Enjoying Family Time

We had fun wrapping gifts, preparing meals together, and generally having a good time. Arrion and Nancy played the piano. Sometimes they even performed duets.

It's always interesting to notice how everyone finds time to share in common interests. In the photo below Annette and Bill are talking about university teaching while coloring in Christmas activity books. Strange behaviors, but true.

Making Cookies

Everyone took part in the decoration of Christmas sugar cookies. We started with traditional frosting decorations, but soon expanded to decorating with our various university icons and colors. Then we had cookies for Iowa State, Drake University, Indiana University, University of Northern Iowa, University of Toledo, Eastern Illinois University, University of Illinois, University of Arizona, University of Texas, Southern Methodist University . . . whew - - between our current jobs, past positions, and the varied university degrees held between us, we had lots of options to cover. We also decorated a few with our favorite football teams including the Packers and Cowboys.

Unwrapping Presents

We unwrapped presents on Christmas morning. Larry got Annette the great fleece pull-over in the photo on the left.

Arrion's pregnancy was the focus of most of the conversation. She's due in May, so this year we enjoyed shopping for some baby gifts. For Christmas, Arrion and Ben got lots of baby things!

For example, Arrion got a "Baby Under Construction" T Shirt, Yoga books, and a Yoga mat. Ben got the book "The Expectant Father" along with University of Illinois baby clothes and a baby moose jacket.

A few days after Christmas Arrion and Ben found out that they're having a boy.

Nancy and Bill also received some fun presents. They both got bobble-heads. Mom got a frog and Dad got a raccoon. We always enjoy some new games. Fact or Crap was one of the sillier ones this year.

Playing Games

Game playing is usually a part of our family activities. In addition to traditional games like "Oh Heck" and Tripoley, we also played new games like Trivial Pursuit 20 Years and Scene It? In the photo below we're finishing a game of Oh Heck. This time, Bill has turned over the scoring duties to Ben.

In the picture below, you can see that Annette and Larry were the big losers in the Scene It? game. Everyone had a good time with the DVD part of the Scene It? game; however, Larry and Annette had bad luck with the roll of the dice - - or at least that's the way we like to tell it.

Watching Football

Bailey's Irish Cream has become the new favorite of Ben, Larry, and Annette. Although Bud Light is still a football favorite, Bailey's is a great evening drink. We put a bottle under the Christmas tree for Ben.

Getting Exercise

After lots of movie and football watching, game playing, and eating, we needed some exercise. Everyone went for a Christmas Day walk. The photo below was taken in the front yard before our walk.

Packing Up

After a week in Dallas, it was time to head back to southern Utah. I believe that since we became full-time RVers, that is the longest time we have left Harvey on his own. Having been gone for over a month, it was nice to get home and start thinking about Spring semester classes.

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Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, 1/04.