Christmas!

This year we celebrated Christmas Eve at the Dreschers' house.  It was a merry time of eating, playing the grab-bag game, getting a visit from Grandma Deuce, and singing some carols.  We also took a walk over to Mor-Mor's residence to sing for her as well.  :)

On Christmas Day, Rayna and I stayed in bed with some kind of mild bug, so we missed the festivities.:(

The highlights this year, though, were a new doll and cradle for Jinna Rai, kitchen prep items for Rayna, and a dirt bike for the boys.  Hope we don't regret the dirt bike!!

Filling the house with LOVE

Three sets of our friends have gotten engaged this year -- it's been a good year for love.

For Wendy and Dean we had a reception/party at our house after their honeymoon and Marguerite had her bridal shower here, so when Daniel was getting ready to propose to our lovely friend Rachel, it seemed quite fitting that he wanted to have the surprise party here afterwards.

These girls are some of my favorites!

We are excited for the soon-to-be-married couple!

Lame December Field Trips

Since our CC group takes off for the month of December, I figured this would be a good time to take the kids on some field trips.  We've been studying American history, so the President Polk homesite and the Andrew Jackson/Waxhaw Indian museum seemed like good options.

The Polk site was mildly interesting, but extremely unhelpful in terms of a field trip.  No one was around to tell us anything because they were all attending to a public school group, and we weren't allowed access into most of the buildings or the film because the staff was otherwise occupied.  So we poked around a little and left.

The Andrew Jackson place was only slightly more informative.  We had to pry the docent away from his social hang-out time with the other staff, and by that point our time was limited.

I did, at least, find an effective discipline method for the boys.

The best part of that field trip was heading into downtown Waxhaw afterwards.  We had seen in the museum a photo of some of the buildings there from around 1900, and then we got to not only see, but go IN those exact buildings.  Things have changed a bit - livestock and wagons are no longer sold there.  But very tasty lunch food is!

 Incidentally, the only real piece of interesting information we heard was at BOTH places -- that the youngest walking, talking child in a family used to be responsible for emptying all of the chamber pots in a family's home.  Miles has never been so grateful that Jinna Rai is not a part of our family.  :)

Turning 45

My birthday was a big treat for me this year.  Pete and the kids made it extra special, as they always do!

After an awesome massage (gift from Pete), I went up to visit Mor-Mor.  I can't remember a birthday of mine that I was not with her!  She's been quite sick lately, so I savored these moments with her.

Pete made a fancy dinner that night, and Karin, James and Branson came over to celebrate with us.

The next night, Mom invited us to to her house for my favorite - Cranberry Chicken -- and then surprised me with ice cream cake afterwards!

My forties have definitely been the best decade yet -- half-way through now!

Fun with Wrays

Crazy antics for the airport

John, Keiko, Sammy and Sophie were in town for Christmas this year ,which meant it was a good time for the entire family to assemble for some fun events!

 Jinna finally got to meet her California cousins!


One night we attended a HUGE Keith and Kristyn Getty concert:

 Another day the CA Wrays came over to hang out and we went to the park:

 Another night we went up to Nonna and Poppa's for a lovely dinner:

Everything is fun with this crew!

Wray Family Tree {A story told in pictures}

It all began with a couple.

Once upon a time, way back in the crazy 1960's, these 2 free-spirits decided to get married.  After a few years of living the carefree life of ski trips, attempting to fix up an old house (decades before fixer-uppers were even a thing), and eating dandelions out of their yard, they turned to each other said, "Should we have kids?"

"Nah," they decided.

"Well, maybe just one."

Or... 5.

(Since the first child turned out so well, they just surged ahead without looking back.)

Then those 5 grew up and married 5 new family members, and the "kids" became 10.

And then those 10 multiplied, bringing their own kids into the mix.

19 new little ones joined the family tree.

And then those precocious newcomers threw leaves all over us.

And that is the story of how these 2...

... became the Wray Clan of 30:

And now the next generation will charge forward and perhaps multiply even further.... 

 We may need a bigger tree!

(All photos by Kharis Photography on December 17, 2017)