Bowling, dinner and a fun time at Great Grandma and Grandpa's

Usually the weekend after Christmas Larry's mom and dad host a "Christmas" get together for their children and families. This year was a low turn out but that doesn't mean it wasn't any fun. The only family members that came from out of town were Teresa and her family and Chantal and Will. Grandma still made it a nice day for us.
The first order of business for the day was the annual bowling tournament. Ok so maybe it's not much of a tournament. The top three high scorers were #1 Will, #2 Larry and #3 Joshua.
Jessica was trying to get the ball to roll to the left by her body language. Too bad it isn't that easy.

Jovie is strutting back like she knocked all the pens down. Confidant and cool.

Everyone having a fun time!

Great Grandma taking advantage of the opportunity to hold the youngest great grandchild Ethan. Youngest until February that is. Our youngest grandchild also until February:)

Larry and his dad enjoyed being able to visit while watching the bowling.

Wait where is the bowling ball? I don't see it down the lane. I think she hid it under her shirt.

Oh yeah got it! Got what? I don't remember.

This is the whole group that showed up for bowling. We sure missed everyone that couldn't come this time.

Grandma fixed us some Chicken Bisque soup and bread bowls. Yummy! Larry and I gave them their Christmas gifts. We got Grandma a Yellowstone puzzle and I knitted Grandpa a hat to keep his head warm per April's instructions.

There cannot be a family gathering where the Scrabble game is not brought out. I mean that would be like a sin or something. Competitors were Larry, Shannon, Joshua, Will and then Matt came into a 2nd game.

Then their is the other end of the table where Scrabble is not played but Me, Chantal, April and Squire enjoy some conversation and a mean game of Phase 10.

Later on in the evening Great Grandpa and Grandma joined in on a fun game called Catch Phrase with the few of us who were not party poopers. Definition of a party pooper..."Those who leave before 9:30 pm".

Until next year...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Jovie's 2

Jovie loves to "cook" and she can make a pretty good coco. The best kind made with love but does not have a single calorie. For her birthday Papa J and I got her a basket full of soft fruits and veggies which she immediately tried to see if she could eat.

As Jovie was taking out all of the produce she got to the bottom of the crate and she held up the packing material and said "noodles"! It was cute.

Ethan is hanging out with Papa J. Gotta love that smile.

Jessica reading Jovie's card to her.

It's cake time!!!

Success! She not only blew the candles out once or twice but several. Every time she blew them out she said "more please".

I think she liked turning 2. Jovie's smile is beautiful!

I thought this looked cool and seemed like it should be from the olden days for some reason. So back in time they go, at least in the photo.

Christmas at Eagle Crest & review of Michael's phone call

Christmas was going to be pretty quiet around our house since it was only going to be Larry and I. Michael is on his mission still and we had Christmas with the rest of the family on Thanksgiving. Larry and I decided to go away for Christmas this year as long as we still had cell service so that we could still get Michael's phone call on Christmas day. We checked and they still had room at Eagle Cest so off we went. We arrived and their were Chirstmas lights everywhere in all sorts of designs. It was a feast for the eyes. I captured a few on camera. They even had Christmas lights in designs that moved. Like 2 huge golfers with one of them putting. Santa throwing a baseball to an elf batting.
The first day we spent relaxing and watching movies. I was also reading a couple of new cook books I got. Christmas Eve we spent shopping and bought our gifts for each other. No surprise there lol. Christmas morning we woke up and everything was frozen and it was 20 degrees. It was very beautiful but very cold.
These are just a few pictures I took.

We are not going to be doing any golfing on this course.

The best thing that happened on Christmas was Michael's phone call. He sounded good and loves the area he is in. He even mentioned he would like to live there. I think he forgot how much he hated/loathed the summer weather and all the bugs. He'll experience that again before he comes home, that will help him to remember. We got to hear some stories like how the chiropractor helped adjust him so he could eat Peanut Butter. He did eat some but only on one day in the doctors office. The funny thing is that he didn't even like the taste of Peanut Butter. He isn't going to eat any again because he isn't sure how long that treatment would last. Michael also told us of when he got mugged for his ice cream because he didn't have any money for them to take. The mugger even came back for his dirty spoon. He is District Leader right now and also is training a new Elder straight from the MTC. He'll do great! He covers an area that has about 20 towns which represents Trenton branch and Gallatin ward. They've had 8 baptisms there in the last 2 1/2 months or so. The Mission President has strongly advised them not to tract because of safety concerns. Their is still hostility towards the "Mormons" there. They actually tried to tract once and the guy who answered the door wasn't very nice and told them that it's a good thing that the law was changed because he'd burn down some of the "Mormon's" houses. The members there are very kind and helpful to the missionaries, which is a good thing. Michael said they are being fed to well though lol. We got all the family on the line with their phones and had a conference call with the whole family. That was fun to hear the love, talking and bantering between them all. I'm grateful he's doing well and is working hard. I miss him but I wouldn't want him in any place else. It was a very relaxing, peaceful Christmas. It was a good weekend. I'm grateful for the blessings that we have to get to enjoy times like these.