Family Portrait, Christmas 2018

It has been quite some time since my entire family was together in one place; at least a year, maybe two. And since it happened on this day, I asked my husband to take some photos of us with my camera. Here we are, happy to be together again, celebrating Christmas! I'm the one in teal with the great big smile!

The weather was decent; not too cold, no precipitation. Good weather for traveling. My husband and I made the drive down route 322 in early afternoon, and we were the first ones to arrive. Others showed up through the afternoon and soon the house was packed. There were eight of us to begin with. Now with spouses and offspring, the whole crew is about 20; only two were absent.

My mother made her traditional Christmas meal of roasted chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The pickled eggs were chilling on the porch because there was no room in either fridge. There was fudge - my mom had made both Grandma Colyer's famous peanut butter fudge and her own million dollar (chocolate) fudge - and I'll admit I swiped a few pieces for later!

Of course, there isn't room for us all to fit in the little kitchen anymore. So quite a few of us ate at fold-up trays that were set up in the living room. In the extras, you may see a photo of my parents, Lee and Norma, age 88, doing just that: sharing a Christmas dinner on a tray - a table for two.

The tree had been decorated beautifully by my little sister. It included ornaments my Grammy Carvell gifted my mom in 1953 when Mom and Dad moved into their brand new house, built by hand, back on Shade Mountain. Do you remember the old decorations? It's so special to see them there. And of course, Angie, the angel atop the tree, has been the same ever since I can remember.

And then suddenly, it was time to go. And we all began putting on our coats and packing up our stuff and heading out into the night. Good-night! Merry Christmas! Good-bye!

The soundtrack: Chris Rea, Driving Home for Christmas.

In the photo above . . . back row, left to right: Julie, Anita (yes, my name is Anita!), Pat, Robin, Marilyn, and Barb; front row: Lee and Norma.