New Lens

I'll try not to bore you all with my new Christmas present. Okay, maybe I will. Jim got me a new macro lens for my camera and I am enjoying it. The caterpillar is upside down. If you click on it, you can really see it's little feet and mouth. Gross, but cool! It is really awesome for depth of field pictures as you can see if you click on Haley's eye.

Christmas at the Cabin

The Williamsons always gather at the Kanopolis Lake for Christmas. Erica and Larry's daughter, Cady is 9 months old. She and Joslin had a great time. We took a couple of 4 generation pictures. Only the one of Brad's family ended up on my camera.

Christmas Morning

Haley came over late on Christmas eve after spending time with Jake's family. The girls had decided to spend the night to simplify the morning rush. Haley turned to me and said, "Hey, all of you kids and grandkids are here tonight!" To which I replied, "Pretty neat, huh." Even Oreo (Haley's dog) gave Joslin a "Merry Christmas" kiss.

Krueger-Brunk Christmas Visit

Jackie, Angela, Ashlyn and Ethan came down to visit on Christmas Eve Eve. I still had some cookie dough left over and set the kids to creating again. They had fun and we had a nice visit.

Christmas Cookies

Kylie and Chris came home from Portland early for Christmas. For Sunday Supper, we worked on our Christmas Cookies. I just make sugar cookie dough and color it various colors to put together in any fashion that they see fit. Haley was a little irritated with me for getting down the cookie cutters for those of us who are artistically limited. They had a great time.

Joslin's First Birthday

Yes, she is already one!! Time passes so quickly with little ones. Jose's mom, Rosalea hosted a wonderful family birthday party to mark the occasion. She pulled out all the stops and Joslin had a great time. Her favorite present was definitely the car that she got from Luis and Rosalea. She enjoyed her cake and ice cream, and she was very neat..for awhile. She was very polite and gave Kinley a goodbye kiss. The last picture shows that even at her mature age, she was spent after awhile. Grandma Marcia only took about 200 pictures of the milestone. I did delete down to 100 very precious pictures to treasure in years to come. You'll be glad to know that I am only publishing 8 of those for you to peruse!!

Thanksgiving

Traditionally, we join Jackie (Jim's sister) for Thanksgiving. Jamie, Jose and Joslin spent the day with his family and Kylie went to the coast to celebrate.

Thanksgiving is so special because it is all about family and reflecting on our blessings!

Haley new accessories..

Haley has experienced a couple of milestones in the last couple of weeks with her pointe shoes and braces A sore mouth and sore feet are in her future for awhile. She is always dancing around the house. She loves it! Nice tutu...

Joslin's Baptism November 8th

Halloween

Josie and her loot!!

Pumpkin Carving at Sunday Supper

On the Sunday before Halloween, John, Amber and the girls came over and we carved our pumpkins. As you can tell, it went well. I didn't seem to get Amber or Jim in the pictures but they were involved. Haley might be uploading pictures of the final products because we were a bit rushed in the end because she was helping with the others and had to finish hers at the last minute.

Carrie's "Sprinkle"

Today, Jamie, Joslin and I attended a "sprinkle" for Carrie and baby Kim Marie. It was fabulously hosted by Grandma Cary and Andrea. We really enjoyed getting the little kids together for awhile. The entire group of photos can be accessed at http://picasaweb.google.com/rookazoo/CarrieSSprinkle?authkey=A99EQmmySio#

Sunday Supper

This has become a tradition for the Neal family. We don't do it every week because everyone is quite busy, but we get try to get together regularly for a meal together. These are pictures from a few weeks ago. I'll add some from Amber's new house soon.

The glasses that Jamie and Haley are playing with are Jamie's from the 3rd grade. She was quite stylish!!

Labor Day 2008

Amber, her friend John and 3 of his 4 daughters joined us at Kanopolis for some outdoor activities. They boated, tubed, skied, hiked and took in wildlife around Horsethief Canyon. It was a busy time. I think a good time was had by all even though the picture of Lauren doesn't look like it!

Haley took these pictures of Claudia, Lauren, and Ashlyn. (not sure of the spelling)

Finished Kitchen

I have been catching some flack about not posting the final pictures of the kitchen...so....here it is. We have been utilizing all of its nice features! Jordan designed a pot and pan cupboard after I showed him one in a picture. Also, I have a cupboard to house my mixer like my Mom had on Purdy Street in Lyons...Memories....Thanks Jordan and company.

Joslin 8 Months

Here is my rendition of Joslin at 8 months. I figure that Kylie can never have too many pictures posted of the little character. Jim and I love the last picture of her...We just keep laughing!! (Can you tell that I like close-ups to capture her personality??)

Joslin 8 months

Virtuoso and Animal trainer are two of her current aspirations.

The End

On Friday, we traveled to Astoria and into Washington State. On Saturday, Jim and I spent time perusing downtown Portland. In the evening, we had a wonderful cookout with Kylie and her friends. It was marvelous! (Sorry Nikki!) We are on our way home at about 1:30. See you soon!