Family Time

      Crystal has been my sister for a long time. I can't even think how many years. She's always there for me, even when it is tough for her. Saturday we got together to exchange gifts. She had a terrible migraine but came out anyway. Crystal, I love you so much!  And I am proud of us for being much better with our photos lately! Since we decided to take at least one picture together every time we saw each other, I think we have remembered most of the time. Now we have so many more photo :)

      We didn't hang out for a super long time, we did a gift exchange in the car and we went and did some errands and shopping. And as usual, it was a lot of fun! I am really glad we have been not only remembering to take photos more often, but also remembering to make time to see each other more often. 

      Yesterday was the family Christmas party over at my parents' house. There were a lot of people there! Not all of the family was even there. But most of us are not little kids anymore and the house is not huge. It gets really warm (super hot) in there during parties. Are you ready for a whole lot of photos of people that look a lot like me? Let's start off with my Travis picture. I'm sure he and I have more photos together than anyone else. 

     This is my Dad holding Mickey. I think he was consoling him after Edmin left Mickey on the floor. I mentioned to Dad that we really need to start up our monthly lunches again. Which is tricky since I work during the day. He said Saturday breakfasts would work. I agree. 

     Here's Edmin and Lisa, with Jack, Dad, and my brother Bernard in the background. 

      Me and Mini Me (Elecktra)

     Me and Lisa (my new sister-in-law). One of the few people in the house yesterday that doesn't look like me. 

     My niece Maddie and I. How did she get to be 15? 

     My brother John and I. I don't think he ever takes normal photos. He's always making a funny face of some kind. I don't know how he wasn't melting in that flannel.

     Elecktra and Edmin. Lisa was telling me to hurry up and get the cute picture and I was trying to change the settings on the phone. Edmin had already escaped but Elecktra scooped him back up. 

      My nephew Jack opening a gift. Dad is trying to find a space in the room and Bernard is opening a gift almost standing in the kitchen. 

      Maddie installed herself in this chair when they first showed up. She knows that seats are at a premium during parties. This chair is at the edge of the kitchen and living room, so she can be with everyone during gift opening. And she could probably have her sister, Gabby, pass her food if she was hungry. 

     And this is Gabby. She's my oldest niece. I spent a lot of time taking care of her when she was little. I have tons of baby pictures of her, but not nearly enough of her grown up. We need to work on that. 

      Here's Edmin opening some gifts. He was absolutely thrilled with the books I got him. 

     Me and my nephew Jack. Apparently I am magical for making him smile and John (his dad) wanted to know how I did it. I said I whispered to Jack "take a picture with me, I just gave you money." and apparently he thought it was funny (which, I meant it to be funny). He told me he is saving up all his GameStop gift cards to buy collectibles. That is awesome!

Elecktra and her boyfriend Peter. Demonstrating the lack of seating at the party. 

       Maddie, John and Mom. 

     When we got home I taught Travis about scratch tickets, because he got some as part of a gift. When he opened the card it struck me that he really is old enough for scratch tickets. How did all these kids get to be so grown? So Travis scratched his tickets (very enthusiastically) and he won $3. 

      2019 is quickly coming to a close. It kind of snuck up on me. I think I will do a doll year in review. It would be fun to figure out how many dolls of each type I have made. I should update my doll photo book and start counting.