Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Thanks-Christmas 2009

A few weeks ago, my family gathered at my sister Karen's house for the fifth annual Rankin family Thanks-Christmas...a 2-day affair where we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas all at once. There is good food, good fun, and much rolling of the eyes at each other!

I didn't take many pictures, but a few of my favorites are below!

Check back in tomorrow to see a few images of the FIRST annual Rankin family Thanks-Christmas talent show! hahahaha....said in an evil manner. :)

Colby was in heaven. There were so many people to read to her!

...and play with her! Cousins Ella, Emma, and Anna kept her busy the whole time we were there!

Pretty cousin Amelia with Aunt Karen!

Karen was worried that the Thanks-Christmas fo 2009 would be known as the year we didn't have corn pudding for dinner (what the heck!...it's my FAVORITE!), but I think 2009 will go down as the year Karen avoided the kitchen by playing with all of her nieces and nephew!

My dad - in his usual pose.

Jacob was quite excited about this toy...I think it was a Handy Manny toolbox...in any case, it was the favorite toy among all the nieces and nephew. The tools bounce up and down to music in the toolchest.

Colby excited about her new VeggieTales CD!

But, not as excited as when she got her first baby doll from Aunt Karen.

And, then she opened up some books and we lost her for the rest of the evening. My little nerd. :)

My sister Kendall....with her boyfriend Caleb...who is also one of my husband's best friends. I never thought I'd see the day where "The Bivvie" was at one of my family dinners.

Anna trying on her new "Little House on the Prairie" hat.

Sidenote: Cydil, if you're reading, can you imagine the fun we would have had playing Little House on the Prairie in your back pasture if we'd had these hats!!!

I'm not sure what Scott was doing or saying, but I love the look on mom's face!

These are the types of pix you get when my husband gets a hold of my camera. 100's of pictures like this. I will protect this sister's identity. :)

Colby finding a more fun way to play with the gifts.


When we first got to Karen's, Colby hadn't slept but for 30 minutes all day and was a horrible wreck. She wasn't thrilled about being passed around; however, Karen sat her on her lap and said, "Colby, you need to know that you and I are going to be friends over the next two days and have lots of fun. Get used to the idea." And Colby did. We're not into coddling in my family.

Thanks for checking in!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the pictures, but feel there is an "elephant in the room" not being addressed...am I seeing matching T-shirts? Explain please?

:) Anyway, it looks like you all had a great time!!! Gotta love the holidays! Oh and the Lisa Alert worked, see, first one to post!

Lisa

Cydil said...

So excited to see the next generation carrying on the LHOTP tradition... And kicking it up a notch!
What do the shirts say?

Brigit said...

I, too am wondering about the t-shirts. Where was Nick's????

LiveLoveRodeo said...

I want to leave a comment on each individual picture, they're all so great! The look on Ruth's face...my mom has an identical one. And don't give Colby too much grief about being a bookworm, she'll never be as bad as I was! And the LHOTP bonnets, I would have DIED for those! So fun!

Anonymous said...

I am ready for Thanks Christmas all over again!! Everybody has so much fun during that day (although I will say it can get a little hectic sometimes)! Thanks for posting pictures Kelly..my goal for the weekend is to get the few pictures I have up on the Rankin page..I've been slacking! But I loved your pictures and it made me want more!
Love ya!
Kendall :)

Brittany said...

I agree with Kendall - we all want more pictures! :) These are so good. We always miss having you guys at Thanksgiving and each year we say "I wonder how Thanks-Christmas is going". Now we know!! These turned out really great and everyone looked like they had a blast! It makes me excited for my own Christmas :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the pics, Kelly! I was wondering when you would post them. It is so funny how at the beginning of the week we are all happy and ready for fun but by the last two days we are all ready to go to our own house and veg out alone! Now these pictures make me want to do it all over again! I miss it!
Love - Kori

Grandma Cooper said...

I can tell you exactly why I had "that look" on my face --- Scott was showing everyone how I USED to zoom in when I was taking pictures!!! I have learned the correct way but he loves to give people (or is it just me?) a hard time!!

Love the pictures, Kelly!!

Anonymous said...

I miss Thanks-Christmas already! Kori's totally right, we all are sooooo anxious for it and then by the last day, we're ready for home!
I feel like I should verify that Karen was in the kitchen all morning, but then we had to kick her out finally. Two reasons, the kitchen couldn't take any more bodies in it and each year the host of Thanks-Christmas starts to get slightly overwhelmed as the meal time gets closer and closer! I have to give Karen credit, her meal was only a half an hour late whereas mine, last year, was two hours late!!!
Oh, how I miss the chaos of all of us when we get together! It was a blast!!!

Thanks for the pictures, Kelly!!

Kim