"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Agreed! It has been a very busy month getting prepared for the big Christmas Season. It brings lots of work, especially for the female members of the family but can be the most rewarding and spiritual time of the year as well. I am thankful for this time of year to reflect on my Savior and what His birth and life means to me. We need to remember those things in our daily lives but the feelings at Christmas becomes so prevalent and it seems that opportunities to give and share become more evident.

The anticipation of the season was definitely in our household. As we realized that Grandpa and Grandma Fackrell would be with us this year, the planning intensified. It was fun to have many of the family plan to spend their Christmas with us as well. We met Lorna in Downey a week before Christmas to pick up Grandpa and Grandma. We spent a week in preparation for the holiday and I was able to be with them as we shopped, went to church, dined out and spent time with family members. The week seemed to fly by.

Marc, Gretchen & boys and Nicci, Chris and boys arrived on Christmas Eve afternoon, as well as Matt and Amanda, and Mike, Christina and kids. There was the sugar cookie decorating contest before food was served. The big winner was Mike S., with Brigham and Chris in 2nd and 3rd place. So much fun!

"1st Place" Cookie

And the winner is .....

2nd Place - Brigham

3rd Place - Chris

The traditional Christmas Eve Snack was spectacular as usual with the typical crab, shrimp, smoked turkey, ham, stuffed mushrooms, smoked oysters, rolls, vegetable plate, raspberry & tapioca pudding, and on and on! So good! But we found the leftover meals were even better!

The Christmas Eve Snack "Staple"
(So good. Thanks, Marc & Gretchen)

Cooking of the crab is "menfolks" job

Meanwhile, the women g0t the table set up for the rest of the "irresistible" goodies!

The table seemed a bit less congested this year and yet we had so many leftovers to eat all weekend plus more!

After eating everyone that had new Christmas pajamas changed into their night wear. It is always fun to watch the excitement of the night!

The Hale Boys

(Cooper, Kaden, Tucker, and Ivan)

Hiram was off to show everyone his "soft jammies"

Even Great-Grandma was ready for "a long winter's nap"!

And Christmas morning ....

The traditional wait on the stairs .... some seem to still be sleepy ...
(It's all about tradition ...)

Jake could have used a few more minutes of sleep!



The adults watch the morning activities.

It "makes" Christmas for us to have the kids around. I can't imagine having a Christmas without some of them around! We had a wonderful day sharing in their excitement and fun of the day. Thanks, everyone, for letting us be a part of Christmas with you! It really was fun for us!

Yet and always mindful of whom we truly celebrate. We enjoy being together with family and friends and yet we know that it is the birth of our Lord, Savior and brother, Jesus, that has brought us together on this occasion. We have so many blessings that come from His life and His sacrifice in our behalf.

It truly is "The most wonderful time of the year"!

Thanksgiving Blessings

It is hard to imagine that another year is nearly gone! It seems like we were just preparing for the turn of the century .... 2000! And we are now approaching the end of another decade! In today's world that is about 1/9 of a lifetime! WOW! It just reaffirms in my mind that we need to make each day count. There is so much out there to learn and do!!

That said, on to the holidays of 2009 .....

Niccole prepares the pie bar

... while Mike and Will take a little rest

The night before Thanksgiving we had our traditional "Pie Night" which, of course, included more pies than we would ever eat. Everyone was able to have any kind and as much as they wanted! Yummy!!! Chris, Niccole and boys were with us for the holiday and Matt, Amanda, Mike, Christina and kids came for the Thanksgiving Eve event. Before digging into the "dessert", we had soup in bread soup bowls (had to have some sign of healthy eating!). Delicious!

Grandpa & Noah watch over the "dessert"

And the little ones show off their "turkey" hats which they made
(Caitlin, Brigham, Carter, and Hiram) ... wait .... where's Jake?

Tried to get a picture of Jake alone .... by the time the camera flashed, this is all that was left! Just feathers .....

Try again! There we go ..... and Jake!

Finally .... a group picture .... what a fine looking group it is!

We had a small group but a great Thanksgiving Day. It was so good to have Chris, Niccole and boys with us! Nicci and I got up early to get the turkey in the oven and the food preparation taken care of before everyone else got to moving. As soon as everyone was up and dressed we left to have breakfast out (a tradition started by Chris & Nicci a few years ago for their family) and then on to a mid-day movie. We went to see "Christmas Carol" in 3D. Grandpa thought it was a "great movie"; Grandad thought it was a "loud movie"; and the boys thought it was a "scary movie". I guess everyone will have to see it and judge for themselves! If any or all of those appeal to you .... then I suppose it is recommended.

By the time that the movie was over and we returned home, the turkey was done so we made the final preparations and we sat down to a BIG feast! So good!!! And lots of leftovers to enjoy for several days to come! There were only the 9 of us so it was pretty quiet but we had a great time, good food and all that goes with T-Day.

Of course, Nicci and I then rose early Friday morning ..... 3 a.m. !! Is that considered morning?? We had to get in on the Black Friday madness! It isn't just about the shopping or getting the great deals anymore ..... it is just as fun to see to what lengths people will go to literally get their hands on the "good deals". I didn't see the physical combat this year like we have other years but I'm sure I just wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time. Christina joined us for part of the morning craziness. As always, it was fun to have a few of "my" girls together. And we ended up with some pretty good buys, too. We were home by about 10 o'clock and felt like we had done our part in that tradition, too. However, Christina and I DID venture back later in the day!

All in all it was a fun weekend. Thanks, family, for being who you are and sharing your time with us! I am so thankful for all of my kids and families. You are at the top of my "Thanksgiving Blessings" list .... and I have so many blessings to be thankful for .... not only at this season but each day.

AND

Thanks again, Chris, Nicci, Noah, Brig, Hiram and Jake for coming to be with us!