Christmas Celebration

Christmas got spread out this year like many families. Rose, Ryan and Phoebe went to Peachtree, GA to visit Nana and Rick and the rest of Ryan's family. That didn't keep us from celebrating on Christmas day with Samme's family in Anderson, IN. It was fun and a little looney--ask Great Grandmother Newell about the turtle.


But, the Wallis' got home on Sunday so Monday was the day we scheduled to celebrate with Kate, Steven, Rose, Ryan and Phoebe. Deno and I had looked forward to being with them. Aunt Kate bemoaned the fact of not following tradition by eating breakfast first, but like I told her, there were alot of new traditions being made and there are many more families to consider now.
The breakfast was great--biscuits and sausage gravy, eggs, hashbrowns, and enough calories to kill us all much sooner than we should.

Phoebe is crawling more and pulling up to stand. What fun! Deno and I watched her so the kids could all go see a movie together. She found Kali's rawhide chew bone and enjoyed herself until Papouli found her with it. She even crawled up the one step from the family room to the kitchen. Watch out world, there's no stopping her now!


She played her first "concert" with pots and pans. I gave her a Costa Rican chocolate stirrer and a table spoon and she was able to make plenty of "music".

The afternoon went quickly with her--Yia-yia even took a little nap with her and before we knew it, the kids were all back from the movie. Phoebe is coming into her own, showing some of her personality. She loves to laugh and investigate. She loves to dance and babbles all the time. She doesn't like her mommy to be too far away and gives her daddy plenty of hugs. She loves to chew on Uncle Steven's i-phone, where he gives her guidance on what she can and can't do with it. And Auntie Kate is one she loves to play with! As a matter of fact, Auntie Kate went over Phoebe's house tonight to get more Phoebe time.


So today was nice with the gifts--but the best thing was to be with the family. However, no one played canasta with me. hmmm. I'm going to have to work on that!

Celebrating the Holidays with Family

Yesterday, four generations converged at Grandpa and Grandma Newell's home in Anderson. Cousin Joel and Jen with their daughters Bella and Gabby were in from Phoenix, so we all had to be together! Phoebe wasn't too sure of what to make of all of this, but after having 61 at Thanksgiving at her Aunt Mary's this was a piece of cake!

Who all was there? Well everyone except Cortney, who had to work at the hospital and Stavros who was coming in from Chicago. They were certainly missed.

Great Aunt Becki and Uncle Rex were there with their kids and grandkids. Cassie and James Kirkpatrick were there with David and Haley. Kyle was there too, missing Cortney, I'm sure. Then Great Uncle Eric and Aunt Bonnie were there with Joel & Jen, Bella and Gabby. The newly weds were there too--Shawn and Miriam were there too. They'll be in Kentucky for Christmas.