Twas actually Christmas, twenty and 23. At my sole daughters home, where the party would be.
Great Grandmother Crossley and her husband of old, were the first to arrive, just as had been foretold.
So now there was Russell, and Amber and Rye, and Zoey and Lily, and some other guy. What? No other guy? Well there were animals, but mostly hidden away.
Anyway, Troy came along, the longest trek made, and Nicholas came too, sharing his birthday.
Soon Dillon appeared with a tiny reindeer, and… What? He did have a small reindeer of some sort. He left it in the car because the animals were all hidden.
Bass and friend Cass were the next to appear, but an influx of others were already near.
Derek and Susan, Logan, and Miles, Sophia and Belle, who knows how many cars.
And I haven’t forgotten my first son’s first born. Naomi has gone off and joined the Stevenson family. But she was here, along with her fine husband Danny and their two little ones; Indy and Remi. I was struck by little Remi’s walking. At first I thought he was making fun of me, but then I realized the learning process looks a lot like the remembering process.
Poor Belle was ill and spent her time resting, I hope comfortably. Hopefully the joy of those around her was a comfort.
There was another Riley(sp) there, a friend of Miles. We put her to work as the photographer in charge of the master shot, and so unfortunately, she is not included in the photograph she composed. There was way too much food and a lot went to waste. That was the sad part of the day.
So 20+ people all together at the best time of the year. 4 generations. For me, it was a great and deeply personal treasure. I know the labors of making such an event happen and I am so glad for everyone’s participation. The giving of time, money, and effort to try to ensure everyone will have an enjoyable time. No part of such an event is easy and truly only love overcomes all the obstacles. I thank everyone. I am especially thankful to Amber and Russell for hosting and by association, accepting the greatest of the burdens. I had an awesome time.
After the party Nicholas had promised to play a few Christmas songs on the violin. I wish he had done so at the party but I expect, having only first picked up a violin a couple months ago, the venue was a bit crowded. But he played them at Dillon’s (my home) along with Dillon on guitar and Troy on Bass. It was remarkable and I have edited together a bit of the video I captured.
NOTE THAT THERE ARE A FEW INSTANCES OF LANGUAGE THAT ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN.
This second video closed the show. After being encouraged by his brothers to just experiment, in this song Nick dared go off script and hit a note so sweet that we all got choked up. He was so overcome (and sore) that he called it a night for playing. Troy and Dillon finished us off with a superb bit of playing. As a note, I officially fell in love with the bass after hearing this.
Last but not least. A few of the photos I took.
