We were at Jamie's by 9, about the same time that Lanie's family arrived. What a fun day with family. Jamie and Dane do such a great job of hosting 1st providing us with a delicious breakfast - an burrito type egg casserole, pull apart cinnamon sticky buns (monkey bread), and lots of fresh fruit that Lanie had brought. It was yummy!
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| The happy sisters! |
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| Such a good breakfast! |
Lanie had brought a 500 piece puzzle that was a custom made one from a photo of our family at the beach. Lanie, Jamie, Bria and I put it together, but without a doubt, Jamie and Lanie did about 3/4 of it! It is amazing how clear the photo puzzle was.
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| Puzzle time! |
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| Loved it! |
Then it was time for a scavenger hunt. Ken took the girls and Samson for a short work while we hid the clues. The girls had such a good job working together and getting to the final "reward"! Lanie and Jamie had decided to not buy gifts for each other or exchange with the girls, so they are planning a fun day in early January where the girls will go to a shop and either paint a picture, a piece of mosaic pottery, or a wooden object. Then to Jamie's to order pizza and watch a movie. So, a flyer describing the event was in the bag along with 2 cookie decorating kits that they did in the afternoon.
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| Samson likes to walk himself when he gets close to home! |
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| They took turns reading the scavenger hunt clues! |
After the "hunt", it was time to open presents. Lanie and Jamie enjoyed the calendars I had made and the x-stitch jars. Last week we took each family to either Sight and Sound or the American Music Theater and then for dinner as the rest of their gift. We had a few gifts for our granddaughters including x-stitch jars I made for them that were personalized. Ken and I received a gift card to Amazon from Bob and Lanie and a gift card from Jamie and Dane for Farlows by the Water, our favorite restaurant when we are in Florida. We appreciated their thoughtfulness!
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| Katelyn loved her gift from PawPaw and Grandma! |
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| So did Samantha - more LOL "stuff"! |
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| We gave Bria and Cali sweatshirts with their swim team logo! |
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| Something struck Jamie's funny bone! |
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| Opening additional gifts from us! |
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| Looking at the photos on the calendars I had made for Lanie and Jamie! |
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| One of Katelyn's gifts was like a soap bomb and you had to soak it in water to get the doll out of the "shell"! |
We spent a lot of the afternoon just chatting and then getting ready for dinner. The young ones went to the basement where each of them decorated 4 cookies and then the adults had to judge the best one. All of them did an amazing job and Cali was the winner with a cute snowman which we failed to photograph!
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| They enjoyed eating them, but were only allowed one! |
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| The happy cookie designers! |
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| The tree in Jamie's basement! |
The ladies chatted and "watched" the ovens while the men went outside to deep fry the turkey. All went well until the turkey was submerged in the oil. There must have been a little ice inside the "bird", because there were flames shooting and oil spilling onto the patio - what a mess! Fortunately no one got burned and the turkey survived very well!
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| Waiting to submerge the turkey, but keeping warm by the fire! |
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| Here we go! |
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| Oh no! Here come the flames!\.... |
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| ....and the messy oil overflow! |
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| Jamie and Dane's backyard! |
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| Ken was so excited when he spotted a bald eagle sitting in the tree at the back of Jamie's yard! |
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| Samson was not too excited about anything! |
The meal was so delicious - turkey, potato stuffing, roasted broccoli and brussel sprouts, corn, buttered noodles, and roasted sweet potatoes. I made a pudding dessert, Lanie provided lots of cookies, and Jamie had made so many kinds of candy treats. All of us had plenty of good stuff to eat!!!
Some of the group got very tired after dinner -
Lanie and Jamie played a card game and Ken and I played Uno with Bria and Katelyn and then Skip-Bo just with Bria. Ken and I were back home by 9:15 after an absolutely wonderful day with our family. We are so grateful for Jamie's willingness to host the celebration!
Just a few additional photos from our day -
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| The girls were trying to follow the dance steps on a video and points were scored and a winner named! |
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| Jamie's upstairs tree. Samson likes to rest and relax! |
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| Lanie and Bob! |
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| Samantha! |
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