Christmas Memories Part Four

The Yount family is as dedicated as any I have ever seen when it comes to celebrating holidays.  Schedules are adapted, hotels are booked, miles are travelled, and it happens! 
This year we celebrated on the evening of the 24th as everyone gathered in.  The menu was a variety of soups with finger food type stuff and lots of desserts.
On Christmas morning, a pretty decent number of us attended church with my grandmother at Kenwood Bible Methodist.  It was a special time...it's not often that we are able to celebrate in worship and partake of communion together.
Family members continued to trickle in throughout the day, and by evening there were 71 of us.  A couple of in-laws joined (the Profitts and the Kennedys) for a few hours, and it was good to have them with us, as well!
The food was unbelievable, as usual.  You can't lose with The Honeybaked Ham Company!
Whenever we are together, I find a few quiet moments to just observe these people who have impacted my life in such a significant way.  Their incredible motivation and skill challenge me to keep pursuing excellence in my own life.  There are several small business entrepreneurs, physician assistants, registered nurses, teachers, pastors, one in Christian university administration, one in Christian radio, others in various Christian ministries, stay-at-home mommas, blue collar workers...just a huge variety of occupations, skill sets, and an unbelievable amount of motivation behind all of it! 
Here are a few pics of our Yount Christmas:

Aunt Jean always brings plenty of Play Doh for the little ones.

Two of Uncle Jeff's grandbabies...I think he and Andrea have
13 grandkids under age 8.  :-)

Sleepy little Sawyer (Sarah Ann and Aaron's third little guy)

The big guys get tired too...Uncle John finds a quiet corner.

Happy lil' Chloe (Andrea and Jeremy's little girl...she is
surviving her 3 big brothers pretty well!)

And 'not-so-happy' lil' Suzanna...I love her poochie lip.  :-)
She's usually a happy little camper. 

Eric brought his newest little puppy...

While Craig and Alisa brought their BIG four-legged friend!
 Allison is way over her dog paranoia..thank goodness!

How thankful I am to still have the privilege of
having this special influence in my life!  My grandma
and I share a birthday, and we've shared a lot of memories!

This would have been a great pic, had Greg not decided  to make
a dash for the food line about the time I snapped it!
Megan, Janel, Valerie, & Will

14 of the original 19 cousins who were there at the time of the
pic.  We sure have done our share of adding to the family tree!

Uncle John, Uncle James, Uncle Jeff, my mom, Aunt Carol, and Aunt Sarah
with their momma.  We sure do miss our Grandpa Yount.

Aunt Rebecca has a particularly facinating job...
she's a lifeflight nurse!

Jeremiah (Andrea's oldest) and Evan finish off the
homemade ice cream.

Andrea and I have always been more like sisters than cousins.
We even knew how to have a good fight! And yeah,
it could get physical.   :-)

 Aunt Jean, Aunt Rebecca, and Aunt Andrea
(Andrea is the one who made me the cook book that
I mentioned at www.stephanieburley.blogspot.com)

Kait and Becca (Jeff and Crystal's oldest) love the few moments
they get to spend together.  I think the unlimited fountain
drinks were having an effect.  :-)

Some of the guys with a little girl right there in the middle.

We love to stay at the Comfort Suites on the river.  This was the
beautiful view at Christmas.

These boys are getting so big!

#4 had just fallen and scraped up her knee.  Therefore, she was
completely uncooperative for a pic.  The other three obliged.

Christmas Memories Part 3

Every Christmas season has its own set of distinct emotions (at least for this emotional woman...lol), and this one was no exception.  Greg and I both agreed that Christmas 2011 was just weird.  It didn't particularly feel like Christmas because we were experiencing much warmer temperatures and lots of rain.  For this snow lovin' family, that was a little disappointing. 
Our moments at home were few, and everything felt hurried and rushed.  So...we have decided to lengthen our season.  Yup, we're still rockin' around the Christmas tree!  It doesn't feel like it's in the way yet, so we're still savoring those lights and bulbs.  I did put away the stockings last week.  They were looking a little out of place.  I think the "Merry Christmas" rug in front of the fireplace will be the next to go.  If it weren't for the adorable snowman on it, I probably would have put it to rest with the stockings.
Because we were to be out of town Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, our kids talked us into letting them open presents the Friday night before Christmas.  I guess it was still Friday...the clock said something like 11:00 when they started opening gifts.  I was one exhausted momma, and Greg was pretty tired, too.  We sat there in a daze and watched them excitedly open their gifts.  It's so fun to feel the energy, especially if they are clueless as to what is in the package.  I know that we spend well below what perhaps most people would on gifts for our kids, but we try to spend more of our energy and money making memories with them throughout the year.  Christmas gifts aren't the focus of our season, Jesus is.  But the gifts sure add to the fun!  :-)

Christmas Memories Part 2

Our first Christmas celebration was with my family here in Lima.  It was really good to be together again!  I didn't get too many pictures this year, but there were a few worth sharing.

The tree

Dad's subtle hint

Grandma Yount and one of her 19 grandkids

Me and my precious granny

Patiently listening to the Christmas story before gifts

Annie's first Christmas

Bank bags..this looks good! 
The annual 'money hunt'

Hands full of coins

And it ended with a serious plumbing issue that these two
bravely corrected.  :-) 

My beautiful mom and grandma...Proverbs 31 in real life.

Thanks, mom and dad, for another wonderful Christmas memory. Even though you were feeling rotten, you gave of yourselves to make our time special. We love you!

Christmas Memories Part 1

Our festive December plans (which tentatively included a wedding, and an Annie Moses Band Christmas concert) shifted just a little because of all of the "issues" that unexpectedly came our way during the month!  So, we stayed ultra busy, just a little different than we had planned.
On December 3rd, we had our Church Christmas Dinner.  Kaitlynn's accident occurred three days ahead of this, so I was still a little preoccupied with worry, but we had a wonderful time.  I wish I had taken pics...the variety and amount of food was amazing!  Hats off to the cooks of the Lima PHC!  The kids had a blast playing in the gym, and we were all worn out after four hours of socializing with our buds. 
The Jr. Church Christmas play was December 11th, and all the kids (and a few adults) did a really nice job presenting a story of hope. We are so blessed to have a wonderful, caring staff for our Jr. Church.

Allison 'unwraps' Mary

Allison's expressions were so funny

Kaitlynn wasn't real generous with smiles last month, and I was
happy to get this out of her.  :-)

The boys belt out the tunes

Our school Christmas play was scheduled for December 6th, but we put it off for a week due to the amount of sickness and one of our teachers being out of state for a family emergency. 
On December 13, the kids presented "Santa Bowed At Christmas."  They did a fantastic job, especially considering all that they had been through with respiratory illnesses.  Our school presented this play about 10 years ago, and it was a hit then, as well.  I believe it is a Brentwood Benson product, and I highly recommend it if you have a wide variety of ages.  We had a full house, and one comment was, "That was better than the Andy Griffith Show!"  Now that's sayin' something!  :-)

Evan (left)

Kaitlynn hiding a little left of center

Ryan as Santa...he pulled his beard down for a solo and it
didn't make it back into position.  :-)

During the last week of school previous to Christmas break, I wanted to do something a little different with the students. I assigned each of them to one of four teams. Each team was given a passage of Scripture that told a piece of the Christmas story. Their task was to put together a small skit based on that passage.  The skit had to include Scripture reading and music (instrumental or vocal - their choice). It could be humorous or serious, and they had access to costumes and props. They had 3-4 short team practice sessions throughout the week, and presented the skits at the Christmas party at the end of the week. It was a little more difficult for them because of sickness (having to sub out parts, etc.), but they did a great job! It was fun to observe the creativity and different presentation styles that came through.

Evan playing one of his parts

Kaitlynn was an angel...she said she was born with
those wings...the rest of us know better...lol.

I guess I only took a half shot of Ryan...

The little ones were especially happy when
"Jolly 'Ole St. Nichols"
came to deliver their gifts! 

And that takes us right up to our family Christmas celebrations which will follow in Part 2!

What's that in your hand?

Gasp! A tooth? Yeah, so Ryan comes in from break at school today with a bloody mouth. "I fell on the ice and knocked out a tooth."
Somehow he fell and hit the gum area above the left front tooth (he broke the right one two days ago), and the third tooth in (I'm not good with the technical terms) decided to jump out. So...he has bruised, swollen gums and a gap that will hopefully house a permanent tooth at some point. I'm quite sure it was a baby tooth that fell out.
Anybody know where I can order 4 large rolls of bubble wrap?

Update On Ryan...

Imagine the look on the faces of the staff at the dentist's office this morning, as the seemingly brainless Burleys walked through the door for yet another front tooth adventure.  Anyway, they were gracious, and Dr. Meyer had Ryan fixed up within 30 minutes.  The x-ray showed no damage to the root, so she was able to fill the tooth at the bottom and make it look even enough.  I can't imagine a filling strong enough to take the place of the bottom of a front tooth, but as I said before, I'm only learning the tricks of the wonderful world of dentistry...and I hope this little education I'm getting is about to slow down!  The dentist said that, as with any injury, the nerve could eventually die and the tooth could absess, requiring a root canal and a crown.  In the meantime, we will (again) hope for the best, and hold tightly to our wallet.  :-)
Ryan and I share a common trait: big teeth.  I've never appreciated that, until today.  He doesn't look any different, so I'll not share pics, but we're ok and I haven't had to resort to "stiff" drinks, although it did cross my mind once or twice!  Thanks for your comforting words...they were appreciated today! :-)

Seriously.

Ryan: "Mom, part of my tooth came out."
Mom: "Let me see...Ryan! Half of your front tooth is gone! What on earth!"
Ryan: "Ummm...I was wrestling with Evan and..."

I need a nerve pill.