Christmas Eve 2008

Tim's house, who was smart enough to be out of town at the time.

Max and Grandma



Chloe and Jake

Irena, Katie, Kris and Debbie

Chloe being silly

Mike and Max being 'cool' with their matching hats.


Just a few picture from Christmas. It was a cold and different Christmas this year. I usually really look forward to the Holidays, especially Christmas Eve. This year everything seemed a little off and it was probably me . . . literally. Not all of the family were able to be in Salt Lake. Tim and his family were in Idaho and Jeff and his family had just moved to Phoenix and were unable to get away. It was nice to see Debbie, Ben and Chloe and that they were able to travel from Dallas to be with us.

This year the adults didn't exchange presents. We donated money to Primary Children's Hospital in remembrance of Trent Duvall. Trent was my brother's (Gary) Grandson, who died in November after a long and devastating battle with leukemia. We wish there could have been more that we could have done to help that family.

Christmas was once my favorite time of year, especially Christmas Eve. It is nice to have everything bought, wrapped, baked and cleaned and be able to enjoy the excitement of getting together and sharing in the food, fun and love. The older I get and the more separated our family gets in miles, my favorite time of year has become anytime we can all be together.