The evening of the 29th, my brother Matt and all his tribe came up for yet another Christmas celebration. Matt's Dawne brought her three grandchildren which made for a lively time! Ron and Jeremy helped cool things down by dipping heads in the snow. The little guys pretended to be upset but when it was time to go, they listed it as one of the fun things they'd done. They also loved the little mugs we gave them from Honduras that have ceramic cockroaches in the bottom!

We gave all the guys new suits for Christmas, so the morning of the 29th, we went out for breakfast and then met at KG Menstore. It was great fun!
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The evening of Dec. 28, we were privileged to celebrate my Uncle Stan and Aunt Lorna's 50th anniversary, (Stan is my dad's younger brother). It was their hospitality to me as a teen, that brought me to Evergreen, Colorado, and thus the life I have today - I'm usually very grateful :)
I wish I'd taken more photos at the party but at least I got this one with my cousins, Lorna D. and Shelley. We always have great fun whenever we get together!

Toby, our baby is 22! How time flies!
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Norm prepared an amazing smoked buffalo prime rib dinner for our Lewis family Christmas. After gorging ourselves once more, we had the gift exchange. Ronna's youngest we call "Princess Sarah", so I couldn't resist this T-shirt that clarifies she's a daughter of the King of kings :)
For Carol, this quilting Willow Tree figurine called "Generations" seemed the perfect gift. The wacky patriarch of the family has been trying to grow a pony tail for some time now - there's not much to it besides entertainment value like Charissa putting it in a french -braid!

The snow that fell Christmas Day beckoned us outside the next morning. Toby and Jeremy had a great time making this video and the rest of us helped with filming, costume and make-up. It has some great moments!

Operation Snowman

Operation Snowman - Behind the Scenes

There's a scene in the movie where Toby says he thinks the snowman has been altering his appearance to elude them :) It was true!

A True White Christmas!

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Christmas Eve

Jeremy's sister, Kyndal, came to spend her winter break with us, and their Granny June came for the week before Christmas. One of our favorite Colorado things to do is tour the Celestial Seasonings Tea factory and shop at the gift store. The "peppermint room" was particularly wonderful at Christmastime! Charissa and Julianne Anderson sang a beautiful version of "Emmanuel" at the Christmas Eve service, accompanied by their hubbies on guitars - what a treat! After that, we headed home to the Jones' tradition of waffles with blueberries and ice cream - YUM! Opening one present on Christmas Eve is our family tradition and the cat's tradition is to find the coziest wrapping to hide in!

Mid-December, the mom-to-be of our first grandbaby, Alisa, turned 26. Norm had been in the hospital most of the previous week with what was eventually labeled dengue fever, but the Lord mercifully began to heal him before the doctors figured that out. Anyway, he was well enough to fix Alisa a wonderful Buffalo prime rib dinner and we had a sweet celebration of this gracious, beautiful soul that the Lord has given to our family. Thanks, Ron Henry; you chose wisely!

Jeremy was dressed and ready to help us cut down our Christmas tree. This was his very first tree hunt so a call to Norm was necessary to figure out the chain saw. He made a clean kill and the trophy looks great in my living room!