I got back from Oakland in the evening on Thursday, the 22nd. We were planning a family Christmas party on Saturday, the 24th (Christmas Eve, ya know…)
We spent the day on Friday cleaning the house. Even when Karen (Jerry’s wife) and Donna showed up to help, it wasn’t enough. So, we started again on Saturday morning. We had almost everything ready to go by 1 p.m. (when the party was scheduled to begin). No one shows up. What the? Kel’s brother Mike and his girlfriend (common law wife?) Karen were the first to arrive around 2:30. I thought it might be a bust, but it was more like the dam breaking. All told, we had (I think) 47 people (including us).
I was making hors d’oeuvres, giving tours, and handing out drinks during the first hour. During that time, Mike & Karen, and Kel’s nephew Scott & his family, and Kel’s brother Rick & his fiancée (huh? he’s not even divorced yet???) left before I got my camera out.
Here’s some of the crowd hanging out in the sun room.
Kel’s mom poses with her granddaughter, Tammy (daughter of Kel’s brother, Steve, wearing the green sweater), and Tammy’s daughters, Vivian (left) and Lauren (right).
Kel’s brother, Steve, and his girlfriend. (And, yes, he’s awake…)
The young lady on the left is Steve’s youngest daughter, Tabitha. Kel is holding Tabitha’s littlest one. (And apparently that was enough to get Kel’s "aww, I want another baby" thing out of the way…)
Kel’s brothers Tom (left) and Jerry (right) talk fantasy football. (In addition to Kel and myself, three of her brothers, one brother-in-law, two nephews, one son-of-a-niece, and one boyfriend-of-a-niece participated in the fantasy football league. Last weekend, I lost the playoff championship game to Scott with one of the worst weeks of the entire season. Sigh…)
An annual Christmas tradition (as opposed to a semiannual Christmas tradition?) with Kel’s family is drawing slips of paper to determine who sings which part of The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Some of us got into it more than others…
Keira gets along very well with her cousin, Haley. Haley and her family (Jerry, Karen & Ian) stayed with us over the Christmas weekend. That gave the two girls plenty of opportunity to do some collaboration. One of the things they planned was a Christmas concert. Haley had a recorder solo; Haley, Keira and Dyson sang Jingle Bells together; and Keira sang a solo.
The angel on the grandfather clock looks down on the three angels (devils?), Haley, Keira and Sarah (Tom’s daughter Jennifer’s daughter).
Tom’s son, Wesley, and his baby.
Of course, you should know by now that I enjoyed some "Christmas cheer" during the festivities. Perhaps that’s why the picture is out of focus…
(It’s a autofocus camera - but I usually check right after taking the picture…)
Anyway, here’s some mighty fine Delirium Noel…
After the guests headed out, we were down to eleven people (Kel & I, Dyson, Keira, Jerry & Karen, Ian, Haley, Kel’s parents, and (of course) Donna.) Keira and Haley put out notes for Santa, along with the traditional plate of cookies. They decided it would be more festive to include the little fake tree from Keira’s bedroom, along with a little "seed gift" for Santa’s inspiration…
After a full day of cleaning, partying and playing "Santa’s helpers", the adults are beat…
Next post, the insanity of Christmas morning!
