Thanksgiving
My sister Julee and her family hosted (as they always graciously do). The kids had a fun time playing...
Just a few days after Thanksgiving my Grandma, Hattie Jones, passed away about 19 days shy of her 96th birthday. While it is always difficult to say goodbye to a loved one, we couldn't help but be happy for my grandma knowing she was able to be reunited with her husband and 3 of her 5 children. Grandma was always active and loved to travel. This picture was taken at Mount Rushmore just about 2 months before she died.
We traveled to Blanding, UT for the funeral and were able to spend the weekend getting reacquainted with family and remembering our sweet grandma.
The graveside service was held at the Blanding Cemetery where many of my family and ancestors have been laid to rest. My sister Jone, who died at 18 months old from meningitis, is buried just a few feet from my Grandma. While we were at the cemetery my niece Heidi (Dan and Melissa's daughter) and Jordynne (my niece Courtney's daughter) couldn't stay away from Jone's headstone. They are both about the same age Jone was when she died and we couldn't help but think there was a special connection between their sweet little spirits.
After the funeral we gathered for one last picture in front of my Grandma Jones' home.
This house holds many memories for my family. We spent many summer's here playing in the backyard and enjoying my Grandma's garden. We will miss Grandma, but are thankful for the life she lived and the legacy she left each of us.
While we enjoyed being with family, I think my niece Natalee (Dan and Melissa's daughter) summed it up best....
...it was an exhausting weekend!
Christmas
This year for Christmas I was able to enjoy my first real tree. In fact, we got to enjoy decorating the tree twice. It's been a while since I decorated a tree bigger than a tabletop tree, so I misjudged how many lights, ornaments etc. we would need. After putting everything on the tree and still having the lower half of the tree mostly bare, we decided to head back to the store for more decorations and re-decorated our tree. Here's the final product.
We were able to spend Christmas with both my family and Tim's. On Christmas Eve we went to Tim's dad's house where we were able to enjoy a delicious dinner together.
On Christmas morning we went over to my sister Julee's house for our annual Christmas breakfast. My mom made her cinnamon rolls...
...and the kids and adults alike were able to relax, play with toys, and enjoy one another's company.
Later that afternoon we headed over to Tim's Grandma's house in Phoenix for dinner with his Mom, sister and grandparents. His Dad and step-mother joined us later, with their 2 sons for a gift exchange.
It was a wonderful holiday spent with family.
Happy New Year!!
We spent New Year's Eve at my sister's house where my mom made her famous chimichangas. 
We played games and just enjoyed hanging out together, but by the time we actually hit midnight, we had lost about half our party either to sleep or sleepy kids that had to go home and be put to bed. But those of us who survived were able to ring in the New Year together, complete with Martinelli's and noisemakers. It made for a fun and relaxing night!
We wish you all the best in 2009!!
5 comments:
It's so fun to see your blog and see pictures of everything going on. I love the picture of your niece yawning. That's one of the cutest/funniest pictures I've seen. Thanks for the Christmas card. It was fun reading your story and how everything worked out. I'm so happy for you guys!!
Mmm, your mom is the best baker--lucky you! Great blog--the idea of blogging totally overwhelms me, but I love keeping up iwth my friends'. It's interesting--your stepson looks quite a bit like you! I was trying to find Sydney in some of the pics, but I can't even remember how old she must be now--I feel like she should be about 9 years old now, but given that she was a toddler when we were in highschool, that must mean she's like 18 or 19?? WOA.
Nice blog Tammy! You and Tim are too cute together and I love that you have found such a great husband! You match each other perfectly! Natalee's picture is too cute. That is one face that she makes all day besides smiling. Can you e-mail me the big family pictures from Blanding? Here is my e-mail: melirose3@cox.net
Thanks!
-Melissa
Tammy! Your blog looks so great! I'm proud of you for catching up so well. I can't wait to see what you write about next!
This is AWESOME! I love hearing about what you all are up to. I am so glad that things are going so well for you guys. I am way to computer illiterate to attempt a blog but I am glad you were brave and went for it- it really looks great! We will need to visit soon and catch up some more! love ya!!
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