Merry Christmas

We started our holiday season off the same way we plan to spend it - with friends!
Our annual tree hunt was marked by warm weather, good friends and just enough snow for a quick snowball fight. Not a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in December than wandering in the middle of nowhere and finding the perfect tree...

From there we enjoyed the usual Meeker holiday traditions:

~ A band concert by Sam where he had a flute solo and a (somewhat impromptu!) trombone solo. He loves music and works hard in the band to master two instruments. But really... he enjoys being with his friends.

~ A JV basketball game (go #12!) where they played hard and it payed off with a win.
Oh, and Hamp loves his team and being with, you guessed it, his friends!

~ An inaugural day on the slopes at Sunlight Mountain! The snow conditions are still pretty meager, but when the weather is warm and there are plenty of friends to take runs with it's worth it!




~ And perhaps my favorite holiday tradition is the 6th annual Framily (friend-family) gathering and photo! It's just a potluck dinner party, but it's with some of my favorite people who I hardly get to see throughout the year. So we make time to all be together in December and try to document it. With babies, kids and dogs it makes for some fun attempts at a group photo...

This is pretty unusual for us - staying in Meeker for Christmas. We have almost always made a point to travel during the holidays to be with family... which has afforded us some really amazing memories, both of sweet family time and crazy holiday travel adventures! The crazy holiday travel, I won't miss. But the cherished moments with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles are what have always made our holidays special. So this year we will cozy up around our perfect tree, have Christmas dinner with dearest friends, and make new memories with just us and our Meeker people.... which is pretty much like family anyway!

raison d’etre

As winter settles in, we move on to a little basketball.

Hamp kicked off his sophomore JV season with a 3-day weekend tournament where he played really well. But what I noticed was that while the free throws were going on, he was visiting with the other team! He says that he has played against these same guys for years and they were just reminiscing about past games.... but I realized that between his teammates and the guys on the court, Hamp loves the people as much as (maybe more than?!) the game itself. As long as he is happy - either rebounding or chatting up the defense - I am happy! And for the next 3 months you’ll find me in the gym.... 

Thankful for family

This was one lucky holiday...
Not only did we pull off a great surprise for Grammy and the cousins, but our travels to and fro were right on the tail of the bad early winter storms! I think it was meant to be.



We pulled up Wednesday evening to a houseful of family - some of whom were expecting us and some of whom were NOT!
It was a great way to kick off 3 days of fun family time... including lots of amazing food, music, games and birthday well-wishes.

Our visit was in honor of Grammy's 95th birthday last week!
She is amazing, and so sweet to all her great-grands.


On top of Grammy's big birthday, we celebrated another gorgeous girl - sweet Charlotte Rose turned 3! She was showered with fun presents and a beautiful cake and of course, plenty of attention from all her family.


It was a quick trip for sure, but it felt like a shot in the arm of good family time until we can get together next summer! And it only seemed appropriate that it was the Thanksgiving holiday because we were full of gratitude for our safe travels, our good weather, our delicious feast, and each other.