My Mom generously reserved three of the lakehouses for all the family to gather New Year's weekend to celebrate our family Christmas
These were the first of the great grandchildren to arrive:
Cousins catching up.....
The last family group to arrive were the Ferrells -- they had a long 7 hour journey!
One of the new babies.....Owen Matthew DeMott born in July
The youngest of the babies: Shepherd Knox Swart born in November
And the middle of the newest babies: Malachi Gabriel Tunnell born in September
There was lots of visiting, eating, laughter and chaos throughout the weekend :-)
Laine was determined to be the teacher to a classroom of students....but got very frustrated with those students. It was pretty funny!
First Baptist had a birthday fellowship a couple of weeks prior to this weekend. Not all the cupcakes were eaten, so Leigh rearranged the snowman and then put them in the freezer for me to take to Bella Vista. They were a huge hit with the grandkids and all were eaten by the end of the weekend (and they were delicious!). Thanks, Leigh!!
This was the end of the first night......everyone was very tired and ready for bed, but complied with my request to get a family picture before going our separate ways:
The Ferrells (less two son-in-laws who had other commitments)
The Harkness'
The Swarts, plus Mom, but minus Andy and Shepherd (Andy had just gotten him to sleep downstairs) and Avi, who was at her Dad's.
The next day, most of the kiddos and some of the adults went to the nice gym at Bethel Baptist Church, Bentonville, where Mike Goering pastors. Kaye had a gun safety video that was shown to the kids and coloring books to reinforce what they learned. Thanks, Kaye!
The kids had so much fun playing!
That evening, each family were on their own so that some could have their family Christmas. The Swarts did that :-)
I had made homemade spaghetti and meatballs for supper, so the kids got baths and were put in their pj's before we opened presents. We first were entertained by Ellie Kate as she sang a song to us:
Then it was what they had waited so patiently for...presents!
And stockings.....
Papa put silly teeth in their stockings
The next morning, we were having the professional pictures taken.
Some of the kids that arrived early for those pictures.
Waiting our turn
Since I am devoting another blog post to the professional pictures, this is just a few from our own cameras.....Kayce getting the Swart family organized
I did get a quick one of Andy's family getting ready
Our wonderful and patient photographer, Kayce Smith. Kayce and family are very active at Andy's church. We appreciated Kayce so much!
And one of Grandma and the 18 greats with a cell phone
After pictures were all done, Mom treated us to a meal at Las Fajitas in Bella Vista. Just as we were leaving the house to go eat, Mom took a hard fall outside :-(. She really messed up her nose but THANKFULLY, didn't break anything, including her glasses!! She was sore for a few days.
After coming back to the house, then it was Christmas time with Grandma. She is handing out cash to all the little ones :-). And all the big kids got money too!! We are so thankful for Mom/Grandma's generosity to all of us!
The Aunts had divided up the names of the little ones, so each one got a gift to open:
I always do birthday and anniversary cards for Mom. I pick out the cards, then label them in date order to be mailed. We are up to 48 now! Mom is once again so generous in enclosing a check and mailing each one throughout the year. It keeps her busy!
You can see her bummed up nose here :-(....
Madyson and Laine both got the same pretty necklace for Christmas (it has the little box where you put all your hopes and dreams in it). I'm sure the necklace has a name, but I don't remember it. They both loved it!
I've intermingled some of Kaye's pictures that she did some special photo options to.
Over the years, several of the girl cousins have been pregnant and given birth near each other. This year it was Kristin, Shawna and Carman.
Here is a picture collage through the years of other times when that was the case:
This was the first time for Madyson and Avi to meet and we were all so glad that they hit it off and quickly become friends! Madyson is about a year and a half older, but she is glad to finally have a cousin at least somewhat close to her in age.
Madyson was also so sweet in helping to entertain the little ones
It was a wonderful extended family time together. A huge thank you to all who made the effort to be there and again to Mom for making it all possible!!
To finish out this posting, Jeff and I were thrilled to be afforded the opportunity to worship with the kids and their families on Sunday morning at Metro. It was an extra special blessing that it was their first Sunday in their new location. Andy preached to an excited, packed house of folks!
Jonathan plays in the band (and Josh runs the sound)
Andy thought he could use a selfie stick and get a picture of him with the audience in the background, but it didn't work -- so Jonathan took the picture
A wonderful time of worship
Lainey Bug praying (melts my heart)
Andy concluded his sermon with a great illustration
Practicing with that selfie stick and his great administrative assistant, Pam!
After the service.....cousins.....
Nephew Matt and his family also go to Metro
The ONLY picture I got all weekend (much to my dismay) of Jeff and I with all 6 of our grandchildren. I had hoped to get one of the family at church that day, but circumstances didn't allow it. So I'm extra thankful for the professional pictures we did take!
We went to eat lunch together in Rogers before all going our separate ways. These were the last three pictures I took that weekend :-):
A MEMORABLE 2015 CHRISTMAS/2016 NEW YEARS!!
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