A Manor Family Christmas

Our Manor Family Christmas, A.K.A. "Christmas at the Plaza", A.K.A. "Grandma Lila's Christmas" was held on Saturday, December 27th at the Plaza in Eau Claire. Once again, it was a great time for a gathering of our family and some friends over a meal and some fellowship. We had 62 people for the meal, and then 12 more family members came after the meal to join in the fun of our annual program!

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Uncle Jack was our illustrious MC of our family program this year in honor of Sharon. He did a wonderful job as Master of Ceremonies, and kept the program running smoothly. He looked very festive in his infamous red sweater!~~~

Grandma Lila spoke to all of her children on this special day...
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Aunt LaNita had a good humored story to share with us all...

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Uncle Louis read the birth of Christ to us in a very unique way this year--he really captured the attention of the kids and involved them in the reading!

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Paul lead the singing with his baritone voice--great job, Paul!

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A quartet!
Robert, Amanda, Damara, and Paul

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Robert and Amanda sang a duet--Robert plays the piano beautifully!

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In addition to the program, there was a lot of visiting that took place during the day...

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Great-Grandma Pat and Baby Ty Cameron Lewis celebrating his first Christmas

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Cute little Ty Cameron!

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I was accused of being a "baby hog" when it came to little Ty--but who can blame me?! Look at this bundle of sweetness! He is just begging to be pinched and squeezed!

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Rosy-red cheeks to match his bright red Christmas hat! Couldn't you just eat him up!?!

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The Manor Kids-

Betsy, Becca, and Philip (Who, I might add, looks and sounds so great! We are all proud of you, Philip!)

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Sweet Little Abby--she was walking all over today! It was hard to believe she was just recently in Children's Hospital so sick! I was lucky to be singled out by Little Abby for a great big lovey! She is such a sweetheart!

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Jordyn and her cute little lips...

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Baby Ty enjoying some time with his Great-Great-Grandma Lila. Grandma Lila hemmed the blanket that Ty is holding in this picture on the day Heather was in labor with Ty. We were all (not so) anxiously awaiting the birth of little Ty at Sheri's house in Fergus Falls (we were there for Timmy's graduation), and Sheila hadn't yet finished hemming the two duckie blankies for the baby, as Heather wasn't quite due to deliver yet. So, Grandma Lila and I offered to help her out by hemming (is that the right terminology?!) the edging on the blankies. Well, Gram put me to shame! Her sewing stitches were all nice and even, and she finished her WHOLE BLANKIE before I was even done with two sides! It was awful! Every time I see Ty with one of those blankies, I cringe, thinking it may be the one I hemmed with the horribly uneven stitches! Anyway, Ty and Gram look cute with the duckie blankie! I am sure that is Gram's blankie!!!

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Deb and Ken were able to join us today--they were both looking smashing!

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Cousins tend to get weird when they get together--just look at these guys!

Zac (looking constipated), Abby (resembling a flamingo), Emily ("Aye, Matye! Land Ho!"), and Morgan ("What you lookin' at?")

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More cousins...

Matthew, Andrew, Austin, and Jordan

Big news was shared that Jordan proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Brittany, on Christmas Eve and she said "YES"!!! Also, Andrew was kind enough to announce with his best "fog horn" voice that Matt now has a girlfriend--way to go, Matt! And thanks, Andrew, for making sure everyone is in the know!

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three girl cousins

~Abby, Emily, Morgan~

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The overwhelming excitement on their faces...

Morgan, Andrew, and Austin

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The overly-enthused Black Brothers:

Hunter and Brett

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Amy and Jack enjoying the day~~~
Pat playing with Cruz and Ty

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First Married Christmas--the newlyweds, Tara and Paul

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When the meal and the program and the gifts are done, the highlight of the day for the younger kids (and some of the big kids), is to go swimming! This year was no exception!

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Here are the girls having fun with little Allie as she floats in her duckie around the pool.

Emily, Abby, Morgan, and Allie

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Little Jordyn tried out the duckie, too! Gilbert gave her a ride around the pool. She liked it so much, she almost fell asleep! She had had a wild day, as earlier, she had slipped in the baby pool with a life jacket on and her face had gone in the water. She didn't know enough to get her head out of the water, or didn't know how with the life jacket on, and she was stuck with her little face under the water! I am proud to say that my cousin/ brother-in-law, CHAD, jumped into the kiddie pool with his shoes and jeans on and grabbed her and helped her out of the pool! Chad, you're a hero!!! As you can see, everything turned out fine, and Jordyn was back in the pool again in a bit! Chad went shopping for some dry clothes and shoes and was as good as new!

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It was another great year at the Plaza continuting a tradition that was started aproximately 33 years ago by Grandpa Lyman. Thank you to all who were able to attend, and we missed those of you who were not able to make it this year. Also a HUGE thank-you to all of my family members for your prompt payment for the meal--everything went smoothly once again in the planning process! Thanks!

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SAVE THE DATE: Manor Family Christmas 2009 will be held on Saturday, December 26th at the Plaza--mark your calenders!

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!