Sunday, December 29 -- My Birthday, the Family at Church, Retirement Reception

 On Saturday night while at the church for the family pictures, I "snuck" down to the Sunroom to see the decorations.  The Staff did great with it all!!

Sarah Martin had asked for pictures of Jeff, so I sent her the link to my Google album I did for his 50 years of ministry post and she had those printed and put up all around the room and on the tables.  Thanks, Sarah!!

Nineteen of my Family worshipped together this Sunday!!  A first for all our children, their spouses and 9 of the grandkids (Avi was at her Dad's).  My sister, Kaye, and Rob made a total of 19!  Kaye took the picture right before church started (and Jeff was already on stage).

Jeff doing the "Welcome" for the last time as Senior Adult Pastor

Pastor Jason said some very nice things about him.

The reception was held at 10 (between the two worship services)

It was all so nice - delicious cake, cookies, punch, etc.

We were thrilled our family stayed for the reception (before their long drive home)

Many people came by during that hour and said some very nice things to us!  Antioch is a church full of very warm, loving, caring folks!!  It has been our joy to serve with them and for Jeff to minister to them.  Jeff has also greatly enjoyed working with Pastor Jason and all the Staff (they are the best)!  He will really miss that!  But we will continue to serve and support them and our church family in the capacity of fellow church members!

The girls telling Papa "bye" 😢

Jeff did the welcome in the second service and then we enjoyed a delicious meal at Outback with our "usual" Sunday lunch group (the Harkness and the Heads).  Thanks to Keith and Wilda for buying our lunch for my birthday!!

Yes, they gave me dessert (I shared!) and the servers sang to me 💖!

We received so many nice cards, cash, gift cards and gifts!  THANKS TO ALL!!!

Sunday was also the first anniversary of my Mom's passing (she died around 4:45 a.m. on December 29, 2023) so a bittersweet day as well.  We all miss her but so thankful she is enjoying her best life in Heaven!  This year has flown by.  

Looking forward to 2025 and all that God has in store for us in another new chapter of life!!  Happy New Year!❤️🎉💙

Christmas 2024

 Our children and families enjoy having Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in their own homes, which is great.  Also Andy always has Christmas Eve services that he leads and Josh helps with the audio for their church's Christmas Eve services.  So these first three pictures were of the grandchildren on Christmas Eve in each of their homes💖

They all arrived in Conway Thursday, December 26th.  Josh, Michelle, Avi and Andy, Carman and Laine all stayed at an Airbnb here in Conway that I rented (two of our church members own it).  The 3 younger girls stayed with Jeff and I and then the 5 boys stayed with Rachel and Jonathan.  This is just a "snippet" of the many pictures I took (as those on Facebook know😏)

I prepared the big Christmas meal (turkey, ham, homemade noodles and all the fixin's as well several desserts).  Thankfully, it was warm and we were able to sit up tables and chairs in the garage and all eat there.  Also got our first family picture with my new tripod/remote.

DeDe sure loves these kiddos!

(Recreation of the picture below of the grandkids with Great Grandma Boore in 2020)

Eating dessert in the bedroom

Josh created a really fun game for us -- unwrapping a huge ball of saran wrap with lots of prizes

Laine won the last prize!

And Josh also did one for the younger bunch (that they played in the garage)

Ellie won the last prize!

The three girls that stayed with us.....and even though I had two guest beds, they ended up sleeping together in one bed!

DAY TWO in Little Rock at the McCrary Home

(Another recreation from 2021)

There is a story to the next three pictures.....at Fulbright Elementary where Rachel teaches, and Eisley, Gideon and Kipling attend, they had a Gingerbread House contest. They could not use anything edible. Eisley won 3rd place. From our family text thread, we sure thought she should have won 1st place! So Papa had a recount!

And yes, Eisley won first place!!

Michelle had created a second game for the kids!  It was fun too!

They all ended up with prizes!

We did lots of great eating, playing games, Copeland and Ellie directing another movie, visiting, watching the Hogs win, etc.!!

The McCrary's beautiful home is perfect for our large family!

I'm always so grateful that they share it with us and feed us delicious meals!

And then it was gift opening time!!

They always do so good in getting Jeff and I gifts!  New Ipods with all the accessories.  We love them!

Stocking Time

A wonderful day!!

DAY 3 -- BACK IN CONWAY

They all arrived back at our house late morning.  The kids played games for a while.  Andy & Carman got pizza for our lunch.

Then 14 of us went to the theater to see Sonic, the Hedgehog (4 went shopping and/or naps).  It was a very, very rainy day so indoor activities were our only options!

We then went by the Airbnb so the kids could put on their church clothes and then we went to Antioch and took family pictures.  There is a whole post about that so won't add any pictures here.  The kids changed clothes after that (at the church) and then we went to Nando's, a Mexican Restaurant in Conway, and had dinner (then everyone went to their respective homes for an early night since church and traveling was on the agenda Sunday).

Sunday was a very special day and those pictures will be included in the upcoming retirement post.

Once again my heart is so thankful for all the memories made and the blessing of all our family being together for another Christmas!💗