Grandpa, can we feed the horse?

   

Starting around the middle of December, the house started filling up with family.  Soon any family member under 6 years old wanted to go with grandpa to feed the horse.  This also included swinging in the tire swing, as high as they could be pushed.  Pretty much anyone over 6 years old looks on feeding the horse as work, so not a lot of interest there.  Spiffy soon looked forward to having her nose touched lightly by small hands and she would come by the fence to be friendly.  "Let me feed the horse", was the cry from Avery, Maren, Eliza or Laney.  Ryan, Elias and Isaac just stared at the big head and eyes, maybe venturing out a small hand toward the very big nose.  Soon they relaxed in the swing, with smiles and squeals.

Another fun time was going to Las Vegas to pick up Matt and Nicole.  We didn't get lost getting to the airport but we did when we tried to get back home. Almost went to Henderson.  That problem was solved by one of our great Christmas presents, a GPS.  The greatest present was the visit from family.  We received cookies, pop etc from friends and neighbors and made our pre-Christmas run to neighbors with freshly baked friendship bread.  Oh, the joy of giving and receiving. 

Christmas eve had a touch of nostalgia, as I played a Christmas carol on my clarinet while everyone sang.  Soon Lynnette, Carolyn and Nicole all took a turn at a Christmas carol playing the violin, along with more singing.  Lynne' finished off the music with some accordion music, which made the children dance and swing.  The Christmas story and family prayer concluded a fun evening.  After sleeping till 6 am on Christmas morning (thanks in part to my request that we only get up at 4 am because of real enthusiasm and curiosity, not an alarm clock!), Santa appeared to have come from the looks of things.

 

 

Later in the day we had a wonderful dinner and nice visits together.  Friday we used last years Christmas present - a pool table.  First we had a pool tournament, which was intense.  Roger upset James in the first round and went on to squeak by Monica for the championship.  Ping Pong was next.  The championship round came down to Dustin and James.  After a hard fought series, Dustin took home the honors.

 

Friday and Saturday, Lynne' brought out the paint and the crown jewel of Christmas decorations.  Trains, cars, trucks and airplanes.  These were stored for the Christmas that Nicole could bring her own husband home.  What skill and talent was on display in painting and decorating.  Hopefully they will decorate many a future Christmas tree.

Eventually everyone headed for home.  Matt and Nicole were flying to Washington DC and James was heading to Hong Kong for a class, and they all had to fly out New Year's eve.  What a great time to use the GPS and spend some quality time together.  We had a motel room reserved in Henderson, NV.  It was really quite fun, but not the New Year's one would expect in Las Vegas.  The GPS worked great if I followed instructions properly to get to the airport or the motel.  Otherwise the lady said in a patient voice, "recalculating".  It was so fun just seeing the kids and sad but kind of numbing dropping them off at 11:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m.  By that time, I had learned to follow the GPS instructions exactly. New Years day Lynne' and I ate a great breakfast and stopped to walk around the Las Vegas temple.  What a beautiful building and landscaping!

Monica, Eliza and Laney stayed until James got back and we had fun, just like old times.  Lots of horseback rides on Grandpa and dancing, singing and swinging.  We especially got used to hugs and Monica's good cooking.  What a Christmas!