to Grandpa Loyd's around 5:30 pm, just after dinner, and just before "the big fella" arrived. Most of the kids enjoyed Santa this year, still a few little ones scared of him. Dawn's baby, Landyn, and Devon's baby, Peyton, both celebrated their
first Christmas this year with the family. Everyone got to be there this year except for Michelle & Jeff's family. They took a trip to Colorado to ski over Christmas this year. We missed them in the family picture - we usually capitalize on the opportunity to tease Jeff about messing up the picture. One bad picture, one year, and you are scrutinized for life! It's never an easy feat to get so many people looking at the camera all at once, SMILING, where you can see everyone, with the camera on a timer, and my dad pushing the button and "sprinting" to the open spot left for him, just in time for the picture to snap! It's usually my hardest laugh for the day!

Anyway, everyone really enjoyed great conversation this year. With life as busy as it is, it is nice to slow down every now and again, and catch up on one another's lives! We usually only get to catch up with Devon's family about once a year, and so it is always a nice treat to see them. Devon is my age, and growing up, we had a lot of fun together at Grandma & Grandpa's. Usually we seized the opportunity when we were little to beg at the end of Christmas evening to spend the night with one another (and usually, we won). Tucker and Meghan, Devon's little girl, seemed to be following in our footsteps - they had a blast playing with one another that night. All of
the kids played so well, in fact, that it just made for a really nice evening. Brooke & Lauren enjoyed the babies - they are so helpful with the little ones. Lauren also put on a little gymnastics display for the girls before we went home. She is a great little gymnast.

Our Christmas fun came to a close around 11:30 when we finally arrived back at the homestead, safe and sound, and exhausted. The kids entertained Aunt Carrie all of the way home in the back of the Denali though. One would think they would fall asleep after such a busy day, wouldn't they? Not mine! They were just testing her patience - getting her ready for student teaching next semester!

Chalk it all up to a FUN, FUN, FUN-filled Christmas day!