While you are just gearing up for Christmas...
putting on those last minute touches, running the last few errands,
cooking, baking, wrapping...
we are gearing down and coasting through the holidays.
Our family Christmas celebration is now a wonderful memory...
a day of family, fun, food, gifts, song, and tons of merriment.
The table was set for 19 this year...
the most we have ever had.
Each year our family grows and grows.
This year we had four generations celebrating at our table... a wonderful blessing!
And although we thought we had the largest table made for this dining room,
we realized this year that we will soon outgrow it.
You might wonder why we are all wearing paper crowns.
We have always had a family tradition...Christmas crackers.
You can see them on the photo of the empty table above...one on each plate.
Each Christmas cracker has a prize, a crown, a joke and a riddle inside.
This year we had an ugly Christmas sweater contest.
Here is Hubbs' sweater...
Here was the winner.
It was a 4 person family combination that ended up being a Christmas tree with presents beneath.
And last, but not least...
the moment we were all waiting for....
What are the results of Annie's DNA test?
You are not going to believe this.
Happily, in the process of holding this contest,
we raised $80 for the shelter from which we got Annie.
Drum roll.....
English bulldog
Chow
Shar pei
I can scarcely believe it.
Dr. Becky even called the lab to make sure the samples were not mixed up.
Nope.
That's what she is...
Go figure.
Comments
I am flabbergasted for sure! Sorry for my absence yesterday....I was overcome by so much to do and was too exhausted Sunday night to write for Monday.
Nineteen at one table . . . what a treat!
Love the "Christmas Cracker" idea . . .
Merry Christmas Bev, to you and your very large family!
Love the tradition of the cracker on the plate and the contents. Fun, fun...
Enjoy your wonderful holiday. Blessings to you in the New Year! I am so thankful for your blog. Your farm is often in my thoughts when I dream about our big move to the country.
Who woudda thunk it! Annie's certainly is a unique combination of breeds. I can see some bulldog in her broad chest, but shar pei & chow? How could she have no lab (and I had thought some beagle)? I would love to have seen her parents. I guess Annie is another case of strange, but true.