Christmas Party, 2018 to January 1, 2019

Family Christmas Party, Saturday December 22, 2018

We weren't going to have it at the church because Dad had a

knee replacement on December 3 and I was afraid he wouldn't

be doing well enough. But he did great, so we still went to the church.

1. There's so much room to set up tables, food, games, etc. at the church.

Shredded pork, and waiting for the rolls to begin.

 2.It's not waiting, though, when we can visit and play games.
Marion came with his boys to set up table and chairs.

2.  Cousin Mark and his wife Suzie are now living just down
the road from us, so they joined us and brought punch, which
delighted the kids, and a spinach dip that I'm addicted to.

 3. Zach and Gabe reuniting their friendship.

 4. Zander has his plate!

 5. Noelle and Katrina searching for a place to be.

 6. In the corner on the floor is just right for all the
teenagers who want their own time:)
Bekah, Olivia, Cecily, Mallory, and Jared.

 7. They brought a huge pan of Tesha's sour cream potatoes.
They went very fast. We probably had about 50 people there.

 8. I can't believe it. They are all playing Pokemon Go.

 9. We had a talent show in the Relief Society room. All
families had someone participate. We had a great time.
Cecily and Leah are smiling for me.

10. Dad and I are sharing an ice pack for our sore knees.
It's really put a damper on our holiday. We can't wait to be feeling better.

11.  Isaac did a few magic tricks and then played a duet with his mom.
It was great!!

 12. Joe whistled to a classical piece by Bach. It really was amazing.

 13. Zach did the "Floss." Then the whole family stood to do it also.

 14. Colleen sang a beautiful song. She has such
a gorgeous voice. Peter accompanied her.

15. Tammy and Olivia, Bekah, & Katrina sang,
"Peace in Christ."

 16. Taylor played a violin solo.

 17. Dad told the Christmas story of when his father had just
returned from World War II and tried to trick Santa Claus by
hanging panty hose us with the foot cut off so the candy would fill a
big coal bucket full of candy. But, Santa gave him coal.
I didn't get pictures of everyone. One was Kaden playing his guitar, and he
was so cute when he asked the audience to sing along. He did such a great job.
Max also played the piano, so we had everyone sing to his song.
We have a lot of musical talent in our family.

 18. Little Luke get held a lot by cousins. Jaren is the lucky one this time.

 19. A game with White Elephant gifts.

 20. We babysat Tom's kids while they were finishing their
kitchen floor, so it was more cousin time back home.

 21. Joe went to Tom's after the party and helped him finish his floor.
They came to get the kids Sunday afternoon, and we got a picture of
the two little babies.

22. Christmas Eve nativity with Joe & Mike's family.

23. We had Christmas with Joe & his family. It was
great to have little children.

24. Joe got a projector for Christmas. (Yes, we can have movie nights
with him.) He wanted the wiring in the ceiling, so he brought down things
from the attic. We ended up with a total cleaning out of it.
This is the knitting machine my mother had. I remember when the night
the door to door salesman came and mother bought it. She made a few things,
but not very many. It was just way cool. I didn't know if I wanted to keep it, but
Joni Harris looked at it and said it looked like it had all its parts. It's a keeper.

25. During the holidays Caleb came down one day to help us out.
We needed some things carried downstairs and some odd jobs done.
He's looking at Grandpa's knee.

26. This is a picture of Aunt. Cathy's grandson that was killed
in the car accident on the 23rd of December; his wife, Jordin, daughter
Lila and Devon Scott Seamons. It was a beautiful and hard funeral.
She spoke and said, "My heart is shattered." She thanked all those that
supported her and planted seeds in the holes in her heart to heal it.
Thank you for your contributions. We were able to give Morlyn a good amount
that will be of help to her.

27. Cousin Tim Abel called on the 31st and told us that

his dad had fallen. He either fell and had a stroke or had a stroke and

then fell. He has a slow bleed in his head and there is nothing they

can do except surgery, and he would never make it through that.

They're not sure how long he will last. They are both back home

living with Tim and Jillyn. We took Ralph and Melony with us and

went down to see them. On the way, we stopped at Peter's office to give

a student a lap top. I finally got to see Peter's office! It was great to see it.

28. Kristina, U. Tim's daughter, was trying to finish a quilt
for her YW's project. She just had to bind it and didn't know how.
I told her I had the master quilter with me. Melony helped and
showed her how to do it. U. Ralph does't look too good, and
A. Janet can't remember what he did to his eye. It's hard
to watch them grow so old. Janet and John will be 80 on the 12th of January.
U. Ralph is about 85.

29. There was a lot of their family there.
Front: Jackie, Kristina, Melissa; Back: Emily & Jillyn

30.Me, A. Janet, Dad, Melony & Ralph.

31. We also went and had a nice visit with U. David (the one
with the donkey) and A. Annly. Their son, Steven, came over and
he wants another Capener Reunion. We need it more in the SL area;
not Earley Park. Any ideas?
Me, U. David, Steven, A. Annly, Ralph, Melony.

32. Ben is giving his dad a birthday letter. I will start
the next blog with Joe's birthday cake.

We have been going through more things again. We still have
a lot more to get rid of. We were looking at an old DVD of
family movies. There was Mike's baby blessing and Marion's missionary
farewell. Peter was filming, so we got a lot of his girlfriends.
It was so fun to see you all so little. It made us laugh and great to
see you all playing the piano, trombone, making lots and lots of noise.
Time seems to disappear.  We had a good family life. There are things
I would change because I just didn't know, and I'm sure we made a
lot of mistakes, but we were very happy.
The Lord has truly blessed us. I'm so thankful to Dad and to all of you
for the joy you have brought into my life. I hope we still have many more
years to spend together. I love you all.